The musical event is, at the same time, Breton and national: Michel Sardou’s concert in Brest, this Friday, must close the singer’s sixty-year career. An event for fans – accepted or resigned – of the singer’s hits; a non-event for the – many – allergic to this icon of an era of French song.
Between these two worlds, reconciliation seems impossible. This is what politics wants. Unless we give in to the supernatural call of the hit that will survive, “The Lakes of Connemara”? The song has still not disappeared from wedding party halls, nightclubs or the “playlists” of many student parties (especially those in business schools). A “right-wing” song in which “nothing goes”, singer Juliette Armanet quipped during the summer of 2023, triggering the wrath of sardouphiles. A song which despite everything continues to provoke, often, this strange migration towards the dance floor on which the assembly gathers, in a circle, to jump to the rhythm and chant the words at the time of crossing a new year or of closing the evening.
Among the least danceable pieces
The only way to get started on the musical subject without falling into one or the other passionate camp: rely on algorithms. If we look at the more than 800 songs by Michel Sardou available on the Spotify listening platform, the song “Les Lacs du Connemara” appears at the bottom of the ranking of titles that make you sway – or jump. The streaming site offers a whole series of evaluated characteristics for each song, which inform the recommendations to users. Among them: “danceability”.
This criterion evaluates “the extent to which a piece is suitable for dancing based on a combination of musical elements, including tempo, rhythm stability, rhythm strength, and overall regularity.” With a score of 0.3 out of 1, “Les Lacs du Connemara” is considered “not very danceable” by Spotify, ranking among the ten lowest scores among the singer’s 100 most popular songs. Among the “hits”, two controversial titles more easily meet the criteria: “Afrique Adieu” and “Être une femme”.
Even when looking at other criteria for songs conducive to dance steps, such as energy or joy, “Les Lacs du Connemara” is at the bottom of the ranking. Titles like “J’habite en France”, “Les Bals populaire” or “Jazz singer” are more rhythmic and catchy under the measure of the algorithm.
How to explain the alchemy of Connemara? No doubt, in part, by the “evolutionary construction” of the song, as the director of the DJ and sound school Jean-Pierre Goffi pointed out to 20 Minutes on the subject, noting that the music brought a mixture of all dancer styles on the floor. Perhaps, also, by the slightly less divisive nature of this text than those of the singer’s most rhythmic titles.
Sardou’s (still) most popular song
In the end, it is difficult to isolate a single ingredient in the strange popularity of “Lakes of Connemara” despite its controversial interpreter. The mischievous exercise aside, one thing remains certain: the success of the song is far from being just an old a priori. At the end of the singer’s career, the song has a popularity score of 58 out of 100 on Spotify. For comparison, “La Symphonie des éclairs” by Zaho de Sagazan or “Hypé” by Aya Nakamura exceed 70%, but Louane’s most listened to song, “Secret”, is at this level, while “Dépassé” Colorless Night is now below 40%. However, this score depends in part on the recent nature of the listenings.
“Songs that are played a lot will have a higher popularity score than songs that were played in the past,” explains the listening platform. Michel Sardou’s last tour probably has nothing to do with it. The singer found a place in the top 200 most listened to artists for the week of March 21 in France. Irony of the rankings: he ranks just ahead of a certain Madonna.
