La question migratoire dans la chanson française actuelle : trois études de cas

Abstract

While documentaries, films, and plays are currently examining the humanitarian tragedy of mass exodus from former Mesopotamia and parts of sub-Saharan Africa, what can be said about the French popular song? After P. Perret, G. Manset, A. Souchon, B. Lavilliers, and J. Clerc, who dealt with migration and exile between the end of the 1980s and the first decade of the new millenium, who are the songwriters and singers that evoke the tragedies of today’s migrants? Do they have sufficient visibility in the French song? Which musical genres are chosen to represent them? The present paper tries to establish a brief panorama of the migration issue in the current French song by analysing a number of fundamentally different songs, such as “La ballade des clandestins” by Arthur H (Soleil dedans, 2014), “El dulce de leche” adapted by L.E.J. (En attendant l’album, 2015), and “Grand dereglement” by Francois and the Atlas Mountains (Solide mirage, 2017).