Frenchy’s Favorites: Betty Blue Soundtrack
General Description
Artist/Band: Gabriel Yared
Album Title: Betty Blue a.k.a. 37°2 Le Matin (Movie Soundtrack)
Year: 1988
Manic mood swings between joy and sadness
How I Got Into This Music
Hmm.. Lemme think for a minute.. Yep, ‘89: there was this TV ad for some brand (Stefanel, clothing). This ad was quite cheesy, girl at the edge of a rocky coast in deep contemplation, blahblahblah. But the tune they used..
I couldn’t get it out of my head, it drove me nuts, I loved it! Took me quite a while to find out who the artist was: Gabriel Yared. Who? Didn’t know.. People told me it was from this French movie called Betty Blue or 37°2 le matin. So what? Didn’t care about the movie then, but a room mate had the soundtrack and when I listened to it, it was instant nirvana.
Google Search: Reviews of Betty Blue a.k.a. 37°2 Le Matin (Movie Soundtrack)
Tracks that got my attention:
Betty et Zorg
This is the main theme in the movie score, this theme was used in different musical styles on the soundtrack. This is the lazy jazzy version, with an excellent saxophone-harmonica combo.
Des Orages Pour la Nuit
Stormy weather indeed.. Often told anecdote: I used to program my CD player with my favorite tracks of this album, put it on repeat and go to sleep. I messed up once and programmed this track too and woke up in the middle of the night, totally freaked out, still fresh out of the nightmare I care not to describe.
Cargo Voyage
Second theme in the movie also performed in different styles. This version is a beautiful harmonica thingy, love it!
La Poubelle Cuisine
Funny tune, an Italian flavored dish in a French movie
Humecter la Monture
Now THIS is what elevator music should sound like!
Le Petit Nicolas
Variation of Des Orages Pour La Nuit (wiping the sweat from my brow..)
Comme Les Deux Doights de la Main
This theme was the one they used in the TV ad that started my whole love affair with this album
Chile con Carne
Delicious Brazilian variant - love the sweet whistling!
Maudits Maneges
Carnival or circus theme, beautiful and haunting at the same time. Like I was a little kid again..
Conclusion
Didn’t do a track-by-track review coz like I wrote before, this score uses three or four themes and uses different versions of those themes. Tracks like La Poubelle Cuisine and Humecter La Monture stand on their own and offer a nice break from those theme variations. Enough with the clinical crap already!
This is one of my favorite albums because it was and still is to me one of those great little discoveries in music. I never heard music that way before (or at least, never payed any real attention) and I never thought an instrumental soundtrack would be strong enough to work on its own merits. Let alone make we want to go see the movie.
And the movie? Depressingly beautiful, but that’s another review..
