A woman or a man who leaves does not sound the same

The immediate success of the novel “Monique s’évade” by Edouard Louis invites us to explore gendered discourses on separation in our popular culture.

A woman leaves. And many songs tell it, for example Michel Jonasz in 1974, on the first of his 45s to have achieved success. And if we have to look for something gendered in the expression of heartache, it could be this rhetoric of the text – written by Frank Thomas – “Tell me, she left for someone other than me, but not because of me”.

In other words, it cannot be my own inadequacies that make this woman leave me, but the charm of another man – a charm which, it is implied, met her fickle character.

This figure of the woman who leaves, of the woman who leaves, is in a certain way renewed by literature, with the release these days of the book by Edouard Louis, Monique escapesin which he recounts how he helped his mother escape a toxic and violent relationship with an alcoholic man.

So, we wanted to listen again to how women leave. From 1979 to 2011, Georges Moustaki, Richard Gotainer, Dany Brillant, Bernard Sauvat.

In the second episode of These songs that make the news, broadcast this weekend, you hear excerpts from:

Michel Jonasz. Tell me, 1974

Georges Moustaki, She left, 1979

Richard Gotainer, She left with Robert, 1982

Dany Brillant, My fiancée, she is gone, 1991

Bernard Sauvat, She left, 2011

Bourvil, The suitcase, 1967

Jean-Louis Aubert, I leave, 2005

Cali, I am leaving, 2005

Barbara, Because, 1967

Miss K, Die, 2006

Clara Luciani, The last time, 2018

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And you can also find the podcast on this link Behind our voices, with the writing and composition secrets of eight major artists of the French scene, Laurent Voulzy, Julien Clerc, Bénabar, Dominique A, Carla Bruni, Emily Loizeau, Juliette and Gaëtan Roussel.