ACT I Scene 8 Title Card: 8. Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles De Mon Âge Savent Bien Ce Que C'est Qu'être Heureux SYLVIE (Older

ACT I

Scene 8

Title Card: 8. Tous les garçons et les filles de mon âge Savent bien ce que c'est qu'être heureux

SYLVIE (older, very elegant) sits in a chair and the INTERVIEWER (film student) focuses the camera on her.

INTERVIEWER Okay I'm rolling.

SYLVIE So you want me to talk about the yé-yé girls? or more about Paris?

INTERVIEWER Yeah, just explain what a yé-yé girl is, tell us your experience.

SYLVIE Uhhhh. Yeah. Yé-yé girls were young French women, very young, usually between 15-20 years old, and they were singing pop music. They were called yé-yé because at the time British pop stars were singing a lot of "yeah yeah"'s and in French that is yé-yé.

INTERVIEWER What did you think of them? How was the music?

SYLVIE I found them very strange! They became really popular for a minute and it was easy to dismiss them as just a momentary fascination because here are these very young, very beautiful women, and that drew a lot of attention. But then they were also very young women who suddenly were present on the music charts. And they were singing in French, which was unheard of being on international billboard charts. Everyone sang in English, everything was about the British beat sound. And then here they were.

INTERVIEWER So it was sort of feminist? Feminist nationalist...

SYLVIE Eh bien, I don't know if you could say that. There were those horrible producers, and Gainsbourg of course. Gainsbourg was involved, and you know the "Les Sucettes" story? No? He was so taken with France Gall, Gainsbourg was, and he was writing songs for her that were a little naughty, mischievous, she's maybe 16 or 17 and it's all so cheeky. Then he writes a song called "Les Sucettes" which means lollipops. The song describes, quite graphically, how much lollipops are enjoyed by this young lady and then 2 he did a video filled with dancing phallic symbols, it was disgusting. France Gall was so young and innocent that she didn't figure out what it was all about until after the song and video were released. She never sang any of his songs again after that.