Like this version in particular. I love the violin, the French, just the overall sound of it.
I also really enjoy this song, even though I don’t know any words.
Maybe Edith Piaff, if I’m thinking of the right person.
La Mer, by Charles Trenet, if you’re just looking for melodic French songs.
Edith Piaf. Actually this piece is in honor of Dame Piaf. Do you like this style?
Edith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg, and if you can tolerate American similarities, there’s always Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong.
See? Edith Piaf. Told ya.
Trenet, Piaf, Legrand, Brel, Nougaro . . . there’s a whole slew of amazing French language songwriters and singers (of which I’m sure I only know a very few).
I have read several comparisons to Piaf attributed to Madeleine Peyroux and she reminds me a bit of Billie Holiday.
Pink Martini frontperson China Forbes sings a couple of songs reminiscent of Edith Piaf, like “Sympathique” and “Everywhere.”
You might also get a kick out of World Musette by Les Primitifs du Futur, a French musette band featuring Robert Crumb.
+1. First thing I thought of when I saw the subject. Very… polished song.
One Edith Piaf song I really love is “Non, Je ne Regrette Rien.”
Great tune.
You’d love the jukeboxs in bars that were staked out, so to speak, by the US Army Special Forces during the Vietnam era.
It’s great that you like that first track, because as a native speaker, I can’t get past the singer’s horrible, horrible pronunciation. That’s too bad, because musically it’s a good version. Since everyone’s already suggested Edith Piaf, I’ll point you towards one of my all time favourite singers: Barbara. Her voice was exquisite, and she was unique in that she wrote, sung and played the piano for almost all her songs. She did sadness and melancholy better than anyone else, but she had a few up-beat songs. A sample:
Ma plus belle histoire d’amour
Gueule de nuit, followed by Du bout des lèvres
Göttingen
Dis, quand reviendras-tu?
Le temps du lilas
As Horatio Hellpop hinted to, the second track falls in the musette genre. The singer sounds a little like Zaz who is one of the most popular signers nowadays in the French world.
- Lucienne Delyle: Mon Amant de Saint-Jean (1942)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93_pv-XWHpQ
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Charles Aznavour: La Bohème (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-JQ8dPQh7g)
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Barbara’s Göttingen has already been mentioned so I’ll add my personal favourite:
Nantes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cidaKYwD3lQ), a really depressing song about her abusing father’s death (she had a very complicated relationship with him).
- While we’re talking about songs dedicated to the performer’s father, there’s the wonderful little downer:
Daniel Guichard - Mon Vieux https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu2bYRcZlqI. The last lines get me. Every. Time.
- There’s got to be some Jacques Brel, too of course:
Amsterdam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2kkr0e_dTQ
*La Chanson des Vieux Amants * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecux7v9OSXE
Ne me Quitte pas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_bq5mStroM
Le Plat Pays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Pc-Z_r5jQ
Les Vieux https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lyr2P3jMNM
Thank you for all the suggestions!
I have a lot of listening to do tonight. I’m pretty stoked about it.