What the summer 2015 hits say about French society
By Agathe Charnet
Published , Updated
World hit, piece dripping with good feelings or positive rap to ward off the economic crisis, the songs of the summer are witnesses and revealers of French society.
The long prelude to Indian Summer (1975), the bewitching melody of Lambada (1989) or the heady choruses of David Guetta (2000s). “We all have a summer hit in our hearts” could have sung Laurent Voulzy in Rockollection (1977). And if the French are so attached to their summer "tube" - the expression "tube" would have been popularized by Boris Vian in 1957, replacing the term "saucisson" used previously - it is because these songs have much more to say about France than it seems. Rehashed in supermarkets, hummed on the holiday highway or placed in the soundtrack of crazy dance parties, they are both witnesses and revealers of what marks a generation a posteriori.
While the month of August encourages us to invoke the demons of midnight, Le Figaro offers you a musical analysis of the hits of summer 2015.
France in the age of globalization: the global hits
From Bangkok to New York via Brive-la-Gaillarde, young people wiggle to these globalized hits that hammer home their success with subwoofers on the verge of implosion and texts often as sought-after as the beginning of the alphabet. This year, the most popular clips - which average around 300 million views on YouTube - are surfing on exoticism and the well-known equation of producers: (naked girls) + (suggestive lyrics) = guaranteed success. Major Lazer's Lean on takes place in a Maharajah's palace, while Nicki Minaj, in David Guetta's Hey Mama, engages in a most feminist fight: "Yes, I cook, yes I clean, yes , you are the boss and yes I will respect you”. If the detractors of these summer kings protest against the standardization of a world culture, these pieces at least have the merit of making the global village dance in unison.
Amorous turpitudes and great feelings: the Feel good songs
A deluge of good feelings flows through the ears of the listeners while Louane sings the first adolescent emotions in Jour 1 or the fiery Kendji declares his flamenco flame in Conmigo. These pieces are a bit to French song what L'amour est dans le pré is to the audiovisual landscape. Ignoring the ambient gloom, they combine simplicity with good humor and have nothing but love to share. Even rappers have a soft heart and Master Gims, eternally hidden behind his dark glasses, apostrophes his sweetheart: "I was supposed to love you but I saw the downpour, I blinked you were no longer the same, Do I love you? I don't know if I love you."
Summer hits at a time of crisis: “positive rap”
If the hit of the summer is generally linked to recklessness, some artists do not hesitate to get involved and dare to acknowledge the crisis. In Millionaire, the Soprano from Marseille castigates capitalism, “the fanatics and their weapons” and declares “want to be rich” only with the smile of his beauty. For his part, the rapper Nekfeu in We'll see paints the portrait of a sacrificed youth and advocates an uninhibited carelessness: "We'll see what the future will hold for us, go ahead, come on, we don't think about it" . If the masters of rap are moving further and further away from the clichés of rebels surrounded by pretty girls, the young Toulouse brothers Big Flo and Oli squarely advocate “positive rap” and deploy their musical universe on carefully written texts.
The discoveries of the Net: the hits of summer 2.0
It seems a long time ago when only the record companies designated one or two elected officials to make France vibrate! In 2015, Internet users also have their say and the LEJ trio from Seine-Saint-Denis is setting social networks on fire by approaching five million views in barely a week. On the cello and the snare drum, the three girls precisely take over the summer successes with their sweet voices. Finally, the stars of YouTube, true 2.0 idols of teenagers, are not to be outdone and the young "beauty YouTubers", Caroline and Safia, also offer a colorful clip with an aesthetic inspired by the Instagram social network. Let's Go has already been viewed more than a million times.
As we say, in 1960 as in 2015, whether it goes away or comes back, nothing is sung, danced or remembered better than a popular song!
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