For my valentine's day post this year I posted a youTube video of Francis Cabrel, who I heard about from FrenchPodClass.com ( 72, 73 ). Recently I purchased L'Essentiel 1997-2007 so that I could listen to his music more frequently. It is a great collection of music. Now that I have one collection of music I thought I'd look into another group I heard from FrenchPodClass.com ( 71, 72 ) and liked - Niagara. ...

Niagara was a mid to late 80's band that created pop music of the day. Since I grew up listening to late 80's music, it is no suprise I like ( what for me amounts to ) new 80's music. The song I most enjoyed from the podcasts was Pendant Que Les Champ Brûlent. Muriel Moreno's sultry singing style in that song reminded me of some great alternative bands of the early 90's while at the same time making me think of Billy Holiday's almost lazy singing style.

Since I wanted to hear more of the band to see if I liked them, I took a look at the track list for their album Flammes and made a youTube playlist of as much of the album as I could. The music was fun and the videos were definately indicative of their time. One song and video that really caught my eye was Les Flammes de L'Enfer. Between the circus theme and the colors it is quite spectacle. Here it is, enjoy.

^{On a personal note, I appreciate how the Daniel Chenevez had his conducting in time with the music.}

I first heard Francis Cabrel during a French Podclass( 72 & 73 ) I was listening to. I thought it was good and the songs I heard reminded me ever so slightly of Jim Croce( or maybe I could just hear his 'stache ) and a little Neil Diamond. I hadn't heard him in a while until I came across a post that had the song Je t'aimais, je t'aime et je t'aimerai. I've been trying to listen to some french music lately to help me with learning the language so I looked for some videos and found one for the song. Since, loosely translated, it means I loved you, I love you and I will always love you I thought it would be a beautiful piece to listen to and watch for Valentine's day. ...

Original Lyrics:
Mon enfant, nue sur les galets,
Le vent dans tes cheveux défaits,
Comme un printemps sur mon trajet,
Un diamant tombé d'un coffret.

Seule la lumière pourrait
Défaire nos repères secrets
Où mes doigts pris sur tes poignets,
Je t'aimais, je t'aime et je t'aimerai...

Quoi que tu fasses, l'amour est partout ou tu regardes
Dans les moindres recoins de l'espace,
Dans le moindre rêve ou tu t'attardes
L'amour, comme s'il en pleuvait,
Nu sur les galets...

Le ciel prétend qu'il te connait
Il est si beau c'est sûrement vrai.
Lui qui s'approche jamais
Je l'ai vu pris dans tes filets.

Le monde a tellement de regrets
Tellement de choses qu'on promet.
Une seule pour laquelle je suis fait
Je t'aimais, je t'aime et je t'aimerai...

Quoi que tu fasses, l'amour est partout ou tu regardes,
Dans les moindres recoins de l'espace,
Dans le moindre rêve ou tu t'attardes.
L'amour, comme s'il en pleuvait,
Nu sur les galets...

On s'envolera du même quai
Les yeux dans les mêmes reflets,
Pour cette vie et celle d'après
Tu seras mon unique projet.

Je m'en irai poser tes portraits
A tous les plafonds de tous les palais,
Sur tous les murs que je trouverai
Et juste en-dessous j'écrirai

Que seule la lumière pourrait...

Et mes doigts pris sur tes poignets,
Je t'aimais, je t'aime et je t'aimerai

Translated lyrics:
I loved you, I love you, and I will (always) love you

My child naked on the sea-washed pebbles
The wind in your ruffled hair
Like a new year in my life
A diamond fallen from its box
Only light could
uncover our secret caresses
where my fingers nestled on your wrists
I loved you, I love you, and I will (always) love you

And no matter what you do
Love is everywhere you look
In the most hidden recesses of space
In the smallest dream in which you linger
Love falling as gentle rain
naked on the sea-washed pebbles

The Sky pretends to know you
He is truly beautiful, that's for sure
He who never draws near
I saw Him trapped in your net
The world has so much remorse
So many promised things
But only one for which I was made:
I loved you, I love you, and I will (always) love you

And no matter what you do
Love is everywhere you look
In the most hidden recesses of space
In the smallest dream in which you linger
Love falling as gentle rain
naked on the sea-washed pebbles

We'll fly away from the same pier
The eyes within the same reflections
For in this life and the one after
you will be my sole purpose
I'll leave soon to hang your portraits
on all the ceilings of all the palaces,
on all the walls that I can find
And just below them, I will write
that only light could....
And my fingers nestled on your wrists
I loved you, I love you, and I will (always) love you

And as an extra Valentine's day bonus here is a live version of his song "Je l'aime à mourir". There is some good banter at the beginning.