A philosophical album by Francis Cabrel

The richness of French song (3/6)

Le Regard Libre N° 15 - Jonas Follonier

After a more musical look at a Michel Polnareff album, this month we turn our attention to the lyrics of another laudable French singer, Francis Cabrel. And more specifically, the philosophical nature of the lyrics of three songs from his penultimate album, Roses and nettles, released in 2008.

The eponymous song opens with existential questions that will be echoed in the other two songs. «To what world, under what reign and to what judge are we promised / At what age, on what page and in what box are we inscribed?» The singer draws a conclusion from these questions that I share, in the refrain: «We're heavy / Trembling like candle flames / We hesitate at every crossroads / In the speeches we've learned / But since we're heavy / Heavy with love and poetry / Here's the way out.» Let's not comment, let's appreciate.

Cork oak, the third track on the album, is explicitly philosophical and spiritual. The lyrics, carried along by a ballad in Cabrel's style, sublimely express the hope of a God, doubt and concern for the world. «There are in our carriages / People of reason, of courage / In all camps, of all ages / Whose only dream is to be happy / We've erected cathedrals / Spires to touch the stars / Said monumental prayers / What could we do better? [...] Where are you in the atmosphere? / We're waiting for you, we're hoping for you / But it's doubt and mystery / That you'll have taught me best.» Magnificent.

Finally, the song that opens the album, The dress and the ladder, can safely be considered one of Francis Cabrel's finest creations, and even one of the best odes to first love that French chanson has ever given us. As it's not our subject here, I'll leave you to marvel at the song's romanticism at home, in peace; however, it ends once again with a reflection combining philosophy and poetry:

«And now from the ground where we stand / We spend our mortal lives
Looking for those doors that open / To heaven.»

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Nostalgie