In 1958, getting his career off to a typically morbid and subversive start, Serge Gainsbourg would compose and release debut single вЂLe PoinГ§onneur des LilasвЂ™, which minutely describes the dark inner workings of the job. It was a strange moment when a song so bombastic, and completely unrelated to French politics, was later used in a viral videoВ as part of FranГ§ois HollandeвЂ™s 2012 election bid вЂ“ but it clearly worked.Д«efore the days of ugly grey machines and electromagnetic tickets, every Parisian MГ©tro train had a ticket inspector (a вЂpoinГ§onneurвЂ™), whose lonely and repetitive job it was to stamp holes in passengersвЂ™ tickets, stuck in a dull and lightless underground limbo. Bellows Jay-Z: вЂIf you escaped what IвЂ™ve escaped / YouвЂ™d be in Paris getting fucked up too / LetвЂ™s get faded, Le Meurice for like five daysвЂ™.

Over a slow, clattering drumbeat, booming sub-bass and an icy synth line, the two rappers acknowledge the long line of African-American artists who have sought cultural acceptance in Paris (from Josephine Baker to Nina Simone), all the while looking back at childhood friends who havenвЂ™t escaped poverty. Inspired by his luxurious travels in Paris (where he was trying to make his name on the fashion scene), вЂNiggas in ParisвЂ™ was recorded by West with equally massive rap pal Mr Shawn Carter at the five-star HГґtel Meurice, opposite the Tuileries gardens. Not only did it bring the phrase вЂthat shit crayвЂ™ into popular ironic parlance, it was also the tune that cemented KanyeвЂ™s reputation as ever-so-slightly ridiculous hip-hop great.

It finishes brilliantly, with the image of a rainbow glimmering up above. Piaf often sang about the hilly north-eastern alleys she grew up on, and this song вЂ“ although written by someone else вЂ“ overflows with similar such homey descriptions of street musicians and thoughtful flГўneurs. In this rendition, FranceвЂ™s famed national chanteuse applies her throaty Belleville twang to lines like вЂSous le ciel de paris / coule un fleuve joyeuxвЂ™ (вЂunder the sky of Paris / runs a joyous riverвЂ™) with such emotion and charisma you canвЂ™t but help believe her when she claims that deep down, Parisians are вЂun peuple Г©pris de sa vieille citГ©вЂ™ (вЂa people enamoured with their old cityвЂ™). First performed by Jean BretonniГЁre but transformed into something altogether more powerful by Edith Piaf in 1954, the song once again pays homage to the enduring beauty and magical fairy-tale quality of the city. With music written by Hubert Giraud and lyrics from Jean DrГ©jac, вЂSous le Ciel de ParisвЂ™ is the lead song from the little-known 1951 film of the same title. In any case, the song is an aptly bouncy tribute to the city and it would set the blueprint for PhoenixвЂ™s now-classic pop-rock sound: pristine production, tight arrangements and clean guitar lines that ring around your headВ for hours afterwards. Previously unclear references to 1855 (the year of FranceвЂ™s first international exhibition) and a certain вЂmaterial towerвЂ™ suddenly made much more sense. Fortunately, the singer would eventually spill the beans about the songвЂ™s deeper meaning in a live session, stating that вЂ1901вЂ™ was a вЂfantasy about ParisвЂ™ before and during the Belle Г‰poque вЂ“ which is when he reckons the city was at its cultural and artistic zenith.

вЂ1901вЂ™ вЂ“ a sleeper hit from 2009вЂ™s breakthrough fourth album вЂWolfgang Amadeus PhoenixвЂ™ вЂ“ was the song that would introduce the band to a vast throng of new fans, and yet, frontman Thomas MarsвЂ™s accented sing-song English didnвЂ™t really make a whole deal of sense. It can be difficult to interpret the lyrics of Versailles band Phoenix. It was on this song that her smooth and adaptable voice would really come in its own, both in the RnB-inflected verses and the breathy, Jane Birkin-style French interlude, in which she marvels at the vivacity of the City of Light: вЂLa SuГЁde est oГ№ je vis / Mais cвЂ™est Г Paris que je me sens en vieвЂ™ (вЂI live in Sweden / but Paris is where I feel aliveвЂ™). They never would, alas, and the song is really about feeling alone, while moving forward and leaving sadness behind: вЂItвЂ™s that time to transform / to come around, IвЂ™m changing,вЂ™ sings Nagano. Taking the city as a hypothetical future rendezvous for a long-distance friendship thatвЂ™s already been tragically cut short, lead singer Yukimi Nagano tells of how Paris was the marvellous location she and her departed friend had at last decided to meet. Nobody does sad pop music quite like the Swedes, and this 2014 track from Gothenburg four-piece Little Dragon must surely be one of the saddest songs ever written вЂ“ however tangentially вЂ“ about the French capital.

- french cafe music