Paroles 5 EN – Jacques Brel with ‘Ne me quitte pas’

Oh dear, poor old Jacques. A genius, passed away far too young, who wrote and performed his chansons struggling with life, drink and being Belgian. In the video accompanying this podcast he performs the deeply tragic chanson ‘Ne me quitte pas’ in his typical intense way, while the camera ruthlessly captures his desperation, moving in … Read more

Paroles 2: ‘Sur ma vie’ by Charles Aznavour (learn French words with a song)

Before listening to the podcast above, please play the video below, while reading the lyrics in French and English underneath it. Let it play a couple of times and listen carefully to his pronunciation of the individual words. Once you know the song and its meaning, my commentary will be much more interesting. In the … Read more

Paroles 1:… ‘Paroles’ by Dalida (podcast)

Before listening to the podcast, please watch the video below, while reading the lyrics in French and English underneath it. Once you know the song and its meaning, the lesson in the podcast will be much more interesting and effective.

In this first lesson, we will use a song with a fitting name: Paroles… words and promises. The singer is the Egyptian born Italian and nationalized French singer ‘Dalida’. She was enormously popular in the seventies but had a tragic life, ending in suicide in the mid-eighties. In this song we also hear the voice of Alain Delon, a very famous French actor born in 1935 who now lives in Switzerland. Smooth talker Alain is trying to seduce her, but she’s not having it. She knows that although he tries to woo her with romantic talk, it is just words and empty promises: paroles.

Read more