Quelqu’un M’a Dit

I remember the media (or the US media, at least) had a field day when it was announced that Nicholas Sarkozy’s new wife, Carla Bruni, was an ex-fashion model. Prior to Bruni’s marriage to Sarkozy I had never heard of her, but after she became First Lady of France I heard a few things about her here and there, mainly about the media scrutinizing her wardrobe when on diplomatic visits with Sarkozy or other useless, trivial news¹. I also heard bits and pieces of career as an ex-model when nude photos of her surfaced, but not once did I hear a peep about her singing career. So when I discovered that she has not one, but two recorded albums released (one in French and the other in English) and that they are really good I was incredibly surprised!

Without a doubt, her song Quelqu’un M’a Dit, which translates to “someone told me,” is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs, and the other songs on her French-language album (also titled “Quelqu’un M’a Dit”) are also superb. I’ve always wanted to add more French music to my iTunes, and Bruni’s songs are a great find. I just wish I had known about her music career sooner. If the media hadn’t been so focused on her ex-modeling days and her marriage to Sarkozy and talked a little bit about her music then I wouldn’t be so late on discovering the magic of Bruni’s songs like Quelqu’un M’a Dit!

I wonder, though, that if I had known Bruni had a music career in addition to being an ex-model and the wife of the President of France, would I have given her songs a try? Probably not. I stumbled across Quelqu’un M’a Dit on the (500) Days of Summer soundtrack and hadn’t known who sung it the first time I listened to it. When I realized it was sung by Bruni, though, I was shocked for two reasons: I hadn’t known she was a singer, but I also didn’t realize she had actual singing talent (unlike the majority of singers out there these days)!

1. Yes, it is important to know that Sarkozy was on a diplomatic mission with so-and-so country. Is it important to know what designer his wife chose to wear for the rendezvous? No. [↩]

Cross-posted from breakthesky.net. Please leave any comments there.