Cool & Quirky French Music Videos

    Julien Dore'

 

When I first saw this funny French music video by Nouvelle Star (French American Idol) winner and French heartthrob Julien Dore on TV late one night, I thought maybe I was hallucinating and needed to go to bed. But it turned out to be Version 2 of Dore's hilarious take on Serge Gainsbourg's "Chez les Ye-Ye's."

"Patricia" (the fat lady holding a chicken) is a send-up of Divine from the cult John Waters' film, Pink Flamingos. The woman herself is French burlesque star, model, and fat activist Miss Botero, aka Patricia Tourne. Here's version 2 of "Les Limites," where Patricia sings and Julien dances.

    Julien Dore  

Julien is back at it again with the wacky videos. From his new album, Bichon, here's the kooky video for "Kiss Me Forever."

    Un Coeur Comme Le Mien  

Music videos where the singer simply dances for the camera seem to be all the rage these days. (Watch Thom Yorke boogie down in Radiohead's "Lotus Flower" video to see what I mean.)

The Belgian singer Axelle Red is known for her soulful style of French music, and her humanitarian efforts in Africa and Asia. Here she is busting a move in "La Claque," the first single from her new album, Un Coeur Comme Le Mien.

    Rose

Rose's self-titled debut album Includes her hit song, "La Liste" as well as "Ciao Bella." Lee on Amazon says, "You can tell Rose's music is influenced by her favorite artists Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin. Her songs are poetic, lyrical, and soulful."

Rose's song "La liste" is really cute. The lyrics are the list of things she wants to do with her lover. The charming thing is that her list oscillates between the mundane ("Allez chez Ikea"/go to Ikea, "Boire mon cafe noir"/drink my black coffee), and the epic ("T'aimer de tout mon etre"/love you with all my being, "Avoir une petite fille"/have a little girl).

Rose wrote this hit song at Jardin du Luxembourg, my favorite place in Paris.

Watch the video for Rose's hit song, "La liste."

    Sympathique

Everyone loves this catchy French song, which is actually sung by an American band. Here's Sympathique, also known as "Je ne veux pas travailler." It's one of the first songs in French I was able to understand the French lyrics to by ear. (Get help practicing your French listening skills).

The chorus is:

Je ne veux pas travailler (I don't want to work)
Je ne veux pas dejeuner (I don't want to have lunch)
Je veux seulement oublier (I only want to forget)
Et puis je fume (and then I smoke)

    Comme si de Rien N'etait   

The pretty video for "L'amoureuse" by Carla Bruni features a female "stick" figure prancing around the Paris skies.

    Archimede

"Vilaine Canaille" by Archimede is a cool French music video with lots of funny visual effects. They use album covers to represent different people and objects. Archimede also happens to be a fantastic French Rock band that was nominated for a Victoire de la Musique (French Grammy) for their debut album, which you can get below. Learn more about the British-inspired French Rock band Archimede.

    Le Cafe album

The French cartoon music video for Oldelaf & Monsieur D's song "Le cafe" is a cute animated short that went viral. It's also a cautionary tale for all you coffee drinkers out there.