Autumn Leaves, “Nat King Cole” (Yves Montand, “Les feuilles mortes”)
If you think that French culture is old-school and can’t cross the borders, we are sorry to say that you are totally wrong. The peeps at the Institut français in Edinburgh have taken on the challenge of showing you just how inspirational French songs can be for Anglophones singers.
If it is pretty hard to define who was the first interpret of “Les Feuilles Mortes”. The sure thing is that Yves Montand popularized it in 1949. Composed by Vladimir Kosma and written by the inimitable Jacques Prévert, this ballade tells the story of a couple observing the end of their love story without being able to do anything about it: “Mais la vie sépare ceux qui s'aiment / Tout doucement, sans faire de bruit” (But life separates lovers / Pretty slowly, noiselessly).“Les Feuilles Mortes” reminds us how sometimes feelings are really hard to control.
Singers and music producers probably saw great exporting potential in this song because it was quickly covered by French and non-French singers. From 1951, just 2 years after its first release, the song travelled around the world with Juliette Gréco in her international tour. In 1978, the French-speaking model Grace Jones also recorded a very salsa-groovy kind of cover.
Yet, amongst more than 600 covers, our favourite is this English version by Nat King Cole from 1956. Despite the black & white, the retro staging and the old-fashioned background, you can only feel the timelessness of the song. And with his communicative smile, the crooner manages to make us feel even kind of happy while the lyrics are terribly sad. Bien joué, Nat!
Bonus track: You like this song? Then you should definitely listen to “La Chanson de Prévert” by Serge Gainsbourg which pays a truly beautiful tribute to the original song by Yves Montand.