Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Jean Ferrat


La Commune
Lyrics: George Coulonges / Music: Jean Ferrat

One hundred years ago common policy, as hope begins
They rose to the Commune listening sing Potier
One hundred years ago common policy, as a star in the sky
They were living in the Commune listening sing Clement

They were ironworkers sensitive to signs
They were carpenters with a hundred strokes of planes

To defend Paris they became mobilized
They were blacksmiths who became militiamen

One hundred years ago common policy, as artisans and laborers
They fought for the Commune listening sing Potier
One hundred years ago common common as workers and craftsmen
They fought for the Commune listening sing Clement

Become soldiers with civilian minds
They were federated and planted a flag
Disputing the future paved in the cityThey were blacksmiths who became heroes
One hundred years ago common policy, as hope became charnel

They saw the Commune die, ah! Let me sing Potier
One hundred years ago common policy, as a star in the sky
They went out to the Commune, listen to sing Clement.

This is my terrible translation of La Commune, sung by Jean Ferrat, who composed the music and died Sunday at age 79. He was born ot a modest Jewish family in 1930. His father was deported to Auschwitz during WW2 and died there.

Ferrat dropped out of school to support his family and in the mid 50's started performing in Parisian cabaret and started to write songs.
He was always strongly political and many of his songs were controversial and even was banned from the radio because of their communist politics. He remained very popular and recieved many awards for his music. He was one of the last of a tradition of La Chanson Francais, French singers who wrote in the language and celebrated the language, like Brassens, Brel, or Barbara.

He stopped performing in the mid 70's, but he is still remembered and loved. The song, The Commune, commemorates the free Paris in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. Paris held out, embattled and under seige. The people declared a revolutionary socialist commune which was brutally crushed by the French Army. Thousands were massacred for their dreams..

9 comments:

Laci the Chinese Crested said...

Likewise, the progressive movement has been killed in the USA.

-Sepp said...

Hey MD! Sorry for going off topic, I just got home yesterday from your neck of the woods...sorry i didn't pop in and visit ya! Did a nice tour of the Maginot line with some French Maginot preservationist group in Tionville and Hackenburg.
Catch you next time!
-sepp

Engineer of Knowledge said...

Hello Muddy,
Wow...what a great story and very informative. Thanks for passing this on.

Laci,
You are so correct as even the Republican Progressive movement at the turn of the century has been killed and yes, even rewritten here in the USA. As we have spoken about before, Ron Paul, Teabaggers, complemented by the John Birch Society; are Booing Teddy Roosevelt at public meetings. Teddy Roosevelt that for over 100 years has been revered as one of our greatest Presidents, is now being vilified by these extreme groups that are gaining strength within my Republican Party. Yes Teddy Roosevelt whose image is on Mount Rushmore along with Jefferson, Washington, and Lincoln. I should also pass on at this time that even Jefferson this year is soon to be removed from Texas School Board Books as even being involved with crafting the U.S. Constitution. Talk about rewriting history!

Laci the Chinese Crested said...

The US has been re-writing its history since its inception. Did the native Americans gladly give up their land to the Europeans? The War for Independence was the First US Civil war, even though it turned into a "world war" with French, Spanish, and othe countries participation.

The US has neglected its imperialist past with the Mexican-American War. That was a war that produced loads of unintended consequences, which may be one of the reasons for its being forgotten.

Anyway, EoK may appreciate my Nixon as a liberal comment, which he would be by today's reactionary standards.

microdot said...

Sepp, nice to hear from you and I will check out your blog to find out your thoughts on visiting this strange land.
Did you get to see the Sarkozy Box? There is a diplomatic incident brewing between the UK and france over tyhe repeated metioning of "hidden dwarves" and Sarkozy's use of a box to make himself look taller when standing behid a podium....
He's already go very famous elevator shoes.

microdot said...

Hey, Engineer, have you ever read the history of the Paris Commune? An incredible tragic history. There is a wall in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery with a very moving sculpture that represents the site of a mass grave where hundreds of Paris Communards were massacred and buried anonymously.
It's hard to grasp, when you are in Paris, with all the grand architecture and beauty that it has been the site of continous bloodshed and struggles since its beginning before the Romans.
It was originally Lutece and didn't become Paris until around 300 AD.

Anonymous said...

You may want to know what T. R. really thought:
http://books.google.com/books?id=vz8OAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA8&dq=theodore+roosevelt+paris+commune&hl=en&ei=2d81TMahDIOpnQe1r-HmAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

He disliked the Paris Commune intensely, easily verified thru many of his writings.

Anonymous said...

Better example, T.R. was against tyranny in any form and a great American:http://books.google.com/books?id=uRjjvfrm5gUC&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=theodore+roosevelt+paris+commune&source=bl&ots=kKOgECFgjy&sig=3DC1PcQUPxBLQdkF06El7yIvgvc&hl=en&ei=afM1TJ2YN4WjnQfMppiQBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CDQQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false

microdot said...

The Paris Commune had nothing to do with tyranny. Who ever you are, anonymous, you obviously have some kind of agneda tht goes far beyond the scope of the Paris Commune.
Thanks for the trolling, now go back under your bridge at the end of the lane by the outhouse.