Françoise and Paul McCartney

No doubt we all remember what Malcolm McLaren was saying about Françoise: "... the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones and Mick Jagger, the Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and many other groups all were desperately interested in having Françoise Hardy become their girlfriend in some way."

Indirect evidence of that admiration surfaced many years later in one of the interviews with FH:

>>On the live version of Picasso's Last Words (on Wings Over America*), McCartney name checks Françoise Hardy. She was not at all aware of this, and acts happily surprised when Johan tells her. "That's a great surprise, because McCartney is such a living legend, a 'monstre sacré'. Furthermore, McCartney is a favourite singer of my husband's – and he hasn't got many." *She will later make a note of the album's title...<<

Speaking of Sir Paul McCartney and his (alleged) admiration for Françoise, was it ever reciprocal ? Hardly (pun intended). Otherwise, how can we reconcile the following observation by Françoise in one of her books? --

"Gardons-nous de confondre légèreté et superficialité, il suffit d'écouter les chansons d'Alain Souchon ou de Paul McCartney, pour saisir la nuance." (Les Rhythms du Zodiaque, 2003, p.57)

Btw, in 1965 Jean-Marie Périer arranged for a dinner between the Beatles and Françoise. Does anyone have any pictures to share from that time ? Thanks

My apologies but as a new member of this forum I am not allowed to post links, not yet. Well, rules are rules...

In the same interview mentioned above Françoise said: "Actually, I began my career before The Beatles, so they didn't influence me at the start. But I like their songs, because they are timeless."

Were the Beatles influenced by FH ?

If you listen to "Comme tant d'autres" (Françoise Hardy, 1963) and then "Penny Lane" written primarily by Paul McCartney (1966-1967) the resemblance seems obvious and uncanny... Coincidence ? Sure, why not.

[quote="Serge*

Were the Beatles influenced by FH ?

If you listen to "Comme tant d'autres" (Françoise Hardy, 1963) and then "Penny Lane" written primarily by Paul McCartney (1966-1967) the resemblance seems obvious and uncanny... Coincidence ? Sure, why not.
[/quote]

I had never noticed it !!! And in fact as I was relistening to the record, the resemblance also seemed undeniable to me!
I always loved this françoise's song : melody, lyrics and interpretation...
Coincidence?
Very good questionI !, ---> let's ask sir Paul !!!

matthew a écrit:

I had never noticed it !!! And in fact as I was relistening to the record, the resemblance also seemed undeniable to me!
I always loved this françoise's song : melody, lyrics and interpretation...
Coincidence?
Very good questionI !, ---> let's ask sir Paul !!!

Matthew, wouldn't that be nice to hear from Sir James Paul McCartney about "Penny Lane", "full of fish/four of fish", "finger pies" and its other double entendres ?

>>Beatles producer George Martin has stated he believes the pairing of "Penny Lane" with "Strawberry Fields Forever" resulted in probably the greatest single ever released by the group.<<

Well, the official story does not include Françoise. Period.

It reminds me of how Paul McCartney got his tune for "Yesterday":

>>While touring in Paris (sic!), McCartney claims he tumbled out of bed and the tune was in his head. He thought he had heard it somewhere before, and played the melody to different people in the music industry to make sure he wasn't stealing it. The working title was "Scrambled Eggs" until Paul could figure out lyrics.<<

There is an opinion that "Yesterday" can be traced back to "Do you want to know the secret" (Lennon, McCartney, 1962), and the "Secret" goes further back to "I Really Love You" (The Stereos, 1961) and Disney's Snow White's "I'm Wishing" (1937).

"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" (John Lennon, Yoko Ono) is pretty much based on the Irish folk song "Stewball". "Because" (Lennon, McCartney) is Beethoven's Moonlight sonata in disguise. Who knows how far and how deep the rabbit hole really goes ? Maybe the real story of "Penny Lane" is just another case of cryptomnesia ?

Here's another example of comparatively more subtle (unconscious?) interaction between the Beatles and Françoise Hardy:
"I'll Be Back" (Lennon, McCartney, 1964) and "La nuit est sur la ville" (Françoise Hardy, 1964).

It does appear on the surface this time that the Beatles recorded and released their song first (June, 1964) while Françoise had her album "Mon amie la rose" released only in November 1964. Although, Pierre Mikaïloff in his "Tant des Belles Choses"(p.113) believes the album was released in October this does not make much difference for the sake of the argument. However, it is not clear when exactly the music for "La nuit est sur la ville" was created. Several songs (at least their Italian versions) from this album already existed around June 1964 or even before according to other sources (Le Désespoir des Singes by Françoise Hardy, for instance).

Was "La notte sulla città" ("La nuit est sur la ville", translated by Vito Pallavicini in 1964) one of them ? So it would be very interesting to find the answer to this last question, and when the music for this song was more or less finished by Françoise ?..

It is amazing how things can be hidden in plain sight.

In April 1970 Paul announced that he is leaving the Beatles. They managed to release "Abbey Road" together in September, and then John Lennon called it quits. What does this have to do with Françoise ? Well, she released her album "Soleil" the same year.

The very first song "Point" in this album starts with what appears to be a musical "pointer" to "Eight days a week" written almost completely by Paul McCartney in 1964. Knowing Paul's obsession with France (and certain French girls) it is not even funny how many myths have been created to explain where the title of this song might have come from. As possible sources they name Paul's driver who said it in English, "Ringoisms" (Ringo's malapropisms) , or "Eight arms to hold you" (this is how they called the film "Help" initially).

"Eight days" is a French way of referring to a week similar to "quinze jours" - fifteen days or two weeks.

The same "Point" also points to "All my loving" written by Paul McCartney in 1963 (listen to the words "c'est un point pas acquis...").

"Fleur de lune", the third song in the album "Soleil" uses an obvious guitar riff taken from the Abbey Road's medley "You never give me your money" (written by Paul McCartney) and "Carry that weight" (written by Paul McCartney again) which is also similar to a riff from George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun" (Hence "Soleil" ?).

"Le Crabe" (the sixth song in "Soleil"), although not written by Françoise herself, is melodically reminiscent of "For No One" which John thought to be one of the best songs written by Paul.

One can only imagine that "Soleil" sends a strong private message to Paul McCartney...

"Je fais des puzzles"? Anyone?

"Je fais des puzzles" (number 11 in "Soleil") is teasing you with McCartney's "Fixing a hole" from "Sgt Pepper" and, finally, comes full circle back to the musical signature of the intro/outro from "Eight days a week"...

The album cover portrays Françoise crying a tear of blood and a lonely man treading "The Long and Winding Road" (McCartney's ballad from "Let it be"). Supposedly, Paul McCartney named post-production modifications of "The Long and Winding Road" as one of six reasons to break up with the Beatles.

Pierre Mikaïloff ("Tant des Belles Choses") mentions the album "Soleil" by its other name - "Point" which gives away several clues of the encoded "Soleil"'s message to Paul and somewhat clarifies what the song "Point" is really about.

As silly as it superficially sounds yet another clue comes from "Le Crabe" which was not written by Françoise, though, but nevertheless was chosen by her apparently for more than just one reason. It narrates about "deux grands citronniers bien amers" (slang) and "deux poissons s'ennuyaient" (Paul and John -- compare to "four of fish" hinting to the four of beatles rather than abstract four servings of fish in "Penny Lane" ). "Le Crabe" does not plagiarize yet carries the musical flavor of Paul's "For No One".

Traditionally, Paul McCartney's song "For No One" is thought to be about Jane Asher. As in the case of "Eight Days a Week" a semi-official story is provided about the circumstances of the song's birth leading away from its French connection. Paul never said himself that the song was about Jane. And, again, as in the case of "Eight Days a Week" he makes sure there is a special and practically ritualistic sign - beautiful FRENCH HORN solo ... The lyrics are quite puzzling but surprisingly match Bob Dylan's artistic impression of Françoise aloof (as implied by Pierre Mikaïloff in his "Tant des Belles Choses" as he documents the encounters between Bob Dylan and Françoise):

"She no longer needs you
And in her eyes you see nothing
No sign of love behind the tears
Cried for no one"

Compare this to Bob Dylan's "She Belongs To Me":

"She's got everything she needs
She's an artist, she don't look back
She's got everything she needs
She's an artist, she don't look back
She can take the dark out of nighttime
And paint the daytime black..."

Is the tear of blood on the Soleil's cover truly "for no one" ?

Did the future Knight Bachelor, Sir James Paul McCartney get the message or did the cries for Help (!) fall onto his deaf ears ?

Another almost startling parallel thread can be started here on the symbolic "tour d'ivoire" ( "A quoi ça sert" in 1968 all the way to "Noir sur blanc" in 2010), color "noir" and "tous les non-dits, les appels au secours":

"à rester dans ta tour d'ivoire
en broyant du rose ou du noir.."

"noir sur blanc
j'écris mes maux les nerfs à cran
sans garde-fou ni faux-semblants
de but en blanc trop souvent..."

"blanc ou noir
peut-être qu'il n'est pas trop tard
pour sortir de ma tour d'ivoire?
si vous passez sans me voir"

"la peine vaudrait bien le prix de ce dernier détour
tant pis pour tous les non-dits, les appels au secours
lancés dans la nuit et tombant dans l'oreille d'un sourd..."

What is it about Detroit that makes it special besides that it is a French word ? For one, the Vogue Records was founded there in 1946 and went out of business next year to reincarnate in its new life in France as Les Disques Vogue. Secondly, Dr. Owen's cipher wheel was discovered in a warehouse in Detroit. Dr. Orville Ward Owen was an American physician and a strong proponent of the Baconian theory of Shakespearean authorship. He managed to recreate the encryption device ("cipher wheel") of Francis Bacon and published his Shakespearean discoveries in his multi-volume work "Sir Francis Bacon's Cipher Story". The Baconian theory was firmly supported by Manly Palmer Hall, freemason 33°, in his encyclopedia "The Secret Teachings of All Ages". Thirdly, the controversy of Paul McCartney's strange "transformation" around September-November 1966 was launched publicly by a DJ from Detroit, Russ Gibb, in 1969.

Françoise obviously cracked the Beatles code following the clues scattered all over their songs and their album covers. If one compares the Soleil's cover with that of Sgt. Pepper's it is almost impossible to miss the "Point" that Françoise is trying to get across that she understands the clue represented by the stone bust on the ground (aka the stone statue from John Lennon's house) of the American novelist Stephen Crane who died at the age of 28 and whose short story "The Open Boat" narrates about four men in a small boat struggling to reach the shore. One man drowned when the boat overturned. The other three men survived.

The image of the "long and winding road" with a left-handed man (Paul McCartney?) holding a guitar and walking away from half-buried Françoise shedding a tear of blood is another "dead" giveaway sign of her knowledge of "grave" importance. It was rumored that Paul McCartney only began to write "The Long and Winding Road" which, however, was completed by Elton John as a ghost writer. The Soleil's back side image reveals the face of the left-handed man that looks like Elton John's.

"San Salvador" (English: Holy Savior) is the song in the album "Soleil" that follows the song "Point". The musical theme of "San Salvador" is extremely sorrowful and in parts carries similarity to Mozart's Requiem. It is known that Mozart died before he could finish the work. It is Franz Xaver Süssmayr, an Austrian composer, who is credited for the completion of Mozart's Requiem.

Evidently Françoise figured out that Paul McCartney indeed underwent a special kind of transformation (masonic rite of initiation ? Symbolic death and revival? Firebird Phoenix, Egyptian myth of Set, Isis and Osiris etc.) and decided to encode her own version of the clues in her album "Soleil".

She already had the société de productions "Asparagus" ( "the points d'amour" or "love tips", ancient Egyptian aphrodisiac) with Les Disques Vogue but she needed different, special kind of titles and a new commercial arrangement for the "Soleil" or maybe the Vogue managers had their reasons and refused to cooperate with her on this dangerous esoteric endeavor.

As a result she turned to "Sonopresse" and came up with new company names of Hipopotam (the beast of the Nile representing God Seth of ancient Egypt, protector of the Sun God Ra, killer of Osiris, also Apep or Apophis - Serpent God, Destroyer) and Kundalini (unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force, sleeping serpent, or coiled serpent power at the base level that can be awakened and raised to higher levels through meditation, tantric yoga rituals, etc). The official story tells us simply that Françoise being "en désaccord sur plusieurs points avec sa maison de disques ... se tourne alors vers le label Sonopresse"...

Another possible clue comes from the Magical Mystery Tour cover where the fab four are dressed as four different animals. One of them is a hippo (Hipopotam) with a watch on the right hand while the rest of the animals have their watches on their left hands. The hippo has a hole in the chest as if his heart (and spirit) is missing. The hippo on this cover is Paul McCartney.

"Mon monde n'est pas vrai" from the "Soleil" is a perfect description of a certain initiation process that is assisted by the sensory deprivation techniques:
...
je ne veux plus regarder
mes yeux sont fermés
...
et mon esprit voyage
il vole comme une plume
...
je ne veux plus parler
car ma bouche est fermée
...
je ne veux plus penser
car ma tête est fermée
...
je ne veux plus aimer
car mon coeur est fermé
...
ma tour est en ivoire
mon monde n'est pas vrai

One of the methods of the sensory deprivation is to use the so-called isolation tank (John C. Lilly tank, for instance) which is a pretty close hint to songs like "Yellow Submarine" and "Octopus's Garden" (Le Crabe falls under the same category. It has the intro that is somewhat similar to the Octopus's Garden's intro - sharp cutoffs and is kind of talking about "spiritual" underwater experiences). Overall, in the context of the previously mentioned Stephen Crane's short story "The Open Boat" this may be a little too much for a simple coincidence.

The fading outro of "Mon monde n'est pas vrai" gives a distinct feeling of musical connection to John Lennon's "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" which, supposedly, is in essence about Paul McCartney's stunt, "moped accident" that left Paul with a scarred lip and a chipped tooth (more about this later). Also "Henry the Horse" of Mr. Kite may or may not be related to the hippo ("river horse" of the Egyptians) and/or "Magic Horse" flying high to "where the phoenix burns so brightly" (English "Magic Horse", French "Je fais des puzzles").

The last song in the album "Soleil", "Dame souris trotte", sounds, at first, like nothing more than a funny childish prank. However, the song title is an exact match of a poem title by Paul (sic!) Verlaine who is considered one of the key figures of the Symbolist movement. So we must assume that with Paul Verlaine in mind nothing is as it seems.

The song evokes several fairy characters (let's not forget about the fairy TOOTH mouse very popular in many countries, hiding in plain sight again). Knocking out the teeth is not a prerogative of a little tooth mouse in the popular French fairy tale. This is also a part of a male initiation rite in many cultures (or cults or secret societies). Well, Françoise's "Dame souris trotte" mentions Frère Jacques twice while the rest of the characters with the exception of la bonne petite souris are mentioned only once. Frère Jacques is literally a treasure trove of meanings. Besides being a fairly innocent French nursery song (used, however, as a basis for Mahler's funeral march), the most trivial meanings of "Frère Jacques", are, of course, Jacques Dutronc followed by Brother John (Lennon), and by Les Frères Jacques who recorded many songs by Serge Gainsbourg.

Perhaps, one of the more pertinent meanings in the context of Paul McCartney's missing (broken) tooth as a sign of an initiation ritual may be found in Paul's song "Paperback Writer" where John and George, quite unexpectedly, sing the words "Frère Jacques" in the background.

"Paperback Writer" (A-side) together with the "Rain" (B-side) of the same single go along with the promotional films made in the gardens of the famous Chiswick House linked with Freemasonry and believed to have functioned as a Masonic Lodge or Temple. It looks quite odd that after approximately six months following the alleged moped accident Paul still boasts his missing tooth and is filmed at a close range to show this peculiarity compared to the other Beatles' full set of teeth as if by intentional design. "Paperback Writer" itself is notorious for pointing to the Bacon/Shakespeare controversy (Lear, "cheesy" Chiswick Shakespeare Complete Works edition as a precursor of future cheap paperback editions and of modern Shakespearean editions stripped of most important Baconian cipher clues).

Frères Jacques is also routinely known as a mocking reference to Dominican monks. Among Dominican monks we find Giordano Bruno (for his Heliocentric teachings - Helios is Greek God of the Sun) and Tommaso Campanella (author of "The City of the Sun", A Poetical Dialogue between a Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitallers and a Genoese Sea-Captain, his guest). Both Bruno and Campanella were Hermetists initiated into the ancient art of memory...