You may have in mind this photo taken by Jean-Marie Périer on April 12, 1966. Everything has been said about this famous session which brought together all the young French headliners of the 1960s to illustrate the magazine Hi buddies.
They are all here! Johnny Hallyday, Richard Anthony, Claude François, Dick Rivers, Adamo, Serge Gainsbourg and many others. And then there’s this girl with brown hair. She is 22 years old and her name is Françoise Hardy. Looks like an angel. She stands out among all the other female artists.
PHOTO JEAN-MARIE Périer, TAKEN FROM THE ARCHIVES OF SALU LES COPAINS
Françoise Hardy (third row, second from the right) accompanied by many key figures of her generation, in 1966
Indeed, even if for the moment we associate her with the yéyé movement, she will later show that she has nothing to do with Sylvie Vartan, France Gall, Michèle Torr, Chantal Goya or Sheila. Françoise Hardy has been a free electron all her life. That’s why I’ve always loved her.
Since the day when, on the pickup from an aunt who lived in a small village in Abitibi, I listened to a record by this singer, I never stopped being faithful to her. To be faithful to her melancholy, to her sweetness, to her deliciously disturbing way of being.
Françoise Hardy knew how to make good songs. After the hysterical early years, she stayed away from the easy way. For her, a song was a creative gesture that had to be taken seriously.
I liked all the periods of Françoise Hardy. I loved her enough to forgive her astonishing passion for astrology. This artist who had the most charming laugh on earth had a career that spanned five decades. It is enormous. And rare.
The secret of this longevity? Her great capacity to reinvent herself, her curiosity and her audacity which led her to approach young authors and composers whose songs she endorsed each time with gusto. Étienne Daho, who was his spiritual son, must be experiencing terrible mourning at this time.
His record The danger with Alain Lubrano, faithful collaborator, is a pure marvel. Chiaroscuro is even more so. And I’m not talking about his recordings from the 1970s and 1980s (Lighting, Staretc.) on which we hear nuggets like Personal message, And if I leave before you, I listen to music drunk, Do not shoot the ambulance.
As for her “great classics”, written by her or by others, which the TVs and radios have been playing on repeat since Tuesday evening, they are already in the firmament. All the boys and girls, The time of love, How to say goodbye to you, Friendship, My friend the Rose, The rounds in the water… Phew! What a legacy!
France loses a great singing star. Françoise Hardy was a high caliber ambassador. After Édith Piaf, of whom she did not have a hundredth of the vocal power, she took the French song in countless countries, notably in England, where she is the subject of true veneration.
I remember this American that I met one day and who told me that he had learned French to better understand the songs of Françoise Hardy. He knew everything about her.
Françoise Hardy did not have a great voice. It is partly for this (but also for the great stress it caused her) that she stopped performing early in her career.
She didn’t have a great voice, but she had more than that. She had a uniqueness. In a few seconds, a song by Françoise Hardy envelops you and brings you into a universe, hers. How many artists achieve this? Not a lot.
Generations of female performers and songwriters, particularly those currently occupying the stages, owe everything to her. There is something of Françoise Hardy at Pomme, Charlotte Cardin, Cœur de pirate, Évelyne Brochu, Catherine Major, Clara Luciani, Zaho de Sagazan, Joyce Jonathan, Gabriella Olivo and so many others.
A year ago, understanding that the illness was going to have the upper hand, despite everything, Françoise Hardy declared that she wanted to leave. In an interview published in Paris Match, in December 2023, she said: “Leave to the other dimension as soon as possible, as quickly as possible and as painlessly as possible. »
We knew this departure was imminent. But I admit that the announcement of his death on Tuesday, early in the evening, gave me quite a shock. My first instinct was to go listen So many beautiful things which she engraved on the disc of the same title and produced by her son Thomas Dutronc.
Go listen to this! You’re going to bawl a little, because now that she’s gone, this song takes on its full meaning.
Even if I have to let go of your hand
Without being able to say “see you tomorrow”
Nothing will ever undo our bonds
Even if I have to go further
PHOTO OLIVIER SANCHEZ, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Françoise Hardy and her husband, Jacques Dutronc, photographed at their home in Monticello, Corsica, in 1991
Listening to this, I think of Jacques Dutronc, the great love of her life with whom she recorded Mireille’s song (her singing teacher), Since you are going on a tripe, and also the superb Fog in Corvisart street. This couple, as free as they are fascinating, has long become a legend.
As for Françoise Hardy, she has iconic status. Nothing less. Not bad for a young girl who learned to make songs on her guitar with three chords.
This is one of the fabulous mysteries of art.