Jacques Dutronc is considered one of the greatest French artists. He welcomes us into his refuge, his haven of peace in Monticello, Corsica. When we say: “Jacques Dutronc“, we obviously think of music with a real incarnation, a real presence on stage and its cult titles which have become Proust’s madeleines: And me and me and me (1966), I like girls (1967), It’s five o’clock, Paris is waking up (1968), The Playboys (1966) or again Shit in France (1984). We also think of cinema when we talk about him, with the starting point in 1973 being the film Antoine and Sébastien of Jean-Marie Périer or Maurice Pialat who entrusted him in 1991 with the role of Van Gogh and in the end, the César for best actor. All these ingredients can be found in his memoirs, And me and me and me published by Cherche Midi. A funny and fascinating work, as its humor, self-mockery and sincerity ring true.
franceinfo: A real life in peace, far from the hustle and bustle of the continent, which lightens, soothes, nourishes, inspires to write songs, but also books. A calm place that encourages you to receive those you love, with whom you feel good and with whom you can spend time. Monticello has always been your landmark. What do you feel more here than elsewhere?
Jacques Dutronc: First of all, I don’t know anywhere else. I’ve been to a few countries around the world, but in my head, what was mainly written in the trip was the return. I’ve known Brittany and Paris a lot, but Corsica… I parked here one day. The garage had Françoise Hardy’s name. So I settled in. I was happy here. The setting is another story because it’s so beautiful that I don’t think it really inspires, the sunsets, the beautiful landscapes… In the cinema, it doesn’t work for me. You want to say to the actor: “Move over, we can’t see the rest“The cage is beautiful, but the birds are wonderful too, we must not forget that.
We have often been unable to “define” you. Since you were unclassifiable, neither fashion nor rocker, the words “moKeur” were written on the band of your cigar: cynical, nonchalant, dilettante, equivocal, I-don’t-care, wacky, paradoxical, schoolboy, provocative, sarcastic. What do you think of that?
Holy cow, that’s a lot! It’s like a cocktail, I don’t know what’s going to come out of it, you really have to shake it to find the right dosage.
Does the word “mokeur” suit you a bit?
Yes, it’s okay. Why not?
There is a lot of humor. For example, you write: “I stopped believing in Santa Claus the day he asked me for my autograph in a shopping mall.“. Is this one of your strongest personality traits?
I don’t know, no.
“I have humorous outbursts at times.”
Jacques Dutroncto franceinfo
It happens. It’s better to laugh, I guess.
Is this armor of some sort?
Oh, if you want, but there are bulletproof vests now. There is something to laugh about anyway, but there is also something to cry about. You have to dry your tears with humor, at least if you feel them coming. It comes from my parents, well from my father. My mother was suffering, poor thing, she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Humor is also a kind of politeness.”
Jacques Dutroncto franceinfo
How the title was born: I like girls ? This song made a big splash, and still does today with its cover because there are women in panties in a car. The photo is incredible, taken from above.
It was Jacques Lanzmann who noticed that I liked him. And he did too, for that matter, since he was editor-in-chief of Him and of PlayboyI think. They were newspapers that supposedly sold for their reports, their political interviews, etc. Let’s not exaggerate, guys bought them for this or that thing. I might offend more than one person, but they were the same people who, earlier, bought the Redoute catalogue or the Trois Suisses to see women’s panties.
Was there a before and after? I like girls compared to success?
Some simpletons said: “You said the girls from La Rochelle and I’m not on the list“. So there, we never finished and I answered them: it’s not a user manual, it’s an example. I like girls of this, of that… I like campers: camper and beyond reproach, all that, I like a lot. It’s like Bayard, women are good. And even if we don’t like women later, because we have a partner, I don’t care, there’s a mother after all.