Radio Nostalgie Francis Cabrel on the highway

Why the sound of France was composed by Francis Cabrel. A car radio memory.

I’m driving through France. The car radio is tuned to Radio Nostalgie, because this is where they play lots of songs by Francis Cabrel. That’s what I think about when I think of the radio. I studied in France for a while, and I especially liked listening to songs by Francis Cabrel. Francis Cabrel is a French singer-songwriter, and none of my fellow students had him on their playlists. I claimed I listened to his music to improve my French, but in truth, I just loved his songs.

I drove my first car, a blue VW Golf, from Stuttgart to Bourges, to the art academy. I was in my mid-twenties, and I lowered the average age of Radio Nostalgie listeners significantly.

I drove through Alsace and listened to Francis Cabrel. I drove past cows in Besançon. They are especially pretty with their fair-coloured hair. I passed through Beaune with its Hôtel-Dieu and altarpiece by artist Rogier van der Weyden. I drove past vineyards in Burgundy, and on the radio Francis Cabrel sang “Je l’aime à mourir”.

Vous pouvez détruire 
Tout ce qu’il vous plaira 
Elle n’aura qu’à ouvrir 
L’espace de ses bras 
Pour tout reconstruire 
Pour tout reconstruire 
Je l’aime à mourir 

You can destroy whatever you want. All she has to do is open her arms to build it all again. I love her to death.

Radio Nostalgie still broadcasts today, Francis Cabrel is still singing, and I still love France, my car radio, Francis Cabrel and precisely this combination of all these things.