In the show “L’invite”, broadcast on TV5 Monde, Sunday October 13, Thomas Dutronc spoke about the funeral of his mother Françoise Hardy, which took place last June. A funeral that he imagined would be rich in emotion. But that was without counting on a technical incident.
How to say goodbye to him? For the funeral of her mother Françoise Hardy, which took place at the Père-Lachaise crematorium, in Paris, Thursday June 20, 2024, 9 days after the death of the singer at the age of 80, after having fought two cancers, Thomas Dutronc did not want to make a speech. Instead, he imagined a sonic tribute.
With his father Jacques Dutronc, they chose their favorite songs by Françoise Hardy, including “Et si je m’en vas avant toi”, “Le temps de l’amour”, “Tant de belles choses”, as well as the songs that she loved, like “Personal Message”, by Michel Berger. Songs that Thomas Dutronc mixed with sound extracts from his mother. A moment that he imagined would be rich in emotion.
The rest after this ad
Thomas Dutronc’s “great moment of solitude” at the funeral of Françoise Hardy
Françoise Hardy’s voice ultimately did not resonate at the crematorium. Blame it on a technical incident. “She wanted us to do nothing, but I wanted to do something because people liked her a lot. […] I had planned a few songs and especially interviews where we heard him laugh, a sound document which lasted 22 minutes,” explained Thomas Dutronc in the show “L’invite”, broadcast on TV5 Monde, Sunday October 13.
The rest after this ad
And to regret: “There was a technical problem. I listened to the first song: I had no emotion. I didn’t really recognize his voice. I was shocked. I said to myself: “That’s weird, maybe we shouldn’t have done anything. We don’t feel well, there are people, we’re listening, it’s indecent, immodest, it’s not okay…” It’s a rhythm problem that has altered Françoise Hardy’s voice.
Thomas Dutronc finally made the decision to stop broadcasting. “The emotion was dead. It wasn’t her, it was ridiculous,” he lamented, speaking of a “great moment of solitude”. “It was too late to retake the correct document. It was quite hard. For two weeks, I was sad that this moment of emotion had been stolen from me. » He consoled himself by sharing his creation on YouTube a few days after the funeral. To make the voice of Françoise Hardy resonate again and again.
