Parlez-moi d’amour

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French popular songs from 1870 to 1940 dynamically epitomize anguished eras of upheaval. Boldly advancing views on societal, political, economic, racial, and gender issues, these charming, alluring tunes express an expectation of life as tragedy. “Parlez-moi d’amour: Themes in French Popular Song from the Commune to World War II” by Benjamin Ivry, a biographer and cultural reporter, focuses on the songs themselves in performance as preserved on recordings. They encapsulate the positive and negative elements of Gallic culture, as they communicate love and hatred, exultation and woe.