Search - Françoise Hardy :: Message Personnel

MESSAGE PERSONNEL

Allan Keith Dixon | Newcastle, England | 04/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Message personnel is a truly beautiful albumn. It captures all the hauntingly beautiful, romantic, agonising heartbreak, of those who are in love, spiralling, deeply, out of control... It is hauntingly, beautifully sad. The title track, Message Personnel, seems to be based on someone who is deeply in love with someone, yet cannot bring themselves to contact them. I think it was based around a film.
Berceuse, a lullabye for lovers together. Many more tracks, one about a lovely garden, one track comes better than another, it simply blew me away. My version is on vinyl, and I play it often.Keith Dixon (50 yr old teacher, fan of Francoise Hardy for over 30 years!)"

A mile stone album

Rodney Gavin Bullock | Winchester, Hampshire Angleterre | 06/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A mile stone album
Reviewer: Rodney Gavin Bullock from Winchester, Hampshire United Kingdom
This is a key album in the output of this great chanteuse. Her early songs were straightforward in meaning, though emotionally often very powerful. 'Message Personnel' (1973) represents a big advance in sophistication and the words have become more ambiguous and more subtle. Even if you have the words on paper, school boy French and a large dictionary will often not get you very far. Never mind, more than any other singer I know, she conveys the emotions purely with her uniquely beautiful voice, a voice laden with tenderness, humanity and intelligence.
The songs on this disc are all of the highest quality, with a mixture of the lyrical and more rhythmic. 'Premiere recontre' is by Michel Berger and his collaboration on this album seems to suit Françoise' style down to the ground. The orchestration is inventive and adds considerably to the impact of the songs. I will mention two songs in a little more detail. 'Beuceuse' (Cradle Song) is about a woman watching her sleeping lover - his breathing, sighs and stillness. She imagines his dreams. But at the end she recognises that things will be the same tomorrow, implying things are not too good when he is awake. This is set to music of touching tenderness and simplicity. The masterpiece on the disc is the last, 'Message Personnel'(Hardy, Berger). In my view it is one of the greatest love songs of all time, with an almost overwhelming emotional impact. It starts with her talking to her lover, apparently on the telephone but is she? Is it in her head? She wants to say loving things to him but she cannot. Why? What has happened? We do not know. The talking ends and she sings gently, building to an impassioned climax. I would buy the CD for this alone."