If you want to see the difference between a great lyric and a moderately good one, here’s a place to start – compare and contrast Jacques Prévert’s 1946 song ‘Les Feuilles Mortes’ to the later American version,by Johnny Mercer, released in 1950. One tells a story; the other expresses a general feeling. One feels original… Continue reading FRIDAY SONG: Yves Montand, LES FEUILLES MORTES (Jacques Prévert and Joseph Kosma, 1946)
Read moreI’ve been thinking about song lyrics recently – or, rather, the translation of French song lyrics into English. The folk wisdom among serious translators is what, while French is the more natural language of romance and love, English is more economic, muscular and flexible The first is certainly true. If you doubt the superiority of… Continue reading Love and sex in song – why it helps to be French
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