All summer, we talk about a great love song every day. Wednesday July 19, the first big success of the singer of “La Montagne” with the adaptation of a text by Louis Aragon.
In 1964, and for quite some time afterwards, there were comedians to make fun of this sentence: “What would I be without you, but this stammering”. It’s been like that since poets have been poets and fools, fools.
But there is a real need, in 1964, for Jean Ferrat to sing What will I be without you, song he carved out of Prose of happiness and Elsa, a long love poem by Louis Aragon for his companion Elsa Triolet, published in 1956. And Ferrat retains an important passage for him, a variety artist from the time of transistors and yé-yé.
In this episode of These songs that make the summeryou hear excerpts from:
Jean Ferrat, What will I be without you, 1964
Jean Ferrat, The mountain, 1964
Leo Ferre, the stranger, 1961
Georges Brassens, There is no happy love, 1953
Leo Ferre, red poster, 1961
Louis Aragon, Elsa’s Eyes, 1956
Andre Claveau, Elsa’s Eyes, 1956
Jean Ferrat, Elsa’s Eyes, 1956
Jean Ferrat and Christine Sevres, We will sleep together 1964
Jean Ferrat, What will I be without you, 1964
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And you can also find on this link the podcast 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.