Keren Ann sings Brassens

13/05/2010

Georges Brassens in English, now there’s a challenge. His songs and poetryhas been translated, but very seldomly sung in English. Pierre de Gaillande, who has a French father and an American mom, is giving it a try on his album Bad Reputation. Why Brassens in this day ‘n age? Quote from the bio: ‘Brassens had no interest in being fashionable or cool, and yet defined coolness in a way that resonates for de Gaillande in our day and age. For de Gaillande, it boils down to language: “Using proper grammar, good spelling, and eloquent language is subversive and even sexy in this era of Tea-Party talk,” de Gaillande smiles. “That’s part of the mission of this project: to bring back that kind of sexy. I think it’s the hippest thing I’ve ever done. I draw inspiration from Brassens’ attitude: He didn’t care what people thought. He just got the poetry out there. “‘
The music stays close to the original, with the skipping rhythm and acoustic guitar, Pierre’s voice reminds me of Tom Robinson’s – it has the right amount of irony and sarcasm to sing Georges’ songs. On one song he gets help from FillesSourires-heroine Keren Ann, as far as I know the first time KA sings a GB chanson. The full album will be released on June 8.

Pierre de Gaillande & Keren Ann – To Die for Your Ideas

See the original version here.