On Françoise Hardy's Soleil

I spent the middle of April thinking about Françoise Hardy's Soleil. Though the title of Françoise's song screams summer, the song itself reminds me of rainy Sunday afternoons. As always, her voice and the lyrics of her songs take me to a comforting space where I could relax and just feel at ease. 

One thing I realise recently is that  these days, I rarely spend time listening to Françoise songs. In the past–when I was still a university student– I used to spend most of my time listening to her albums while doing all my tasks. I particularly liked her sad songs from her 60s albums because those songs provided a space where I could just reflect on life and make something out of those reflections. As much as I loved school, it didn't provide me the space I needed to express myself creatively. Françoise songs gave me what I needed without anyone telling me what I should and shouldn't do, and without anyone grading whatever I was doing. 

Another reason why I love Françoise's albums is that I just really love sad songs. Happy songs don't just give me the same inspiration that I get from listening to sad songs. With happy songs, it seems as if the story ends when the song ends. Sad songs are not like that. The stories continue even after the songs end, and listeners are given the power to continue the songs. 

Anyway, my older-self agrees that I'm now past Françoise Hardy's earlier albums but I'm not putting pressure on myself to start playing her other albums. I'm just going with the flow and letting the waves take me back to her albums. If my older-self won't like her other albums, I guess that just means that my connection with her albums has already run its course, and that there's nothing wrong about it. It just means that I'm given the chance to discover other artists and new songs. 

June 12, 2024

Continuing this blog post today is very different now that I've just learned of Françoise's death. I'm listening to her songs as I'm typing this and it feels sad that this is how life is taking me back to her albums. This is the first time I'm experiencing grief over a fave singer's death. I'm not really sure what to feel. 

When I first discovered her songs about 9 years ago, I was 17 and was not really thinking about ageing. I never thought that people I admire: singers, writers and artists, would eventually die and that I'll mourn their passing. As someone who used to spend most of her time thinking about change and the passing of time, it's weird that I never thought of my fave signers and artists dying. I guess because I used to spend most of my time immersed in their works, I thought of them as my life's constants: People who are always there with me through their works. How can you think about people leaving you when they are always close to you and always with you? I never thought that it is through Françoise Hardy that I'll ask myself this question.

August 7, 2024

Today is the 9th anniversary of the night I discovered Françoise Hardy's Tous Les Garcons Et Les Filles. I can't remember most of what happened during that night, all I know is that it was the start of what would become a deep admiration for 60s songs. I'm writing this while listening to The Byrd's Goin Back, and I think that song perfectly captured what I'm feeling right now: I feel young and old at the same time. 

I love Kenny Roger's THE GAMBLER

 ....because I think that we are all gamblers. 

Anyway, this post is not about The Gambler. I love that song but I currently don't have the energy to dedicate a blog post explaining why I love that song and why I think anyone should give it a try. What I am enthusiastic to write about today are the following: 

LISTENING

Sleepy me on a Monday morning chose to listen to JFK's speeches on my way to work. This week was the first time I really listened to any of JFK's speeches because it was only this time that I became curious about speeches. I used to think speeches don't matter, but now I understand how powerful well-written speeches could be.

The Rice University Speech, in particular, surprised me because I didn't know Space Race was really big during the Cold War. When I hear news about space explorations and satellite photos from the outer space, it never came to me that all these advancements we see now are results of the space race, and that people 60 years ago were just dreaming to do these whole space exploration thing. It makes one realise how far we've achieved since the 1950s and 1960s. It's cool and scary at the same time.  

So because I was already listening to JFK's speeches, I thought I should go and listen to Bob Dylan's Murder Most Foul. The song was released 4 years ago– during the early days of the lockdown– and it's about the JFK assassination. As someone who discovered JFK through Bob Dylan, I remember feeling really happy when Bob first released Murder Most Foul. It was like this unexpected cross-over I didn't know I needed during the lockdown. But as much as I enjoy Dylan songs, Murder Most Foul didn't hit me right away 4 years ago. I found it confusing and out of my depth. It was also 16 mins long, probably Bob's longest song ever, and the last thing I wanted to do during the lockdown was to listen to a long sombre song about JFK. 

Fast forward to 2024, I now appreciate this song and its length. I still don't consider it as a favourite, but I enjoy the way it was written. The changing narrators is really cool because there's a part in the song where the narrator is JFK himself. As a listener, it's a delight to see how this writing style can also be used in songwriting. 

I remember one book from years ago I saw at a secondhand bookshop, it's called Berlin by Rory MacLean. The book is about the history of the city and unlike other history books, I remember how its chapters were written in different styles.One particular chapter, the one about JFK's visit to Berlin, was written like it was a script from a movie. The changing writing style is a great way to tell a story, and I appreciate   writers who try to experiment with that.

WRITING

I just want to write and write because I'm about to empty my first ever Diamine fountain pen ink. It's one of the inks I bought 3 years ago, back when I thought it would only take 2 weeks of daily writing to empty a 50ml bootle of ink. Joke's on me.

1 bottle down, 11 more to go.

READING

I started reading Graham Greene's The End of the Affair but I stopped when I reached the third part because things got confusing. These days I don't pressure myself to try to understand confusing storylines and dialogues. I used to challenge myself with trying to make sense of everything , but now I give myself time and space to do other things, and continue the novel once my mind's a little more clear and accommodating to confusing and challenging ideas. So far the strategy is really helpful. Less pressure= happier life.

To end this post, Kenny Rogers in The Gambler said we should know when to walk away, and with that I'll end this post. Thanks, Kenny!