I'm going to Paris later this year (woo!) and to get in the mood, I've been listening to the latest album from punk icon Iggy Pop entitled Preliminaires which is, of all things, a jazz-influenced tribute to French literature, specifically the French sci-fi satire, The Possibility of an Island, by Michel Houellebecq.
I like several of the ballads on this album, including "Spanish Coast," "Insensatez," and the moody "I Want to Go to the Beach," but this one is my favorite and the only one he sings in French. You'd know "Les Feuilles Mortes" in English as the classic "Autumn Leaves." I never knew this 1945 song was originally French (lyrics by poet Jacques Prevert and music by Joseph Kosma--Johnny Mercer didn't write the English lyrics until 1947).
Iggy says he made the album "especially for France and people who speak French." C'est magnifique!
