It was the summer of 1967, the famous summer of love : when you’re in the game, you have to go to California, head for the Monterey festival. Flowers in their hair, the hippies reinvent the wheel while singing at the top of their voices san francisco, the anthem performed by Scott McKenzie and written by John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas. Free love, alas, has its limits: years later, Phillips’ daughter will accuse him of incest. The illusions of the sixties did not last: from 1969, between the assassination of Sharon Tate and the fiasco of the Altamont festival, mass was said.
John Lennon sings it on God, in 1970: “The dream is over.” On these good words, Lennon himself must reinvent himself. Jealous of Paul McCartney and his “music for grandmothers”, he would like to get a solo hit. It will be Conceived, with his words full of good feelings. Not cynical until the end, Lennon will confess it himself: “This song is tolerated because it is coated in sugar. Now I have understood what it takes to express a political message: you have to add honey .”
Twelve songs engraved in the collective unconscious
This is the starting point ofConceived, the fascinating essay that Frédéric Granier (already author of a bio of the Beatles) devotes to 12 songs engraved in the collective unconscious. Failing to change the world, these have been able to mark their era, by playing the provocation card (God Save the Queen Sex Pistols or To arms and so on of Gainsbourg) or that of the consensus (Wind of Change of Scorpios or The Rising by Bruce Springsteen). A music lover but willingly caustic, Granier takes pleasure in telling the backstage of these often kitsch titles. The best chapter is the one where he goes behind the scenes of the recording of We Are the World by USA for Africa, a collective gathered around Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. Emerging from the global success of Thriller and wanting to do better than Do They Know It’s Christmas? (the Band Aid charity hit in support of Ethiopia), Jackson then believed himself to be the equal of Jesus – a messianic ambition that would never leave him, from Heal the World To Earth Song.
In 1985, before saving the planet, he was content to fly to the aid of the African continent by bringing together the cream of American showbiz. In this humanitarian joke where megalomania plays a major role, he fails to attract Madonna or her great rival Prince. Despite the absence of these two great consciences, it is not sad to see the clip of We Are the World : Ray Charles and Bob Dylan seem at the end of their rope, Diana Ross is her diva, and Springsteen can’t help but bawl when her brief singing turn comes… Which won’t stop this “horrible” song (according to Prince) to sell 20 million copies and generate $63 million in revenue.
A profitable brotherhood
When pop stars want to show they have a soul, it’s often about communication and big money. Did Paul Simon really intend to put an end to apartheid when he composed graceland (the album and the eponymous song) in 1986? He was corny and had to bounce back. If that doesn’t spoil the melodic beauty of graceland, let’s recognize that it was a bit demagogic to surround himself with South African musicians and to draw inspiration from the music of Soweto. A profitable fraternity for Simon: to date, the total sales of the album graceland are estimated at 16 million copies.
After having mentioned wonder wall of Oasis (emblem of the “Cool Britannia” which would bring Tony Blair to power), Conceived ends in 2002 with The Rising of Springsteen (him again). A drama like 9/11 had to have its signature song. McCartney and Neil Young position themselves on the niche but miss the boat, and it is Springsteen who wins the prize for the empathetic bard. As Granier remarks, it’s been twenty years since we’ve found such a unifying song. In the era of niches, it becomes difficult to bring humanity together, with flowers in their hair. It is not tomorrow the day before that Bono will have his Nobel Peace Prize…
Conceived. 12 songs that made historyby Frédéric Granier.
Perrin, 357 pages, €22.