French music to learn French to
 

I'm trying to learn to speak French and heard that music can be a great, easy, and fun way to learn it.

Does anyone know of any French speaking bands that are heavy on lyrics?

I like Stereolab, but I could use a few more. I've been into more folksy type stuff, so that could be a potential direction.

Thanks

I would have to say using music would be hard to learn french from because your not getting the right pernunciations.

some stereolab

serge gainsbourg

whatsher name... the one kim likes

I don't listen to it to learn to speak french, but I love French cabaret. Check out Edith Piaf. She has a gorgeous voice.

oh sorry i didnt read the original post carefully, or if it was edited, but anyway, the folksy part, yes---

i second the edith piaf recommendation

also i would add then some jacques brel (an idol of the french equivalent of baby boomers), and georges brassens, who i find funnier and less dogmatic.

Francoiz Breut and Dominique A

Edith Piaf, again. Ma Vie en la Rose is such a beautiful song.

the woman that SY collaborated with that was supposed to be SYR6

The French teacher at my school says that listening to French music makes it a lot easier to learn the language. Has anyone else tried this?

Thanks for the recommendations; can I find these at most record stores or is there an online site to buy these?

cyan/saian supa crew if you want to rap in french

My suggestions are imports, but can be had at amazon. Or amazon.fr if you want to learn more french.

French art song would be good too (mélodie). Try out Fauré, Duparc and Debussy. You can usually find really good translations in the CD liner notes or scores in the library.

my favorite edith piaf song is actually this one:


[edit-i replaced the faulty lyrics i posted first w/ a better version. there were typos & such]

Non! Rien de rien ...
Non ! Je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait
Ni le mal tout ça m'est bien égal !

Non ! Rien de rien ...
Non ! Je ne regrette rien...
C'est payé, balayé, oublié
Je me fous du passé!

Avec mes souvenirs
J'ai allumé le feu
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
Je n'ai plus besoin d'eux !

Balayés les amours
Et tous leurs trémolos
Balayés pour toujours
Je repars à zéro ...

Non ! Rien de rien ...
Non ! Je ne regrette nen ...
Ni le bien, qu'on m'a fait
Ni le mal, tout ça m'est bien égal !

Non ! Rien de rien ...
Non ! Je ne regrette rien ...
Car ma vie, car mes joies...

i eliminated the last line because i think it makes it cheesy and fouls up the greater meaning of the song. but that's just my opinion.

learning french with music. our belgian teacher once played us a racist song. it was an old record. it went like this:

Il était une chèvre de fort tempérament
Qui revenait d'Espagne et parlait l'allemand, en...
Ballotant d'la queue et grignotant des dents, en
Ballotant d'la queue et grignotant des dents

well not sure if racist or chauvinistic... whatever

where to get this?

décharge, mon frère!!

soulseek et. al. are not just for hipsters. ;)

I downloaded a bunch of Edith Piaf off soulseek. And yeah, you should be able to find most of this at record stores as well.

Ecoutez les albums "Histoire de Melody Nelson" et "L'homme à Tête de Chou" de Gainsbourg.

haha french is easy too speak but hard to learn through songs.
c'est ça!Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?Ce soir? lol

MC Solar

Hah! Yeah you might wanna skip the MC Solaar recommendation, it's a bit fast. Like IAM. Learning a language thru hip-hop is always a challenge.
Anyway, being a native french speaker (not from france though, thank god :-p I would second Edith Piaf, Gainsbourg, as well as these old-skool french singers like Aznavour, Trenet, Bécaud, Lama, it's terribly cheezy most of the time,but sometimes there are these magical moments... At least it's slow-paced, easier for the beginner's ears.
But some I would definitely recommend - in addition to the ones in the previous posts - would be Leo Ferré and Felix Leclerc.

But for a more far-out sound, Brigitte Fontaine (who collaborated w. sy on her last album) and Les Reines Prochaines would be good choices. And for some classic fucked up new-wave french-belgian gibberish, check out Plastic Bertrand - SY even did a cover of his "Ca plane pour moi", in "french" nonetheless!!!

Edit: Wow! How could I ever forget Jacques Brel???!!!!!

in my opinion, songs aren't really a good way to learn a language because of the different ways of pronounciation/intonation compared to normal conversation. it's harder to make out what people are saying in songs. just think of all the times you've misheard lyrics that were sung in your native language and imagine how that would be in a different language.

you'd be better off watching french movies i reckon.

Noir Désir.