FRANCOISE HARDY

FRANCOISE HARDY
COMMENT TE DIRE ADIEU (1968)
320 KBPS

This is an excellent album. Francoise Hardy specialises in the autumnal, and a couple of numbers apart (the jazzy 'Etonnez-Moi Benoit...' and the sublime camp-cool opener 'Comment te Dire Adieu') the mood is reflective and often melancholy - without lapsing into dullness. Fine examples of Hardy's own songwriting such as 'Les Etoiles et Le Mer' and 'A Quoi Ca sert?' (with proto-Nymanesque intrumental passage in the middle) keep fitting company with covers of Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne', Gainsbourg's 'L'anamour' (better than his own version, I feel), subdued Brazilian piece 'Mesange' and a pleasant French version of 'Lonesome Town'.
Highlights for me are: the title track itself, in which Hardy's breathy detached voice drifts over a flamboyant orchestral tune and a latin beat; the wistful closing number 'Les Etoiles et Le mer'; and the gorgeous 'Ou Va La Chance?', a glorious weepy which has the sweetest, loneliest music and voice, without ever quite becoming sacharine.
Never less than good, this is record worth playing all the way through, and that makes it a rarity for me. It's a well structured, charming, and sometimes moving, artefact. Recommended for FH fans and also simply fans of good pop songs.

1. Comment Te Dire Adieu
2. Où Va La Chance
3. L'anamour
4. Suzanne
5. Il N'y A Pas D'amour Heureux
6. La Mésange
7. Parlez Moi De Lui
8. A Quoi Ça Sert
9. Il Vaut Mieux Une Petite Maison Dans La Main Qu'un Chateau Dans Les Nuages
10. La Rue Des Coeurs Perdus
11. Etonnez-Moi, Benoît
12. La Mer Les Etoiles Et Le Vent