{"id":25128,"date":"2016-11-08T05:44:37","date_gmt":"2016-11-08T04:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=25128"},"modified":"2016-11-06T16:39:30","modified_gmt":"2016-11-06T15:39:30","slug":"a-little-song-and-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/a-little-song-and-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"A little song and dance . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

Musicals are most commonly associated with Broadway and London’s West End, but France has produced it’s share of musicals too. Some of them like Les Mis\u00e9rables<\/a> have known long-term success around the world, while others are more obscure. And while in the last 20 years France has seen a growing success at home and abroad for a growing number of com\u00e9dies musicales<\/strong>, my favorite goes all the way back to 1979.<\/p>\n

\"Le

Le Palais des Congr\u00e8s \u00e0 Paris where many shows play.<\/p><\/div>\n

Starmania<\/a> is a dystopian tale of culture clashes in a “near future” mega-city. The Franco-Canadian production featured an impressive number of young singers – including Daniel Balavoine<\/a> who was tragically killed in a helicopter crash in Africa in 1986 – who would go on to have brilliant careers in music outside of the theater. The story may be bleak but the songs are amazing and run the gamut from rock to blues to ballads. And since the lyrics in musicals carry so much of the story and have to be clear and easy (relatively) to understand, they can be perfect for language learners working on their listening comprehension skills!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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https:\/\/youtu.be\/AYR3EpqT6s0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

J’m’appelle* Johnny Rockfort<\/strong> \/ My name is Johnny Rockfort<\/em>
\n J’suis n\u00e9 dans la Banlieue Nord<\/strong> \/ I was born in the northern suburbs<\/em>
\n J’ai grandi sur les trottoirs<\/strong> \/ I grew up on the sidewalks<\/em>
\n J’ai pas choisi d’\u00eatre un zonard<\/strong> \/ I didn’t choose to be a ‘zonard’**<\/em>
\n Ma m\u00e8re est devenue folle<\/strong> \/ My mother went nuts<\/em>
\n Parce que mon p\u00e8re buvait trop<\/strong> \/ Because my father drank too much<\/em>
\n \u00c0 quinze ans j’ai quitt\u00e9 l’\u00e9cole<\/strong> \/ At fifteen I left school**<\/em>*
\n Et j’ai pris le premier m\u00e9tro<\/strong> \/ And I took the first metro<\/em><\/p>\n

Sans foi ni loi<\/strong>\/ Without faith or laws***<\/em>*
\n Je veux vivre et mourir<\/strong> \/ I want to live and die<\/em>
\n Sans feu ni lieu<\/strong> \/ Without fire or place<\/em>
\n J’veux pas rentrer dormir<\/strong> \/ I don’t want to go home to sleep<\/em>
\n Dans ma banlieue<\/strong>\/ In my suburb<\/em>
\n J’ai tout cass\u00e9<\/strong> \/ I busted everything up<\/em>
\n Avant d’partir <\/strong>\/ Before I left<\/em>
\n J’ai pas d’pass\u00e9<\/strong> \/ I have no past<\/strong>
\n J’ai pas d’avenir<\/strong> \/ I have no future
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

[Sans foi ni loi<\/strong>
\n Sans feu ni lieu<\/strong>
\n J’ai tout cass\u00e9<\/strong>
\n Avant d’partir<\/strong>
\n J’ai pas d’pass\u00e9<\/strong>
\n J’ai pas d’avenir]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Y a plus d’avenir sur la Terre <\/strong>\/ There is no future here on Earth<\/em>
\n Qu’est-ce qu’on va faire?<\/strong>\/ What are we going to do?<\/em>
\n Y a plus d’avenir sur la Terre<\/strong>\/ There is no future hear on Earth?<\/em>
\n Qu’est-ce qu’on va faire? <\/strong>\/ What are we going to do?<\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

J’ai jamais travaill\u00e9 <\/strong>\/ I never worked<\/em>
\n Mais j’me suis bien d\u00e9brouill\u00e9<\/strong>\/ But I still managed to get by<\/em>
\n Un jour j’me suis retrouv\u00e9<\/strong>\/ One day I found myself<\/em>
\n \u00c0 l’Underground Caf\u00e9<\/strong>\/ At the Underground Cafe<\/em>
\n C’est l\u00e0 que j’ai rencontr\u00e9 <\/strong>\/ That’s where I met<\/em>
\n Tous mes amis d’aujourd’hui<\/strong>\/ All my current friends<\/em>
\n Quand je sais pas o\u00f9 coucher<\/strong>\/ When I don’t know where to go sleep*****<\/em>
\n C’est l\u00e0 que je passe mes nuits <\/strong>\/ It’s there that I spend my nights<\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sans foi ni loi<\/strong>
\n Je veux vivre et mourir<\/strong>
\n Sans feu ni lieu<\/strong>
\n J’veux pas rentrer dormir<\/strong>
\n Dans ma banlieue<\/strong>
\n J’ai tout cass\u00e9<\/strong>
\n Avant d’partir<\/strong>
\n J’ai pas d’pass\u00e9<\/strong>
\n J’ai pas d’avenir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sans foi ni loi<\/strong>
\n Je veux vivre et mourir<\/strong>
\n Sans feu ni lieu<\/strong>
\n J’veux pas rentrer dormir<\/strong>
\n Dans ma banlieue<\/strong>
\n J’ai tout cass\u00e9<\/strong>
\n Avant d’partir<\/strong>
\n J’ai pas d’pass\u00e9<\/strong>
\n J’ai pas d’avenir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pas d’pass\u00e9<\/strong>
\n Pas d’avenir<\/strong>
\n Pas d’pass\u00e9<\/strong>
\n Pas d’avenir<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Et pour finir<\/strong> (and to finish) <\/em>another great tidbit from ma ch\u00e8re tante Rose (celle qui aime le vin<\/a> mais n’aime pas Facebook!<\/a>) <\/strong>(my dear aunt Rose (who likes wine but not Facebook!)): <\/em>It’s that time of year when many of us around the world change the time. Rose shared with me this moyen facile de savoir si on recule ou si on avance l’heure <\/strong>(easy way to know if you’re to turn back (<\/em>reculer<\/strong>) or advance (<\/em>avancer<\/strong>) the clock). <\/em>En octobRE<\/span> (ou novembRE<\/span>) on RE<\/span>cule. En AV<\/span>ril on AV<\/span>ance. <\/strong>(In October (or November) “fall back”. In April, “spring ahead”.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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* It is quite common in spoken and sung French to see words get “smooshed” together like this. ‘Je m’appelle’ <\/em>becomes ‘J’m’appelle’, ‘Je veux’ <\/em>becomes ‘J’veux’, ‘de partir’ <\/em>becomes ‘d’partir’, <\/em>etc.<\/p>\n

** ‘zonard’<\/em> is a slang term for disaffected youth from la banlieue <\/em>(the suburbs), often living on the fringes of “proper society”. The term comes from ‘la Zone’, <\/em>a region around the inner city of Paris that was inhabited by\u00a0 ‘les pauvres’<\/em> (the poor) at the beginning of the 20th century on the site of earlier fortifications that were torn down.<\/p>\n

*** The word ‘quit’ comes to us via the French verb ‘quitter’. <\/em>In English ‘quit’ <\/em>is most commonly used in a work context, but at their root, both mean “to take leave of someone or something”.<\/p>\n

**** The expression ‘sans foi ni loi<\/em>‘ refers to individuals who generally don’t respect the standards and live by their own rules. It is generally applied to someone considered as dangerous and fearsome.<\/p>\n

***** Generically, the verb ‘coucher<\/em>‘ means ‘to lie down’. It is used idiomatically to also mean ‘to go to bed’ as in ‘Je vais me coucher.’ (<\/em>I am going to bed.) and appears in the French for ‘bed room’, ‘la chambre \u00e0 coucher’ <\/em>(literally ‘the chamber to lie down in’). The verb for ‘to sleep’ is ‘dormir<\/em>‘. ‘Dormir<\/em>‘ is an irregular verb that is conjugated in the present tense as follows:<\/p>\n

je dors, tu dors, il\/elle\/on dort, nous dormons, vous dormez, ils\/elles dorment<\/em><\/div>\n

Image Credits:<\/p>\n

By Laganart [CC BY 2.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Musicals are most commonly associated with Broadway and London’s West End, but France has produced it’s share of musicals too. Some of them like Les Mis\u00e9rables have known long-term success around the world, while others are more obscure. And while in the last 20 years France has seen a growing success at home and abroad…<\/p>\n

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