A bit of comic relief for a world gone mad. Crazy. Fou!
This song was released in 1990 and became an instant hit on the French music charts. Never has it seemed more timely than it does today.
The world is indeed a crazy place. Is it not ‘fou’ that Brits are preparing to vote in a referendum that could forever – or at least for the foreseeable future – change the face of Europe?
Isn’t it ‘fou’ that a Donald McTrump (at least that’s how I always think of him given his all-American menu, crazy wig and clown-like behaviour) is seriously a contender to lead the free world?
Can we even talk about a free world anymore when people of all genders and orientations aren’t safe at a nightclub in the land of Disneyworld? At a concert in Paris? In the editorial offices of a satirical magazine? Even police officers, the very people who are meant to protect us, in their own homes?
Add to that the particular insanity and violence of football hooligans here in France during the Euro 2016.
The world’s gone mad and there are times, especially this week, when I despair of it ever becoming sane again. What’s worse, there doesn’t seem to be a damn thing we can do about it.
It’s a crazy old world, mes amis. So we might as well sing, dance, and celebrate the crazy in us all.
Bisous xo
FranceSays 
Very cool! I found the lyrics, none of which I understand, here:
http://www.paroles.net/pauline-ester/paroles-le-monde-est-fou
Don’t worry–Trump is very unlikely to win the general election. It’s one thing to win your party’s primary, and another thing altogether to take the country.
Let’s hope! x
As for the lyrics, for me it’s a case of understanding (most of) the words but having difficulty getting at the meaning. There’s an interesting social commentary in there, but I was unable to fully grasp it. 😉
I was searching for something lighthearted to write, but it is a bit harder today…I guess we have to all do our bit to keep positive.
It can be hard to find the right attitude between flippant and despairing…thanks for your thoughts!
A fun song for a mad world indeed. 😦
Indeed it’s a strange cocktail of emotions this week. Cheers, madame!
A toi, aussie. 🙂
I love this ‘aussie’ – whether a simple typo or Freudian word play. 😉
lmao! Oh my god…. 😀 Definitely Freudian, but sadly unintentional. What the heck was I thinking?
I so agree with you… Mad as a box of frogs, as they say. Fou à lier…
Now there’s a new one (two, in fact…) Merci! 🙂
Let us hope we remain in the Eurozone .
Unfortunately, the same kind of jingoistic xenophobic fever that currently grips America is coursing through the veins of Britain.
We are threatened, so we retreat behind old ways and nostalgia for a time when we were strong and relatively free to do as we chose.
It’s a different world now, but the easily influenced don’t see that.
Leaving Europe won’t fix the problems, it will just isolate Britain at the worse possible time.
OK, I’m done now…
Exactly, it’s all part of the same terrifying trend! People just refuse to see that the world is changing, and growth and stability will not be found in trying to go back to the ‘good ole days’. You are so right, a Brexit will not benefit the UK. If anything, it will make the EU stronger…but I don’t want that any more than you do. ‘Nuff said!
The lyrics are far more biting than the zany video (which seems to be Wes Anderson in Bollywood doing Arabian Nights). What military action was France involved in in 1990? That’s before the Balkans broke down.
Yes, you’re right – very Wes Anderson! I think she must have been referring to the Gulf War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War#France
Oh my. Now I looked it up and it turns out it was censured–not allowed to be played on the air! And yes, it was over the first Gulf War.
http://soufflereve.blogspot.fr/2012/11/le-monde-est-fou-pauline-ester.html
Also
http://www.humanite.fr/node/23397
What fascinating references, had no idea it was that controversial….good googling!
Not knowing what has been said, I will say that the video is delightfully a wee bit nuts indeed and fitting for a world that seems and feels to have gone quite nuts. (But not delightfully at all. 😔)
The lyrics are more complex than I first imagined….seems to be a satire about giving weapons to children. But the main refrain, “The world is crazy, dontcha see?”, seems almost innocent. I suppose it’s that contrast between the ‘bite’ and ‘fun’ that makes it quintessentially French!
The perfect antedote to a mad mad world. Which it certainly is. My husband mid-rant the other day managed to combine Boris Johnson and Donald Trump as ‘Doris Trumpton’ … a school friend of mine described Britain as a Bull Dog standing on a frizbee in the middle of a pond barking at pigeons. He has a point.
Doris Trumpton! I am cracking up at that one. 😀 As my dear old Mom used to say, if you can’t laugh…
Hole in one mom! It is essential
To keep that sense of humour and Two Brains will be tickled that he made you laugh!
Le monde est fou indeed…I can’t seem to understand fully why people have so much hate for everything and anything they don’t understand. The fear of the unknown and this nostalgia for the 50s in both the US and the UK is difficult to understand as well…I read the word of the song and it does seem to have a lot of double meaning but it is also a bit difficult to fully understand. (Suzanne)
You reassure me, Suzanne. If you can’t fully get those lyrics either, maybe it’s not just my French. As for understanding the minds of those who hate so much and seem to believe we can go back in time – I fear no translator will help us!
You have touched a nerve Mel
Let’s hope that sanity prevails on 23/06 in Britain and later this year in the American elections
It’s going to be an interesting ride….fingers crossed! x
I don’t believe the world is any crazier than it always was .The problem is a competitive media ,fighting for it’s place in a world that can now over communicate via the Internet and cell phones .Stupid , crazy things have always been going on , we just hear about them instantly when before we either did not know about them at all or only found out days or weeks later after the tumult and the shouting had died .
You are probably right. Too much of a good thing is no good at all. It’s enough to make you want to tune out completely. Think I’ll go read a book (paper!).
in SF I’ve seen posters with “camions-poubelles”: dump trump!!! 😀
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Holy Molly!!! Pauline Esther – ça ne nous rajeunit pas, ma brave dame… 🙂
Love love love the ‘Dump Trump’. Send a picture please! #ForeverYoung