So… after a 10 year pause for thought, Boum – especially us English ones – have become dimly conscious of  what the lyrics of all these fabulous French Chansons are about!  Often in the past, being attracted mainly by their exotic and mysterious musical delights, we would put on our ‘vie en rose’ sunglasses and invite an impressionistic understanding of the lyrics. Especially the ones with dodgy innuendos, which we could just classify by saying, ‘’ah well, those Frenchies! What are they like?’’  And to be fair, the French continue to walk their unique cockerel walk along the knife edge between arrogance and liberation and good luck to them. Being in a state of continuous revolt can be good for culture or at least, it makes a nice change!

However, things have moved on a lot since the first era of Boum paused a decade ago.  Getting from London to Paris in 2 hours on the Eurostar is no longer a novelty and the exotic lure of an expresso and a fresh croissant has been Hovis-ed into the bog standard experience at Le Croissant Shop or Pret.  I doubt most people under the age of 30 even realise that coffee on the terrasse was a continental phenomenon until 30 years ago.  (Yes, we’ve all become a ‘tranche de France’*!) ). As with tourism, we end up killing the thing we are drawn to, inevitably leading to a process of insipid homogenisation. 

In the decade we were away, it’s like the whole world was reinvented and then torn apart in the culture wars – and this has left a lot of Boum’s repertoire on uncertain ground. The searchlight of collective conscience has shone on many a celebrated chanson writer’s hereto impregnable reputation.  Indeed, we’ve fretted that we may need to retire a fair few of our favourite songs with today’s penchant for cancellation. It could be a painful business with quite a few babies being sacrificed as we jettison the cleansing bath water. And we’re finding it very hard to go through with. So – don’t be alarmed if a few controversial lyrics get tweaked to bring a classic chanson into line with modern times or surprised if we attempt to extract the sexism out of a loving sentiment.

At the end of the day, that characteristically French take on poetry and passion are why we formed Boum.  French expressions that have never been supplanted by English translation, like ‘je ne sais quoi’ and ‘joie de vivre’ are the quintessence of a uniquely French perspective on existence. But then again, so is the expression ‘double entendre’ for which the English translation of ‘pun’ with its ‘boom, tish’ levity, seems to emphasise the conceit rather than the ambiguity.  Double entendre is the thing that connects Trenet and Gainsbourg with their prodigious, compulsive output of characters and stories that delight in keeping you guessing about motivations and meanings. It’s not about being lewd in a sly way, like in a Carry On film; it’s about playing with words and delighting in the possibilities and the uncertainties which make life interesting.   

*Oblique reference for the true Boum fan! Listen here.

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