I’ve been meaning to check out Françoise Hardy’s music for ages, and finally took the Spotify plunge. There is plenty that I like the sound of, but I love this album. It is pop music (released in 1962, the same year as The Beatles’ first single) stripped right down to its barest essentials: catchy melodies, simple lyrics, great riffs and effortless cool. She’s like some super-stylish chanteuse singing over Johnny Cash’s backing band.
And I can absolutely see that why Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger were falling over themselves to try to be her boyfriend:
All the boys and girls my age walk down the street in pairs
All the boys and girls my age know well what it means to be happy
Yes, but I, I walk the streets alone, the lost soul
Yes, but I, I am alone, because nobody loves me
They never stood a chance against that kind of ammunition.
Current Favourite Thing:
Probably ‘Tous les garçons’, although ‘Ça a raté’ and ‘Il est tout pour moi’ are pretty great too – also, I love that she’s still making albums, and is revered in France as a deity.