Another of my favorite French singers is Patrick Bruel and he just released a new album called Seul o presque (Alone or almost) with live acoustic versions of his songs that were recorded while he was on tour.  Born Maurice Benguigui on May 14, 1959, in Tlemcen, Algeria, he was slow to find success as a singer, but eventually topped the French music charts with six of his albums including Entre Deux (2002), which is a classic chanson française double CD with duets featuring Jean-Jacques Goldman and Renaud, among others.   That CD sold more than 2 million copies and made Bruel the highest-paid French singer that year.  My favorite album of his is Juste avant (another of his #1s) and my favorite song is Tout s’efface.  However, his chart-topping single Qui a le droit (Who has the right) is probably the most well-known of his entire repetoire.  It talks about how people are not upfront and sometimes even lie to children thinking it is best for them, when it really isn’t as they grow up with unanswered questions, fears and anguish, especially as regards the loss of a parent, which is what Patrick himself went through at the tender age of 1.

Here are the lyrics:

On m’avait dit : “Te poses pas trop de questions.
Tu sais petit, c’est la vie qui t’ répond.
A quoi ça sert de vouloir tout savoir ?
Regarde en l’air et voit c’ que tu peux voir.”

On m’avait dit : “Faut écouter son père.”
Le mien a rien dit, quand il s’est fait la paire.
Maman m’a dit : “T’es trop p’tit pour comprendre.”
Et j’ai grandi avec une place à prendre.

[Refrain] :
Qui a le droit, qui a le droit,
Qui a le droit d’ faire ça
A un enfant qui croit vraiment
C’ que disent les grands ?

On passe sa vie à dire merci,
Merci à qui, à quoi ?
A faire la pluie et le beau temps
Pour des enfants à qui l’on ment.

On m’avait dit que les hommes sont tous pareils.
Y a plusieurs dieux, mais y’ a qu’un seul soleil.
Oui mais, l’ soleil il brille ou bien il brûle.
Tu meurs de soif ou bien tu bois des bulles.

A toi aussi, j’ suis sur qu’on t’en a dit,
De belles histoires, tu parles… que des conneries !
Alors maintenant, on s’ retrouve sur la route,
Avec nos peurs, nos angoisses et nos doutes.

[Refrain]

On passe sa vie à dire merci,
Merci à qui, à quoi ?
A faire la pluie et le beau temps
Pour des enfants à qui l’on ment.

Besides a best-selling singer, he is also an actor and professional poker player.  He has acted in more than 40 different television and film productions and has won the World Series of Poker.  His official website is www.patrickbruel.com.  There, you can hear his music, read about him and even buy mp3 albums.