Michel Sardou (born January 26, 1947) is a French singer.

He was bor… Read Full Bio ↴Michel Sardou (born January 26, 1947) is a French singer.

He was born in Paris, the son of Fernand Sardou and Jackie Rollin (Jackie Sardou). Contrary to what has been written at the beginning of his career, he is not the grandson of the dramatist Victorien Sardou.

He is known for songs dealing with various social and political issues, such as the rights of women in Islamic countries, clerical celibacy and colonialism. Another sometimes controversial theme found in some of his songs ("Les Ricains," for example) is respect and support for the culture and foreign policies of the United States. Another notable fact about his career is that he has focused his full attention on his homeland, ignoring the prospect of an international audience, although his 1981 single "Les lacs du Connemara" did manage to become a big international hit. A number of his hit songs were written in collaboration with Jacques Revaux, a few others (most notably "En chantant") with Italian singer Toto Cutugno.

Even in the 21st century, Michel Sardou remains immensely popular in France, selling out 18 consecutive dates at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in 2001, while his 2004 album "Du plaisir" went straight to the no. 1 spot on the French album charts.

He has been married three times, first to a French dancer, then to Babette (the mother of his children) and lastly to an lifelong friend who edits the French version of Vogue.

He is currently (2023) at the center of a controversy over a song he wrote fifty years ago: the lakes of Connemara. Juliette Armanet, a French pop starlet answering a question about a song that would made her leave a party and it was LES LACS DU CONNEMARA. Sardou, an idol of the French right, in spite of himself, is stuck between the left which finds him corny and the right which does not support that one attacks its institutions. Music is a strong force and nobody fights harder than those who LOVE certain songs. Amazingly this song has nothing to do with politics.

Monsieur Le Président De France
Michel Sardou Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Monsieur le Président de France
Je vous écris du Michigan
Pour vous dire qu'à côté d'Avranches
Mon père est mort
Il y a vingt ans
Mon père est mort
Il y a vingt ans

Je n'étais alors qu'un enfant
Mais j'étais fier de raconter
Qu'il était mort en combattant
Qu'il était mort
À vos côtés

Monsieur le Président de France
Je vous écris du Michigan
Au nom d'un homme qui pour Avranches
N'a traversé
Qu'un océan
N'a traversé
Qu'un océan

Dites à ceux qui ont oublié
À ceux qui brûlent mon drapeau
Qu'en souvenir de ces années
Ce sont les derniers
Des salauds

Monsieur le Président de France
Je vous écris du Michigan
Pour vous dire que tout près d'Avranches
Une croix blanche
Porte mon nom
Rappelez-le

De temps en temps
Merci

Overall Meaning

The song "Monsieur le Président de France" by Michel Sardou is a moving letter to the President of France about the death of the singer's father, who died while fighting for France during World War II. The singer, who was a child at the time of his father's death, expresses his pride in his father's sacrifice to defend France alongside the President himself. The letter is written from Michigan, where the singer now resides, and he implores the President to remember his father's sacrifice by visiting the cross that bears his name near Avranches.

The song is a poignant reminder of the enduring sacrifices made by soldiers and their families in defense of their countries. It also calls attention to the lasting impact of war on the lives of those who fight it and those left behind. The singer's message to the President is one of gratitude, but also a plea not to forget the sacrifices made by his father and others like him.

Line by Line Meaning

Monsieur le Président de France
Dear Mr. President of France

Je vous écris du Michigan
I am writing to you from Michigan

Pour vous dire qu'à côté d'Avranches
To tell you that near Avranches

Mon père est mort
My father died

Il y a vingt ans
20 years ago

Je n'étais alors qu'un enfant
I was just a child then

Mais j'étais fier de raconter
But I was proud to say

Qu'il était mort en combattant
That he died fighting

Qu'il était mort
That he died

À vos côtés
By your side

Au nom d'un homme qui pour Avranches
On behalf of a man who, for Avranches