“Maritie and Gilbert Carpentier are happy to present to you, pay attention the show is about to start…”. No, no, ladies and gentlemen, I am not watching a videotape, but rather listening to a song on a regional radio station. Who is singing?
The last notes are felt: the festive return to the seventies has lasted exactly 3 minutes and 48 seconds. The host then announces that it’s the latest single from Bénabar, from his album titled “Reprise des négociations” released on October 21, 2005.
«Is this a new one? His music is nice and lively!» I said. Christelle, my driver (yes, I carpool, the cost of living demands it!), is surprised: «You don’t know Bénabar? He’s the one who sings ‘Je suis de celles’, a beautiful song that doesn’t just talk about women but also about exclusion in general, about people who are rejected because they are not understood.” And she starts to hum. “Ah! Yes, I know it, but I didn’t know it was him who sang it.” Lie. Deciding to fill my gap in French musical knowledge, I rush to buy his third solo album. Yes, already 3! Indeed, I am behind! Especially since his second album “Risques du métier” won at the Victoires de la Musique in 2004 as variety album of the year with over 500,000 copies sold not to mention the some 350 concerts over the past three years. Well enough about numbers! The CD is in my stereo and I let myself be transported into Bénabar’s universe.
Yummy! Let’s start with “Le Dîner”, or rather should I say: “No to dinner with friends”. Pizza, TV, duvet, you and me. An evening tête-à-tête with “a masterpiece of the 7th art”, you know that “very committed drama about the St Tropez police” where De Funès fights with aliens. Isn’t that a better program!
Next, in “4 murs et un toit”, a couple envisions a future together.
Further on, a man offers “Bruxelles” to his beloved. How original and poetic this singer is! I too would like my lover to gift me a city: Why not Nice? The cries of my little brother bring me back to reality. Perfect timing! “La Berceuse” from this young father comes just right to accompany baby to dreamland. After Corneille and Obispo, it’s Bénabar’s turn to dedicate an original song to his child. “But it seems to be working!” The little angel has closed his eyes, he is so well-behaved, “it’s wonderful” Thank you, Ben! It’s worth “a souvenir photo to keep”. Ah, speaking of photos! “Group photos, friends that we pin up”, “from vacations”, “from a birthday”. “Framed” or “stored in a drawer those we no longer want to see”. They remind us of the scents of times past like the “Spices of the Cairo souk“.
From amusement, we move to “a gloomy depression that flaunts the blues”. “It’s only a sad companion, a plague that whispers: ‘Don’t forget everything drifts away and only tears remain’”. Today, alas, we live in a world where the strongest shut their doors on the weakest, where neighbors ignore each other, where everyone lives without caring for others: Loneliness, lies, poverty, social exclusion. “But don’t cry, it will get better” “What did you want me to tell him?” Unless a “James Bond villain” comes “to threaten the planet and subdue the world”! And maybe this hero “with a sardonic laugh” would neither be fired, nor divorced, nor deprived of the custody of his children. It’s indeed an idea.
But why is he laughing? A “Fou rire” at a funeral, that’s quite unusual and impolite and yet, he dared to laugh during the funeral ceremony. “It was surely nervous, in any case it wasn’t the moment” Crying, “was still a bit more proper” because the “beloved deceased” wasn’t “there as before to laugh”.
In the penultimate scene titled “Tu peux compter sur moi“, one might think Bénabar is making a hymn to friendship but in fact, he is being ironic about the growing individualism of our society: “If you need me, no matter the problem, to lend you a hand if other doors close. Mine is open without question, without condition, just need to agree on the date I have obligations.” Yes, my dear friend, personal obligations come first today!
The “Reprise des négociations” ends beautifully with a note of nostalgia written in “Le cahier de solfège“.
The page turns, I leave the new album by Bénabar. The journey lasted 45 minutes and 56 seconds. Twelve films of mundane stories in which everyone finds a little bit of themselves.
I have just described to you with my humble words some images from the films of this third album, but you might say music is not read, it is listened to! So, I highly invite you to “swing”, “slow” on the Bénabar pop planet! Natural and sincere, this popular singer will be among us on March 17, 2006 where he will perform at La Palestre au Cannet. Hurry up because it seems that most of his tour is sold out!
In the meantime, learn his songs well because the “bénabarian” audience tends to join in on the choruses. Friendly atmosphere guaranteed!
To find out other tour dates for Bénabar, visit his official website: www.benabar.com
