Friday, June 20, 2014

Françoise Hardy: Le Temps de L'amour

For our Feminine Friday’s feature, we head across the pond to France with a 1962 recording by singer/actress Françoise Hardy. As far as I know, “Le Temps de L'amour” (“The Time for Love”) was not released as a single in the US. In Hardy’s native France, the song was issued as one of four selections on her second EP release.


“Le Temps de L'amour” was released in the UK on Pye Records in 1964 as the flipside of her single “Et Même.” Unfortunately, neither song charted on the British charts. Although recorded in 1962, it has a sound reminiscent of 1964 - as the music had changed by then and it shows that Hardy’s recording was ahead of its time.


Hardy also had the opportunity of being immortalized by Bob Dylan. In his poem “Some Other Kinds of Songs” on the reverse cover of “Another Side of Bob Dylan,” Mr. Zimmerman mentions the young French star by name.

In addition, the photo shoot for the cover of Dylan’s “Bringing it all Back Home” had originally contained her EP “J'suis D'accord” on the floor with other records. Unfortunately when the cover was cropped, her release never made it to the cover. It can be seen, however, in several outtakes from the photo session.

Even having some help by Bob Dylan did not propel the young star onto the US charts and she is better known for her acting in the US than she is for her singing talents.

The lyrics for “Le Temps de L'amour” have been translated into English as follows:


It is the time of love,
The time of friends and adventure.
As the time comes and goes,
One thinks of nothing in spite of one's wounds.
Because the time of love
It's long and it's short,
It lasts forever, one remembers it.

At twenty, we tell ourselves that we rule the world,
And that all the blue sky will be in our eyes forever.

It is the time of love,
The time of friends and adventure.
As the time comes and goes,
We think of nothing in spite of our wounds.
For the time of love
It fills your heart
With so much warmth and happiness.
One fine day it's love and the heart beats faster,
For life follows its course
And one is totally happy to be in love.

It is the time of love,
The time of friends and adventure.
When the time comes and goes,
One thinks of nothing in spite of one's wounds.
For the time of love
It's long and it's short,
It lasts forever, one remembers it.



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