TFT: La chanson de Prévert

Bonjour tout le monde ! This week’s Tune for Tuesday comes from French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Often considered one of the greats of French popular music, he wrote songs influenced by a variety of genres to create a distinctive style. This week we’re listening to his song La chanson de Prévert, inspired by Jacques Prévert’s poem, Les feuilles mortes. There have been many musical interpretations of this poem, in French and in English, translating as Autumn Leaves.

Have a listen to Gainsbourg’s version this week and listen out for when he sings “les feuilles mortes” – it’s good practice hearing how to pronounce that tricky word for “leaves”, and a good example to remember how the sound and spelling of mort change when it agrees with a feminine noun!

To find the lyrics to the song online, click here, or if you’d like to hear the song played more slowly, we recommend watching the YouTube video below and selecting a slower playback speed by clicking on the settings symbol.

Have you heard any other songs by Serge Gainsbourg? Or any other poems by Jacques Prévert? Share some of your favourites in the comments below!