Almost everyone knows the melody of Edith Piaf\u2019s “La vie en rose<\/em>.“<\/em> The song was first aired in the 1940s and we have been hearing it ever since.<\/p>\n While perhaps a bit overly romantic, the lyrics and dreamy music will make you want to fall in love with French all over again.<\/p>\n As a bonus, it’s sung slowly, so it’s easy for newbie and intermediate students to follow.<\/p>\n Carla Bruni is something of a national treasure in France, and her album “<\/em>Quelqu\u2019un m\u2019a dit”<\/i><\/a> is truly lovely to listen to. The album\u2019s title track, “<\/em>Quelqu\u2019un m\u2019a dit,” <\/i>is a classic in French culture.<\/p>\n If you like songs about love and broken hearts, this album is a great option. A number of the tracks were used in international film and television in the years since the album\u2019s release.<\/p>\n Serge Gainsbourg was the heavy smoking bad boy of the Parisian music scene.<\/p>\n Brigitte Bardot was the French Marilyn Monroe and sweetheart of French cinema.<\/p>\n Put the two of them together, and you get Bonnie and Clyde!<\/p>\n Between Serge\u2019s raspy singing and Brigitte\u2019s sultry voice, you\u2019re sure to get chills. The song is sung at an almost criminally slow pace, which will help you follow along.<\/p>\n This song is from the “Jane Birkin\/Serge Gainsbourg”<\/a> album, and it was released back when Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin were dating.\u00a0<\/p>\n The album is packed with songs about relationships, all sung by the couple at the height of their romance\u2014including the infamous track “Je t\u2019aime\u2026.moi non plus.”<\/em><\/p>\n It might be controversial sometimes, but you\u2019ll learn a lot about \u201860s French society while brushing up on your romantic vocabulary.<\/p>\n “Ta f\u00eate”\u00a0<\/em>is from Belgian musician Stromae’s dance album “<\/em>Racine Carr\u00e9e”<\/i><\/a>, which has African and Caribbean influences. It talks about themes as diverse as social networks, cancer, AIDS and relationship problems.<\/p>\n The songs are based around dance beats and therefore tend to be very easy to understand. In fact, most of the album was a huge hit in France.<\/p>\n While Celine Dion is best known internationally for her English hits, she has released a whole batch of albums<\/a> in her native Canadian-French, targeted at Francophone countries.<\/p>\n The singer uses her signature \u201cdiva\u201d tone in the songs, and they’re remarkably easy to follow and understand. Themes and lyrics are repeated from time to time, making it much easier to understand French songs as you go.<\/p>\n Light and jolly, with touches of a countryside feel to it, “Je lui dirai”<\/em> is a delightful song. It’s sung by a mother to her son about what he ought to know about life, in the past, present and future. A truly beautiful piece matched with a relaxing melody sung by C\u00e9lion Dion\u2019s powerful voice.<\/p>\n It’s a very soothing choice to learn French with songs on a sunny day.<\/p>\n Zaz is a contemporary musician who dabbles in jazz, soul and French acoustic, producing a unique sound. Her self-titled album<\/a> was a huge success in Francophone countries, reaching the tops of the charts.<\/p>\n Her trademark is upbeat tunes with a clear voice and neutral tone. It\u2019s very easy to follow the words in “Je veux<\/em>,” and the song is worth listening to for the lyrics alone.<\/p>\n Here’s a quick lesson on the song, courtesy of the FluentU French YouTube channel<\/a>:<\/p>\n French musician Matthieu Chedid came up with the -M- persona to combat his shyness on stage. Since then, it just stuck.<\/p>\n His album “Mister Myst\u00e8re”<\/i><\/a> was his first hit after a six-year musical hiatus and received overwhelmingly positive reviews.<\/p>\n Blending musical styles to create an innovative mix, this signature track\u00a0is great to listen to in order to wind down and top off your French learning at the same time.<\/p>\n This song by French pop artist Vitaa is primarily about betrayal. One friend, who was treated like a close sister by the other, betrayed the other when she slept with the other\u2019s boyfriend.<\/p>\n The lyrics are written with feelings of both anger and sadness. Torn between wanting to forgive her, reminiscing about the past and basking in fury, the melancholic melody serves as a beautiful complement to the woeful words.<\/p>\n Vanessa Paradis is a name with which you might be more familiar thanks to her relationship with Johnny Depp. Paradis is also a hugely popular singer in French-speaking countries. “<\/em>Variations sur le m\u00eame t\u2019aime”<\/i><\/a> is often named as her most coherent album.<\/p>\n For the track “Tandem,”<\/em> Paradis employed music stalwart Serge Gainsbourg to help her with the lyrics and, as a result, it’s the most well-known song in the album.<\/p>\n Stacey Kent is actually an American singer-songwriter. But when you listen to her jazz album “Raconte-moi,”<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>it\u2019s hard to believe it hadn\u2019t been taken directly from Paris.<\/p>\n The signature song “Raconte-moi”<\/em> is easy to follow, with a clear and authentic French accent. Because the whole album is dedicated to her grandfather, it\u2019s useful for gaining an insight into French colloquialisms<\/a> and terms of address.<\/p>\n Daniel Balavoine was a popular French rock singer who stood up for human rights. He spoke out against racism and economic discrimination when interracial relationships were still taboo in France.<\/p>\n The message behind his song “La vie ne m\u2019apprend rien” <\/em>will stay with you long after you\u2019ve heard it. For any learner who wants to know just what life is all about, Daniel Balavoine will tell you in this song.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a pop-rock fan, you might fall in love with Calogero. The music is upbeat, with lyrics that are both seductive and fun. Don\u2019t be worried if you can\u2019t hit the same high notes\u2014the singer\u2019s frail voice is his trademark.<\/p>\n The song will help you with pesky French pronunciation<\/a> when speaking quickly, like when the singer croons \u201ccomme je crois<\/em>\u201d (as I believe) as only a Frenchman can.\u00a0<\/p>\n French singer Camille’s album “Le Fil”<\/i><\/a> is worth listening to if you’re into experimental pop that’s light and mesmerizing, with thoughtful lyrics. It had been likened to Bjork\u2019s “<\/em>Med\u00falla,”<\/i><\/a>\u00a0mostly because Camille uses her voice as an instrument.<\/p>\n The album contains a drone note on purpose for every track. Camille calls the sound \u201cher note\u201d and uses it to thread together all of the songs on the record.<\/p>\n If you like soul music, consider listening to Ben L\u2019Oncle Soul.<\/p>\n His “Live Paris”<\/a> album was recorded over the course of one night, with accompaniment by a contemporary soul band. It contains all of the hit songs from the singer\u2019s career, including “Petite Soeur<\/em>.”<\/p>\n As well as being a fun way to learn French with music, the songs are irresistibly upbeat and will put a smile on your face!<\/p>\n Florent Pagny is known for his emotional ballads and extremely poetic music. However, \u201cMa libert\u00e9 de penser<\/em>\u201d is a much more sarcastic song.<\/p>\n Back then, Pagny had gotten into trouble with the French tax department and had the majority of his assets seized. Pagny responded by comparing the French taxman to the devil, telling him to take everything he wants and leave the singer with his freedom to think.<\/p>\n Light and upbeat, “Il est temps”<\/em> speaks about the separation of a couple and the impact it has for the male partner. The song is a piece that expresses the insecurities, the nostalgia and the longing felt by him.<\/p>\n With an atypical melody that doesn\u2019t sound overly doleful, it\u2019s a cool and relaxing song to listen to for all occasions.<\/p>\n This is one of the most popular French songs of all time. It\u2019s about a war fought between the Dana tribe and the Celtic warriors.<\/p>\n In fact, the song reads like a story. It starts off with a prelude to hail the beginning of the war, then progresses to when the battle started and finally ends on a victorious note, with the singer\/narrator becoming the king of Dana.<\/p>\n Rapid and clever, Manau delivers yet another hit song with “Con j\u2019pense<\/em>.” This is a bit difficult to listen to because it contains a lot of slang<\/a>, but it shows you a\u00a0more colloquial side of French.<\/p>\n Con roughly means “idiot,” although it’s quite a bit more rude. In the title, it’s a play on the word quand (when) which sounds like con<\/em> when spoken in a Southern French accent<\/a>.<\/p>\n This rap from Fatal Bazooka is another challenging piece of music in French. With lots of cultural references and colloquial terms, it\u2019ll take a while to figure out.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re on a slightly more advanced level, I highly recommend this for deepening your understanding of French \u201cstreet\u201d culture.<\/p>\n The title is a play on French word t<\/em>ranquillement<\/em>\u00a0(quietly\/calmly), and the k<\/em> probably replaces qu<\/em>\u00a0to make it sound cooler.<\/p>\n Gr\u00e9gory Lemarchal was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as an infant, so he had to overcome many obstacles to even start his pop music career.<\/p>\n The young singer overcame his illness to sing songs like \u201c\u00c9cris l\u2019histoire.<\/em>\u201d Sadly, the young Gr\u00e9gory passed away in 2007 due to health complications. Fortunately, his memory lives on in all his fans who rightly feel like he left them too soon.<\/p>\n “Vois sur ton chemin”<\/em> is one of the theme songs of the internationally acclaimed film, “Les Choristes”<\/em><\/a> (The Choir). The movie is about a music teacher who works at a school for troubled boys and tries to change this status quo through music.<\/p>\n The song speaks of the fragility of childhood, which complements the movie. Sung by a French choir, it has a mesmerizing tune and meaningful lyrics.<\/p>\n That’s already an entire playlist of French songs for learning French! Here are three strategies for making the most out of these:\u00a0<\/p>\n It’s important to choose French songs that suit your current ability.<\/p>\n For instance, I had about three years of experience learning French when I tried to listen to French rap, but I could barely make out individual words that were rapped. Instead, when I changed to some easier-to-understand classics (like Disney songs in French!), I could make out more words and phrases in the piece.<\/p>\n All you have to do is compile a list of 10 to 20 songs, then hit them up on YouTube and do a quick gut check. If everything you hear sounds like gibberish to you, that\u2019s a good indicator that it\u2019s a definite no-no for you. But if you can start catching a few French words here and there, then go for it!\u00a0<\/p>\n Here’s a simple strategy: commit to listening to two French songs a day<\/strong> for at least<\/i> an entire month.<\/p>\n Every day, listen to each song three times<\/strong>:<\/p>\n You can then look\u00a0up the official lyrics on the internet and see how much you got right. LyricsTranslate<\/a> is a great resource for this.<\/p>\n Here’s a video that shows how you can use this approach to\u00a0break down French songs word for word:\u00a0<\/p>\n Do this every day, and give yourself a big pat on the back once you can decode your favorite song!<\/p>\n For more learning support when learning with songs, you could try a resource like FluentU<\/a>. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p> \r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n2. “Quelqu\u2019un<\/em> m\u2019a dit” \u2014 <\/i>Carla Bruni<\/h2>\n
3. “Bonnie and Clyde” \u2014 <\/em>Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot<\/h2>\n
4. “Je<\/em> t\u2019aime\u2026 moi non plus” <\/i>\u2014 <\/em>Serge Gainsbourg ft. Jane Birkin<\/h2>\n
5. “Ta f\u00eate” <\/em>\u2014<\/em>\u00a0Stromae<\/h2>\n
6. “On<\/em> ne change pas” \u2014 <\/i>Celine Dion<\/h2>\n
7. “Je lui dirai”<\/em> by Celine Dion<\/h2>\n
8. “Je veux”<\/em> \u2014 Zaz<\/h2>\n
9. “Mister Myst\u00e8re<\/i>” \u2014 -M-<\/h2>\n
10. “Ma soeur” <\/em>\u2014\u00a0Vitaa<\/h2>\n
11. “Tandem” <\/em>\u2014 Vanessa Paradis<\/h2>\n
12. “Raconte-moi” <\/i>\u2014 Stacey Kent<\/h2>\n
13. “La vie ne m\u2019apprend rien” <\/em>\u2014\u00a0Daniel Balavoine<\/h2>\n
14. “Aussi libre que moi” <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 Calogero<\/strong><\/h2>\n
15. “La jeune fille aux cheveux blancs” \u2014 <\/i>Camille<\/h2>\n
16. “Petite soeur” <\/em>\u2014 Ben L\u2019Oncle Soul<\/h2>\n
17. “Ma libert\u00e9 de penser” <\/em>\u2014\u00a0Florent Pagny<\/h2>\n
18. “Il est temps” <\/em>\u2014 Kyo<\/h2>\n
19. “La tribu de Dana” <\/em>\u2014\u00a0Manau<\/h2>\n
20. “Con j\u2019pense” <\/em>\u2014 Manau<\/h2>\n
21. “Trankillement” <\/em>\u2014 Fatal Bazooka<\/h2>\n
22. “\u00c9cris l’histoire” <\/em>\u2014\u00a0Gr\u00e9gory Lemarchal<\/h2>\n
23. “<\/em>Vois sur ton chemin”\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc<\/em><\/h2>\n
How to\u00a0Learn French with Songs and Music<\/b><\/h2>\n
Choose songs that match your level<\/h3>\n
Listen\u00a0every<\/em> day<\/h3>\n
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