June 2006.   Within the last 3 months, I have gone from never heard of her works, to a full-blown fan. Make that a CDs owning, tunes humming, lyrics memorized, card-carrying fan! I even studied her biography. I must say I'm impressed on several fronts, including her remarkable career of over 4 decades.

I initially came across her music when I was exploring the French music scene, looking for songs that appeal to me musically, as a language learning aid. Soon, I discovered Keren Ann, who cited Françoise Hardy as her main influence.

Françoise's musical style seems to strike a chord with both my childhood and current taste, as well as being highly culturally and stylistically compatible. To me, she exemplifies simple elegance and personal dignity, despite spectacular commercial success and fame. Such unstudied elegance and grace, is in stark contrast to the contrived glamour, elaborate gimmicks and other excessiveness that is all-too-common.

A breath of fresh air, indeed, along side the likes of Britney Spears of today, who routinely see it fit to cross-over to soft porn (needlessly) in 2.6 albums flat on the average,

Une dame élégante avec une voix enchanteresse. Ma chanteuse préféré.

Sam C. Chan

not to mention incessant streams of mischievous folies du jour. Not only do I sneer at non-"artists" like that, I also find it hard to respect those fans who find it not appalling.

I designated Je suis moi as one of my two theme songs. Musically, it's not my No. 1 top favorite (see below) among the long list of her songs that I like. The melancholic-yet-resolute lyrics and her very characteristic rendition reflect my sentiment exactly. Bravo, Françoise ! ( et merci ! )

See Also:

• http://francoise-hardy.org (my tribute site)
• http://francoise-hardy.com (site officiel en français)
• Introduction to Keren Ann Zeidel
• Music and Linguistics
• Why I Learn French?
• My Theme Songs