Once upon a time, you and me,
Don’t ever forget that, you and me.
Ever since I’m far away from you,
I feel like I’m far away from my own self,
And I’m thinking about you.
You are six hours away from me,
And I am a couple of years away from you,
There, far away there.
The difference is in the eery silence deep inside of me ...
(Roughly translated from French of the song Lettre à France,
music by Michel Polnareff, lyrics by Jean-Loup Dabadie)
With these haunting, melancholic words, with France being personified as a lover, the author-composer-interpreter Michel Polnareff transformed the audience, especially for immigrants such as the author of this article, into a world full of sad and joyful details, with his masterpiece Letter to France. I have known the music of Michel Polnareff for quite some time, notably with major hits such as Love Me, Please Love Me, Holidays, Lettre à France, and also Goodbye Marylou. For Lettre à France, in particular, I only enjoyed the melody though the easy-listening, orchestrated versions of Paul Mauriat and Raymond Lefèvre, so I didn’t really have a chance to look for and to understand the lyrics. Lately, with a determination to fully understand the roots of French music by means of new, used, or electronic books (mostly in French), I somewhat accidently re-discovered Michel Polnareff. I started to look for and enjoy his music clips and various documentaries about him on YouTube. I started to buy his music CDs and various books which he is the author, or books which are written about his life and his musical achievements.
But why did he had to write a letter to France via the context of a song?
To make a long story short, at the height of his career back in the year 1973, his financial adviser ran away with his money, leaving him bankrupted and owing unpaid taxes from the government. At the same time, more unfortunate incidents happened: his sponsor Lucien Morisse (a founding father and artistic director of the radio station Europe 1, the founder of the recording label Disc AZ, and also was the husband of the famous singer Dalida) suicided, his mother passed away. Another incident is that he is ordered by the authorities to pay the fine of 60,000 francs for displaying 6,000 posters with his naked back bottom half, promoting the show Polnarevolution at the venerable Olympia music hall (circa 1972.) On the other hand, Michel had been mesmerized with the latest technology from America in general, its myriad musical genres, the singing stars, and the recording technology in particular. With a mind of discovering and conquering the New World, Michel boarded the ship named France, destination America.
Once settled down in America, Michel continued to create new works for both the American and French audiences, but somehow he still missed his own country. In one occasion, where he was sitting in a coffee shop in New York, he heard a French song on the loud speakers, and he again found himself homesick. All of a sudden he had a musical idea in his head, he quickly jotted down on a piece of napkin the intro and the refrain. Some time later, he finished writing the song and sent it to Jean-Loup Dabadie – a successful lyricist whom had been successfully collaborated with him in the past, with hits such as Tout, tout pour ma chérie or On ira tous au paradis - to complete the lyrics of the song. Polnareff of course making sure Dabadie to look for the ideas and words which would precisely described his homesick state of mind.
Indeed, Polnareff should not be disappointed at all! Jean-Loup Dabadie's work of the lyric of Lettre à France was very successful. It was such a hit during the summer of 1977, and one way or another probably helped Michel Ponareff to make a successful and triumphant return on stage to France in 2007. The song helped Michel to “speak” to its fans that France “is not always the prettiest, and that I’m still resting infidelity. But no one can predict about the future of our relationship.” Dabadie indeed speaked for Michel in spelling out the secret that “Oui, sometimes I’m mad about you, even though I’m not saying out loud, but love is made of that kind of stuff, and that I always thinking of you from the bottom of my heart.”
There is a video on YouTube, where Michel Polnareff performed live at Bercy in 2007 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw7_haPgQbA We witnessed indeed not only Michel’s superb musical skills, but also the love from the audience toward him and his music. Seventeen thousand of his fans sang along with him, applauded his magical piano adlib (at around the third minute into the song.) Equally magical stuff was the guitar adlib before that from his band member. In one scene, we see two generations of his fans, mothers and daughters singing along, shoulders to shoulders. In another scene, we witness a beautiful lady cheerfully sang along, then close her eyes with appreciation of Michel’s music. Indeed, Michel Polnareff finally was back on stage after thirty three years in exile.
I also conclude that if I only listen to the song from an easy listening orchestra, I would not have realized the beauty of the song in its wholeness. For example, if we listen to either the Paul Mauriat version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5cPEsFWj1s ) or Raymond Lefèvre’s, we would appreciate a nice song, but that would be all that we feel. But, with Michel Polnareff’s performance, we clearly enjoy everything, from the simple piano introduction, to the distinct way that he sang, with syncopated, stressed words. We could afterward fully understand what Michel meant by singing “l’amour à faire de ça”, through his ups and downs with his own motherland.
Lately I have a chance to read an article, entitled “The production of success: an anti-musicology of the pop song”, the author is Antoine Hennion. Lettre à France is such an example of what Hennon would describe about the success of a hit, which constitutes of four ingredients: a tune, its lyrics, the singer, and the right mixture of the first three ingredients. I conclude also, as a note to myself, that for the last ten years I have only heard one fourth of the potential of a song, merely by hearing the easy listening version of it!
Ever since I have the feeling of understanding and appreciating the music of Michel Polnareff, I have been somewhat addicted to hearing his songs. I was very fortunate to discover and purchase his 5-CD collection of 100 hits, and then the two CDs that he performed on stage in 2007 and in 2016.
I thought I had pretty much all his important works, but I was so wrong. I just recently learned that the artist will publish this December of 2017 a collection of 23 discs, including every CD that he ever made, and some other unpublished works as well. One of the things I notice about Polnareff is that he always added new arranging details to his live performances, such as adding a new intro, or playing it in a new style. I have four versions of Lettre a Frace, and I love to hear all of them, for these subtle additional touches. I would probably going to buy this CD box set, because I would not want to miss these additional details at all.
In the mean time, please look for other masterpieces also from Michel Polnareff such as: Love me please love me, Goodbye Marylou, L'Amour avec toi, Ame caline, Holidays, Le Bal des Laze, Une simple mélodie, Qui a tué grand-maman, Je suis un homme, J'ai tellement de choses à dire, On ira tous au paradis, La poupée qui fait non, Tout tout pour ma chérie, Je reve d’un monde, etc. or other successful but less known works such as: Je t'aime, Radio, Tam Tam, Sur un seul mot de toi, Elle rit, Le belle veut sa revanche, etc. I’m very confident that you won’t be disappointed. Luckily, there is a youtuber with the screen name sdup, whom collected and then uploaded many of the mentioned songs to YouTube. Please click the below link to view them.
https://www.youtube.com/user/sdup/videos?disable_polymer=1
This is the end of my short essay. Thank you for your time.
Little Saigon, California, November 2017
Author: Học Trò ( https://hoctroviet.blogspot.com/ )
(Roughly translated to English also by the author.)
References:
1. Eudeline, Christian. Derrière les lunettes: La biographie de Michel Polnareff. Fayard. Kindle Edition.
2. Polnareff, Michel (avec la collaboration de Phillipe Manoeuvre.) Polnareff par Polnareff. Grasset.
3. Cachin, Benoit. Polnaculte. Tournon.
4. Polnareff: Quand l'ecran s'allume [Documentaire] RTBF 19/09/14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBQALRt844U
5. Dicale, Bertrand. Dictionnaire amoureux de la chanson française. PLON. Kindle Edition.
6. Calvet, Louis-Jean. Cent ans de chanson française. Archipel. Kindle Edition.
7. Lecoeuvre, Fabien. Le petit Lecoeuvre Illustré Dictionaire: Histore des Chansons de A à Z. Edition du Rocher.
8. Hennion, Antoine. The production of success: an anti-musicology of the pop song. Translated to English by Marianne Sinclair và Mark Smith. Download the article at:
http://www.academia.edu/866652/The_production_of_success_an_anti-musicology_of_the_pop_song
***
Update 16 Jan 2018: Michel Polnareff's Discography is here!!!!
***
Michel Polnareff Pop Rock En Stock L’intégrale… ou presque ! Coffret 23 CD
Editorial Reviews
Disc: 4
Disc: 6
Disc: 7
Lettre à France
Oui, j'ai le mal de toi parfois
Même si je ne le dis pas
L'amour c'est fait de ça
Don’t ever forget that, you and me.
Ever since I’m far away from you,
I feel like I’m far away from my own self,
And I’m thinking about you.
You are six hours away from me,
And I am a couple of years away from you,
There, far away there.
The difference is in the eery silence deep inside of me ...
(Roughly translated from French of the song Lettre à France,
music by Michel Polnareff, lyrics by Jean-Loup Dabadie)
With these haunting, melancholic words, with France being personified as a lover, the author-composer-interpreter Michel Polnareff transformed the audience, especially for immigrants such as the author of this article, into a world full of sad and joyful details, with his masterpiece Letter to France. I have known the music of Michel Polnareff for quite some time, notably with major hits such as Love Me, Please Love Me, Holidays, Lettre à France, and also Goodbye Marylou. For Lettre à France, in particular, I only enjoyed the melody though the easy-listening, orchestrated versions of Paul Mauriat and Raymond Lefèvre, so I didn’t really have a chance to look for and to understand the lyrics. Lately, with a determination to fully understand the roots of French music by means of new, used, or electronic books (mostly in French), I somewhat accidently re-discovered Michel Polnareff. I started to look for and enjoy his music clips and various documentaries about him on YouTube. I started to buy his music CDs and various books which he is the author, or books which are written about his life and his musical achievements.
Sheet music - Source: www.amazon.fr
But why did he had to write a letter to France via the context of a song?
To make a long story short, at the height of his career back in the year 1973, his financial adviser ran away with his money, leaving him bankrupted and owing unpaid taxes from the government. At the same time, more unfortunate incidents happened: his sponsor Lucien Morisse (a founding father and artistic director of the radio station Europe 1, the founder of the recording label Disc AZ, and also was the husband of the famous singer Dalida) suicided, his mother passed away. Another incident is that he is ordered by the authorities to pay the fine of 60,000 francs for displaying 6,000 posters with his naked back bottom half, promoting the show Polnarevolution at the venerable Olympia music hall (circa 1972.) On the other hand, Michel had been mesmerized with the latest technology from America in general, its myriad musical genres, the singing stars, and the recording technology in particular. With a mind of discovering and conquering the New World, Michel boarded the ship named France, destination America.
Once settled down in America, Michel continued to create new works for both the American and French audiences, but somehow he still missed his own country. In one occasion, where he was sitting in a coffee shop in New York, he heard a French song on the loud speakers, and he again found himself homesick. All of a sudden he had a musical idea in his head, he quickly jotted down on a piece of napkin the intro and the refrain. Some time later, he finished writing the song and sent it to Jean-Loup Dabadie – a successful lyricist whom had been successfully collaborated with him in the past, with hits such as Tout, tout pour ma chérie or On ira tous au paradis - to complete the lyrics of the song. Polnareff of course making sure Dabadie to look for the ideas and words which would precisely described his homesick state of mind.
Indeed, Polnareff should not be disappointed at all! Jean-Loup Dabadie's work of the lyric of Lettre à France was very successful. It was such a hit during the summer of 1977, and one way or another probably helped Michel Ponareff to make a successful and triumphant return on stage to France in 2007. The song helped Michel to “speak” to its fans that France “is not always the prettiest, and that I’m still resting infidelity. But no one can predict about the future of our relationship.” Dabadie indeed speaked for Michel in spelling out the secret that “Oui, sometimes I’m mad about you, even though I’m not saying out loud, but love is made of that kind of stuff, and that I always thinking of you from the bottom of my heart.”
There is a video on YouTube, where Michel Polnareff performed live at Bercy in 2007 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw7_haPgQbA We witnessed indeed not only Michel’s superb musical skills, but also the love from the audience toward him and his music. Seventeen thousand of his fans sang along with him, applauded his magical piano adlib (at around the third minute into the song.) Equally magical stuff was the guitar adlib before that from his band member. In one scene, we see two generations of his fans, mothers and daughters singing along, shoulders to shoulders. In another scene, we witness a beautiful lady cheerfully sang along, then close her eyes with appreciation of Michel’s music. Indeed, Michel Polnareff finally was back on stage after thirty three years in exile.
A fan appreciated Lettre à France – Source: youtu.be
I also conclude that if I only listen to the song from an easy listening orchestra, I would not have realized the beauty of the song in its wholeness. For example, if we listen to either the Paul Mauriat version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5cPEsFWj1s ) or Raymond Lefèvre’s, we would appreciate a nice song, but that would be all that we feel. But, with Michel Polnareff’s performance, we clearly enjoy everything, from the simple piano introduction, to the distinct way that he sang, with syncopated, stressed words. We could afterward fully understand what Michel meant by singing “l’amour à faire de ça”, through his ups and downs with his own motherland.
Lately I have a chance to read an article, entitled “The production of success: an anti-musicology of the pop song”, the author is Antoine Hennion. Lettre à France is such an example of what Hennon would describe about the success of a hit, which constitutes of four ingredients: a tune, its lyrics, the singer, and the right mixture of the first three ingredients. I conclude also, as a note to myself, that for the last ten years I have only heard one fourth of the potential of a song, merely by hearing the easy listening version of it!
Ever since I have the feeling of understanding and appreciating the music of Michel Polnareff, I have been somewhat addicted to hearing his songs. I was very fortunate to discover and purchase his 5-CD collection of 100 hits, and then the two CDs that he performed on stage in 2007 and in 2016.
I thought I had pretty much all his important works, but I was so wrong. I just recently learned that the artist will publish this December of 2017 a collection of 23 discs, including every CD that he ever made, and some other unpublished works as well. One of the things I notice about Polnareff is that he always added new arranging details to his live performances, such as adding a new intro, or playing it in a new style. I have four versions of Lettre a Frace, and I love to hear all of them, for these subtle additional touches. I would probably going to buy this CD box set, because I would not want to miss these additional details at all.
Michel Polnareff Pop Rock En Stock L’intégrale… ou presque ! Coffret 23 CD
In the mean time, please look for other masterpieces also from Michel Polnareff such as: Love me please love me, Goodbye Marylou, L'Amour avec toi, Ame caline, Holidays, Le Bal des Laze, Une simple mélodie, Qui a tué grand-maman, Je suis un homme, J'ai tellement de choses à dire, On ira tous au paradis, La poupée qui fait non, Tout tout pour ma chérie, Je reve d’un monde, etc. or other successful but less known works such as: Je t'aime, Radio, Tam Tam, Sur un seul mot de toi, Elle rit, Le belle veut sa revanche, etc. I’m very confident that you won’t be disappointed. Luckily, there is a youtuber with the screen name sdup, whom collected and then uploaded many of the mentioned songs to YouTube. Please click the below link to view them.
https://www.youtube.com/user/sdup/videos?disable_polymer=1
This is the end of my short essay. Thank you for your time.
Little Saigon, California, November 2017
Author: Học Trò ( https://hoctroviet.blogspot.com/ )
(Roughly translated to English also by the author.)
References:
1. Eudeline, Christian. Derrière les lunettes: La biographie de Michel Polnareff. Fayard. Kindle Edition.
2. Polnareff, Michel (avec la collaboration de Phillipe Manoeuvre.) Polnareff par Polnareff. Grasset.
3. Cachin, Benoit. Polnaculte. Tournon.
4. Polnareff: Quand l'ecran s'allume [Documentaire] RTBF 19/09/14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBQALRt844U
5. Dicale, Bertrand. Dictionnaire amoureux de la chanson française. PLON. Kindle Edition.
6. Calvet, Louis-Jean. Cent ans de chanson française. Archipel. Kindle Edition.
7. Lecoeuvre, Fabien. Le petit Lecoeuvre Illustré Dictionaire: Histore des Chansons de A à Z. Edition du Rocher.
8. Hennion, Antoine. The production of success: an anti-musicology of the pop song. Translated to English by Marianne Sinclair và Mark Smith. Download the article at:
http://www.academia.edu/866652/The_production_of_success_an_anti-musicology_of_the_pop_song
***
Update 16 Jan 2018: Michel Polnareff's Discography is here!!!!
***
Michel Polnareff Pop Rock En Stock L’intégrale… ou presque ! Coffret 23 CD
Editorial Reviews
French-only 23 disc set features 430 tracks! Includes all of his complete studio albums, unreleased live concerts, soundtracks and many unreleased tracks/versions. Includes a 48 page booklet with rare photos. Universal France. 2017.
Track Listings
Disc: 1
1. Tous Les Ep / SP 1966 À 1967
Disc: 2
1. Concert À Lausanne 6 Avril 1967 & Concert À L'olympia 8 Octobre 1967
Disc: 3
1. Tous Les Ep / SP 1968 À 1970
Disc: 4
1. Album Polnareff's & Ep 1971 À 1972 & Bof Ça N'arrive Qu'aux Autres
Disc: 5
1. Bof la Folie Des Grandeurs & Bof D'artagnan
Disc: 6
1. Polnarévolution
Disc: 7
1. Concert À Tokyo 1972
Disc: 8
1. Concert Musicorama Polnarêves À L'olympia 1 Avril 1973
Disc: 9
1. Album Polnarêve & Album Fame À la Mode
Disc: 10
1. Michel Polnareff Au Forest National - Bruxelles, 26 Octobre 1975 / Partie 1
Disc: 11
1. Michel Polnareff Au Forest National - Bruxelles, 26 Octobre 1975 / Partie 2
Disc: 12
1. Album Lipstick & Album Coucou Me Revoilou
Disc: 13
1. Album Bulles & Show TÉLÉ 82
Disc: 14
1. Bof la Vengeance Du Serpent a Plumes + Album Incognito
Disc: 15
1. Album Kâma - Sûtra + Instrumentaux + Remix
Disc: 16
1. Concert Live at the Roxy, 27 Septembre 1995
Disc: 17
1. Singles Rareté & Remix - 1990 À 2015
Disc: 18
1. Concert Ze (Re) Tour 2007 - Partie 1
Disc: 19
1. Concert Ze (Re) Tour 2007 - Partie 2
Disc: 20
1. Concert À L'olympia 2016 - Partie 1
Disc: 21
1. Concert À L'olympia 2016 - Partie 2
Disc: 22
1. Michel Polnareff Chante en Anglais, en Allemand, en Espagnol Et en Italien (Documents)
Disc: 23
1. Documents, Raretés, Maquettes Studio Et Versions Alternatives + Album Ménage À Trois
***
Lettre à France
Songwriters: Jean Loup Dabadie / Michel Polnareff
Il était une fois
Toi et moi
N'oublie jamais ça
Toi et moi
Toi et moi
N'oublie jamais ça
Toi et moi
Depuis que je suis loin de toi
Je suis comme loin de moi
Et je pense à toi tout bas
Tu es à six heures de moi
Je suis à des années de toi
C'est ça être là-bas
La différence
C'est ce silence parfois au fond de moi
Je suis comme loin de moi
Et je pense à toi tout bas
Tu es à six heures de moi
Je suis à des années de toi
C'est ça être là-bas
La différence
C'est ce silence parfois au fond de moi
Tu vis toujours au bord de l'eau
Quelquefois dans les journaux
Je te vois sur des photos et moi loin de toi
Je vis dans une boîte à musique
Électrique et fantastique
Je vis en Chimérique
La différence
C'est ce silence parfois au fond de moi
Quelquefois dans les journaux
Je te vois sur des photos et moi loin de toi
Je vis dans une boîte à musique
Électrique et fantastique
Je vis en Chimérique
La différence
C'est ce silence parfois au fond de moi
Tu n'es pas toujours la plus belle
Et je te reste infidèle
Mais qui peut dire l'avenir de nos souvenirs
Et je te reste infidèle
Mais qui peut dire l'avenir de nos souvenirs
Tu n'es pas toujours la plus belle
Et je te reste infidèle
Mais qui peut dire l'avenir de nos souvenirs
Et je te reste infidèle
Mais qui peut dire l'avenir de nos souvenirs
Oui, j'ai le mal de toi parfois
Même si je ne le dis pas
L'amour c'est fait de ça
