Translator: Jenny Zurawell
Bonjour. Good morning.
I'm sorry, but my English is really, really bad.
So, I'm going to do my best,
but we may continue in French.
We'll see.
I came to present to you
a new kind of music promotion
that we began one year ago with my manager.
It was my manager's idea, who said,
"I want to do a special reality TV show."
But I'm not 50 Cent.
I'm not Snoop Doggy Dog.
And I don't want to be them.
So I said, okay, I'm not a big star
and I don't want to be like that.
So we decided to be more down to earth,
more human.
We decided to do a special lesson —
because my artist name is Stromae.
It comes from French slang:
you split a word into two parts,
then switch the two parts.
And from "Maestro" you have "Stromae" —
that's my nickname.
We decided to be like a special professor.
We put the video on the Internet,
and I'll try to show you how I do the lessons.
As you see, we don't have Wi-Fi here...
(Laughter)
(Applause)
So I need your help.
Online, normally I have
a special sound effect:
when I say a chapter,
there's a "tin tin" —
a special sound.
Every time there's a chapter, there's a little “tin tin” sound.
So I need you to do the “tin tin” when I say
chapter one, which is the bass.
(Audience: Tin tin.)
I think we can be a bit more enthusiastic, eh?
Chapter one, the bass. No, I didn't say it yet.
Chapter one: the bass!
(Audience: Tin tin!)
Perfect! We're going to record it immediately.
It goes like this:
(Music)
Are we recording?
(Audience: Tin tin.)
No, no.
(Laughter)
Okay, let me explain:
the “tin tin” is only when I say a chapter.
If I ask, "Are we recording?", you say "yes!"
You can say "yes!" (Laughter)
So, are we recording — yes or no?
(Audience: Yes!)
Okay, perfect.
So with a basic computer,
and a simple program called Reason,
we record right away... one, two, three, four.
(Music)
It’s recorded. It’s magic. And stop.
We are moving to chapter two,
which is... no, no, no. I didn't call it yet!
(Laughter)
Chapter two is the synthesizer.
(Audience: Tin tin.)
Okay, thank you very much!
The synthesizer goes like this:
(Music)
Are we recording?
(Audience: Yes!)
Good, you're learning!
One, two, three, four.
(Music)
Stop.
Chapter three.
No, not yet!
(Laughter)
It's the drums.
So, chapter three: the drums!
(Audience: Tin tin!)
Magnificent!
And the drums go like this:
a boom and a clap — that simple —
like in electronic music.
One, two, three, four.
(Music)
Stop.
Now, your attention please. The next chapter...
wait for it, please.
Chapter four is the saxophone.
(Audience: Tin tin!)
Perfect. Thank you very much.
The saxophone was doing this.
(Music)
Are we recording?
(Audience: Yes!)
You're not saying “tin tin” now, eh?
(Laughter)
One, two, three, four.
(Music)
Stop.
The composition is done. Good, it’s finished.
(Laughter)
Chapter five is the interpretation.
If you want to do an interpretation
you need a theme, an idea.
And me, when I heard this song here,
I said to myself, it makes me think of dance,
and that makes me want to dance.
And then I asked myself, why do people dance?
Maybe to forget their problems.
So why do people dance?
Is it to try to forget their problems?
So I'm going to sing the song right now.
Chapter five is the interpretation.
(Audience: Tin tin!)
Okay, do you want to dance?
(Audience: Yes!)
Do you dance sitting down?
(Laughter)
No, you can stand up!
Can you hear me? Great.
The last chapter is the interpretation.
(Music)
♫ So we... ♫
Do you speak French?
♫ So we... ♫
♫ Those who say "study" are saying "work " ♫
♫ Those who say "work" are telling you "money" ♫
♫ Those who say "money" say "spending" ♫
♫ Those who say "credit" are saying "debt" ♫
♫ Those who say "debt" are telling you "bailiff" ♫
♫ And the bailiff says you're in deep shit ♫
♫ Those who say "love" say "kids" ♫
♫ Those who say "forever" say "divorce" ♫
♫ Those who say "family" are telling you "grief" ♫
♫ Because problems never come alone ♫
♫ Those who say "crisis" are talking about the world ♫
♫ They mention "famine" and "the third world" ♫
♫ Those who say "exhaustion" say "wake up" ♫
♫ Still deaf from the night ♫
♫ We go out to forget all our problems ♫
♫ So we dance ♫
♫ To forget, we just dance ♫
♫ Until morning, we just dance ♫
♫ So we dance, we dance and then we dance ♫
♫ So we dance... until TEDx. And then we dance ♫
♫ The same in French, so we dance ♫
♫ So we dance ♫
♫ And there you tell yourself it’s over ♫
♫ because the only thing worse would be death ♫
♫ When you finally think you’ll make it out ♫
♫ When there’s still more ♫ (Audience: ♫ and more! ♫)
♫ Is it the music or our problems? ♫
♫ Our problems or the music? ♫
♫ It takes you by the guts and by the head ♫
♫ You pray for it to stop ♫
♫ But it's your body, not heaven ♫
♫ So you plug your ears ♫
♫ And you scream louder, but it remains ♫
♫ So we sing ♫
I can't hear you!
♫ La-la-la-la-la-la, everybody sing! ♫
(Audience: ♫ La-la-la-la-la-la ♫)
I can't hear you.
(Audience: ♫ La-la-la-la-la-la ♫)
♫ So we sing ♫
Are you ready to start again?
♫ So we sing ♫
Chapter number five.
♫ And only when it's finished, then we dance ♫
♫ So we dance to forget, we just dance ♫
♫ Until the morning, we dance ♫
♫ We dance, we dance and then we dance ♫
♫ So we dance ♫
♫ To forget, we just dance ♫
♫ Until the morning, we dance ♫
♫ And when there's more, and then even more ♫
Speak in French!
♫ And when there's more ♫
(Audience: ♫ and even more! ♫)
One more time! The last part please.
♫ And when there's more, and then even more ♫
♫ More, more, then more and even more ♫
♫ When there's more, and then even more ♫
♫ To forget, but there's still more ♫
♫ More, more, then more and even more ♫
Thank you very much.
(Applause)
That's how we promoted
my first album, entitled "Cheese".
So that's how we promoted my first album,
my first single, "Alors on danse".
The name of the album is "Cheese",
because everything is okay, like "so we dance".
Even if you're sad or happy,
you'll always make the same face in pictures,
like this: "Cheese!"
Everything is okay.
That's the name of the album.
Thank you!
(Applause)