As Pope Francis celebrates mass in Marseille, let us note a cultural reality: in songs, the sovereign pontiff makes people laugh more than cry.
Every time a pope travels, whether in the poverty-stricken South, or here in the West, we inevitably think of this man in white, of Pope John Paul II, whose silhouette Pierre Bachelet drew in 1989, to the words by Jean-Pierre Lang. A pope missionary of justice, peace, love – and also of faith – whom Pope Francis took over, notably for a mass at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille.
But if France, a few centuries ago, housed the seat of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church at the time of the Avignon popes, we are also a country which happily puts the Pope in songs. Remember, at the time of the quarrels over the Latin Mass, in the 1970s.
In the first episode of These songs that make the news this weekend you hear excerpts from:
Pierre Bachelet, The Man in White, 1989
Georges Brassens, Storm in a font, 1976
Patrick Bruel, Rome, 2012
Jean Ferrat, Lustful vipers, 1985
Francoise Hardy, Zero Hardy, 1994
The Fabulous Trobadors, Friend, 2003
Charles Trenet, The Worried, 1972
Alain Souchon, The Pope Son, 1995
Michel Sardou, The Son of Ferdinand, 1972
Jean-Louis Murat, The Muslim Pope, 2005
Pierre Perret, The Life of the Pope, 2010
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.