“Indian Summer” by Joe Dassin, a love song par excellence

Summer songs always set the tone: vacations, beaches, tropics, sun. Words chosen for unforgettable melodies. And here is the love song par excellence: Indian summer by Joe Dassin, soft and caressing like a beach sun. A summer hit in 1975, it left good memories. But Indian summer is actually a temperate autumn, very common in North America.

The Italian model of the song, Africacomposed by the group Albatros, told the story of the disappointments of an African-American eager to rediscover his African origins. For the French lyrics, Claude Lemesle and his co-author came up with a more poetic idea. They invented from scratch the famous refrain that was only an instrumental in the original version. The lyrics also refer to Marie Laurencin, a painter from the early 20th century, friend of Apollinaire, but unknown to the general public. Julien Dassin, son of Joe Dassin, is now reprising his great hits.