Stromae, ou des preuves que je suis folle de la musique

Alors on danse

Author's Note

Aside from the lyrics, very little will be said about the actual music. I can tell you for the most part what feelings are evoked in me during a song but can't go into technical detail about the sounds evoking them. I just don't have the knowledge. I'll do what I can, though. You'll see very quickly that I love talking about what I feel I can talk about. Still, apologies to people who would like that kind of technical analysis.

6.1.15

The first song I ever heard of his, I remember being excited to understand at the very least that it was a song about going out (as in to a bar/ nightclub/ etc) to escape our problems. It reflects the fact that sometimes we just need to get away from it all, because 'it all' weighs down on us, a too heavy burden. I also feel like it reflects a sense of futility we feel, in the face of these problems. We're not tackling them, we're going out partying, to have a good time, to push negative thoughts out of our head - "alors on sort pour oublier tous les problèmes".

Responses to the lyrical content

For one, I appreciated, I suppose, the food for my inner analyst ('food for thought'), which likes to know things about life, humanity, the world. It wasn't anything new to me; I could have told you before listening to that song that a) I have a strong escapist streak myself, b) people go out (to drink, for example) to forget their problems, and c) it's all too easy for humans to feel powerless, incapable of changing the things they see that they don't like. I appreciated the confirmation of these ideas - I want to recognise the validity of my inner analyst's perception of the world. I like to know what's what, and I want that more intensely than I sometimes realise.

For another, I 'liked' the cynicism. Like is completely the wrong verb to use for cynicism. How to explain myself? I see my own cynicism reflected in other cynical things? On the one hand, yes. And, also, it's a perverse sort of reassurance to see reasons to be cynical, to see cynicism outside myself. Having become slightly cynical (if you've read anything idealistic that I've written, you might accuse me of insincerity for calling myself cynical at all: I'm in an odd position where I think 'cynical idealist' is an apt description of myself), sometimes I find it hard to bear to see idealism. I think things along the line of 'How come you could retain your idealism when I couldn't retain all of mine?'. I'm sore about the idealism I've lost and it hurts to see other happy idealists*. It's ironic, I guess: I miss idealism at the same time that I resent it.

Other thoughts:

A good beat to dance to. The monotonous repetitiveness is a good reflection of the boring humdrum of life, of ennui, being fed up with it all, also of the essential ineffectiveness of 'sortir' as a solution to your problem. Tired of the problems, Stromae is also physically tired in the video. The monotone he sings in is reminiscent of the monotonous quality the voice takes on when one is tired.

Involving a drunk and miserable Stromae, the video reflects futility as the repetitiveness does. Singing on a stage against his will, Stromae shows that his ennui has spread as far as the way he makes his living. 'On danse' but with insincerity.

After listening to this song and watching the video, you're left with the sense that life is depressing and annoying. The song also gets annoying if you play it too many times in a row.

~~~

*And perhaps it's not simply jealousy that I feel about seeing idealism, but a symptom of the fact about me expressed above: I like to know what's what. I like to know where I'm cynical, and I don't appreciate people confusing me, expressing their idealism in that area.