April 22 — “Fondu au Noir” by Cœur de Pirate

Cœur de Pirate

If you only listen to one song today, make it “Fondu au Noir” by Cœur de Pirate (2008, from the album Cœur de Pirate).
Cœur de Pirate is the stage name of 22-year old indie singer-songwriter/pianist Béatrice Martin, who is from Montréal. She has released two albums under the Cœur de Pirate moniker. Although she is fluent in English and has played in some English-language bands, when she’s Cœur de Pirate, she sings in her native French.

She learned to play the piano at age three and started playing in bands when she was 15. It wasn’t, however, until she became Cœur de Pirate a few years later that she really took off. Her debut record was released one week shy of her 19th birthday, and it was nominated for “Francophone album of the year” at the 2009 Juno Awards. It was also long-listed for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize. Her song “Comme des Enfants”, from that album, won the “Award” for “Best reason to learn French” at the CBC’s 2009 Bucky Awards.

I heard Cœur de Pirate a couple of years ago and liked it quite a bit right away. For some reason, though, I didn’t get it until recently. I still don’t have the newer one, so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I really like this. I think it’s fair to say that she’s like a mixture of the instrumentation of Rachel’s and the French-sexiness of Autour de Lucie. Of course, Autour de Lucie is France French while Cœur de Pirate is Montréal French, but who’s really counting?

Like most of the French-language stuff that I listen to and love, I don’t really care about the fact that I don’t speak or understand spoken French. I have no idea what they’re ever singing about. In this case, I looked it up. I’ll give you the song, then the lyrics translation.

“Fondu au Noir” by Cœur de Pirate

The title translates to “Fade to Black”. It’s a lovely song, and it has a lot of the things that I love about music. A lot of things baiting the trap for me. Sultry female singing, piano, violin, glockenspiel. Mysterious Frenchy Frenchness. Did I say glockenspiel? Yes! Glockenspiel!

It may be about death, or about life’s last days anyway. At the very least, it’s about fading beauty, fading enthusiasm, fading hope. Giving up.

Certes tu passe comme de l’air, dans un monde sans musique
Dépourvu de tes nuances, un peu trop spécifiques
Tu nages en douleur et il est presque temps
De fermer les yeux, dans la mort qui t’attends

Et si ça fait mal c’est parce qu’il comprend pas
Que nul ne nage dans ton coeur depuis longtemps
Et si ça fait mal c’est parce qu’il te voit pas
Alors que ton sourire enfin s’éteindra.

Dors le mal est passé, il te rattrapera pas
Le souffle coupé, tu n’es plus son appât
Ta peine s’est fendue au délire des autres
Qui oublieront bien vite que tu n’es plus des nôtres

According to a lyrics translator, in English:

For sure you’re gone with the wind, in a world without music
Without your shades a bit too specific
You swim in pain and it’s almost time
to close your eyes in the death that awaits you

And if it hurts it’s because it/he doesn’t understand
That nothing has swum in your heart for so long
And if it hurts, it’s because it/he doesn’t see you
While your smile will eventually fade away

Sleep, the worst is over, it won’t get you
Out of breath, you’re no longer its pray
your efforts are useless to the madness of others
Who will forget quite quickly that you’re no longer one of us

Dark. Sad, actually. I don’t care, though. It’s a lovely song, and I can listen to it all day long. Someone who has a trained ear would probably say that it’s in a minor scale key. Perhaps even D minor, “the saddest of all keys”. I’m not smart enough for that. I’ll just say that it’s sad and beautiful. No matter, it’s my favorite song on the album. While I consider the rest of the album to be “quite good”, I consider “Fondu au Noir” to be “nearly perfect” for me.

Her second album Blonde was nominated for the 2012 Francophone album of the year at the Junos, and will be eligible for the 2012 Polaris Prize.
She’ll be touring France and the rest of French-speaking Europe this spring, then a short tour of North America including a couple of English-speaking places like Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and Toronto. She’s due to have a baby in July, so she’ll probably be out of commission for a little while after that.

You can (and should) buy Cœur de Pirate using this link. Blonde, and other Cœur de Pirate stuff are also available.