The attack on the Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, is a reminder that the song confesses its fascination with this type of crime – starting with the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Published
Reading time: 8 min
On July 14, 2002, a man tried to assassinate the President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac. And, the following year, Arthur H put his desire for all power and notoriety to music in this strange song – and unique in the memory of our popular music.
You heard it this week on franceinfo, a man shot Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. And this attack arouses emotion in all democracies. And it is obviously towards the United States that the mind immediately turns, this democracy whose four presidents were assassinated – including John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1963.
In the second episode of These songs that make the news broadcast this weekend, you hear excerpts from:
Arthur H, July 14, 2002, 2003
Doc Gynéco, The man who wasn’t worth ten cents, 1998
Alpha Wann at Nekfeu, Gun and fire, 2014
I AM, Soundbwoi, 2021
Lou Reed, The Day John Kennedy Died, 1999
Serge Reggiani, A century later, 1970
Marc Kudish, Everybody’s Got the Right (In Assassins), 2004
James Barbour, Gun Song (in Assassins), 2004
Dogbowl, The President Was Shot, 1998
The Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the Devil, 1968
Arthur H, July 14, 2002, 2003
You can also follow the news of this column on Twitter.
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.