When song was Robert Badinter’s ally

The fight against the death penalty of the lawyer, then Minister of Justice, was accompanied by many voices from popular music.

It was almost eighteen years ago already. Vincent Delerm saw the rise in France of a current of thought convinced that everything was better before – school, song, jam, society, before Simone Veil and before Robert Badinter.

And yesterday this man passed away, already making history for having abolished the death penalty. Of course, this formula is abusive, but this is what emotional parents say to their children: you know, it was he who abolished the death penalty in France.

But let us do the justice that he himself wanted to see done to all the others, to all the other voices who said the same thing as him.

In the first episode of These songs that make the news this weekend you hear excerpts from:

Vincent Delerm, Fingers full of sepia, 2006

Julien Clerc, The Murdered Assassin, 1980

Léo Ferré, Neither God nor master, 1969

Michel Sardou, I am for, 1976

Pierre Dac, The Nazis’ Lament, 1943

Fernandel, The Schpountz, 1938

Michel Polnareff, The Laze Ball, 1969

Fernandel, The Schpountz, 1938

Georges Brassens, The gorilla, 1952

Georges Brassens, The Hanged Man’s Mass, 1976

MC Jean Gab’1, Eighty-One, 2010

Tepa, Thank you, 2014

Vincent Delerm, Fingers full of sepia, 2006

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.