"Le Déserteur" (The Deserter) is a famous anti-war song written by the French poet and musician

Boris Vian Boris Vian (; 10 March 1920 – 23 June 1959) was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer who is primarily remembered for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sulliva ...

. It was first performed on the day of the decisive French defeat in the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

on May 7, 1954. It was sung by

Marcel Mouloudji Marcel André Mouloudji (16 September 1922 – 14 June 1994) was a French singer and actor who was born in Paris and died in Neuilly-sur-Seine. He sang songs written by Boris Vian and Jacques Prévert. Personal life Mouloudji was born to Algeria ...

on that day in concert, and he recorded it a week later. Its sale and broadcast were however forbidden by the French national radio committee until 1962. The first translation was in 1956 into Esperanto. It was later translated into German (1959 by

Gerd Semmer Gerhard Friedrich "Gerd" Semmer (born December 21, 1919 in Paderborn ; † November 12, 1967 in Ratingen ) was a German poet, columnist, songwriter and translator. He is considered the "father of the German protest song". Biography Born in Pad ...

), English (september 1964 by John Brunner), Italian (1966 by Santo Catanuto, 1971 by

Giorgio Calabrese Giorgio Calabrese (28 November 1929 – 31 March 2016) was an Italian songwriter and frequent collaborator with French pop music star Charles Aznavour. Calabrese wrote the original Italian lyrics for the popular song " Softly, as I Leave You", an ...

, sung by

Luigi Tenco Luigi Tenco (21 March 1938 – 27 January 1967) was an Italian singer-songwriter. Biography Tenco was born in Cassine (province of Alessandria) in 1938, the son of Teresa Zoccola and Giuseppe Tenco. He never knew his father, who died in uncle ...

Ornella Vanoni Ornella Vanoni (; born 22 September 1934) is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress. She is one of the longest-standing Italian artists, having started performing in 1956. She has released about 112 works between LP, EPs and greatest hits alb ...

and

Ivano Fossati Ivano Alberto Fossati (born 21 September 1951) is an Italian pop singer from Genoa. He was a member of the progressive rock group Delirium and has worked with Fabrizio De André, Riccardo Tesi, Anna Oxa, Mia Martini, Ornella Vanoni, Shirley Bass ...

), Swedish ("Desertören", 1969 by Roland Von Malmborg, "Jag står här på ett torg" before 2003 by

Lars Forssell Lars Hans Carl Abraham Forssell (14 January 192826 July 2007) was a Swedish writer and member of the Swedish Academy. Forssell was a versatile writer who worked within many genres, including poetry, drama and songwriting. He was married from 1951 ...

), Dutch ("De deserteur", 1964 by

Ernst van Altena Ernst Rudolf van Altena (11 December 1933, Amsterdam – 15 June 1999, Landsmeer) was a Dutch poet, writer and translator. He was best known for his translations of chansons by Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – ...

, sung by Peter Blanker), Polish ("Dezerter" by

Wojciech Młynarski Wojciech Młynarski (26 March 1941 – 15 March 2017) was a Polish poet, singer, songwriter, translator and director. A well-known figure on the Polish musical scene, he was most famous for his ballads and what is known as sung poetry, as well a ...

), Welsh ("Y FFoadur" by Huw Jones), Catalan (1977 sung by

Ramon Muntaner Ramon Muntaner () (1265 – 1336) was a Catalan people, Catalan mercenary and writer who wrote the ''Crònica'', a chronicle of his life, including his adventures as a commander in the Catalan Company. He was born at Peralada. Biography T ...

and Joan Ollé, 1980 by Joan Isaac), Danish (1964 by Per Dich), Spanish (only in 2003 by Manuel Talens, later by José Manuel Caballero Bonald) and many other languages. The song was recorded in French by

Peter, Paul & Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's reperto ...

in 1966 and by

Esther & Abi Ofarim Esther & Abi Ofarim were an Israeli musical duo active during the 1960s, consisting of husband and wife Abi Ofarim and Esther Ofarim. They enjoyed particular success in Germany. They had hits in Europe with their songs "One More Dance," "Morning ...

for their album ''2 In 3'' in 1967. "The Deserter" was one of four Vian songs translated into English and released as a 1983 EP by New Zealand musician

Bill Direen William Direen (born 1957) is a New Zealand writer and performer. He graduated from Canterbury University (Christchurch) with the John Tinline Prize (1980) and M.A. Hons. (1st). His masters thesis was titled ''The influence of Japanese noh, B ...

, using the pseudonym "Feast of Frogs" (the other songs were "Snob", "I Drink", and "Hurt Me Johnny"). In the United States,

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

sang it during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. The song is in the form of a letter to the French president from a man explaining his reasons for refusing the call to arms and becoming a

deserter Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

. In the late 1970s, the song was covered by nuclear protesters in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, as a direct apostrophe to the fierce pro-nuclear French president Giscard d'Estaing in the Plogoff struggle. A stanza of the song appears in

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...

's novel '' V.'' Several parts of the song were altered by Boris Vian at the request of and in collaboration with Michel Mouloudji, who was the only singer willing to record it. The biggest change is in the last stanza. In the original version, the deserter has a weapon and intends to defend himself against the forces of law if they pursue him.Philippe Boggio, Boris Vian, Paris, Le Livre de poche, 1995, p. 405 (). In the version of Mouloudji (used by many subsequent artists) he promises to be unarmed and be ready to die if pursued. The following is the altered French stanza and its English translation: Si vous me poursuivez,
Prévenez vos gendarmes
Que je n'aurai pas d'armes
Et qu'ils pourront tirer. If you pursue me,
Warn your policemen,
That I won't be carrying a weapon,
and that they can shoot me. The resulting version, in spite of its pacifist leaning, was banned from 1954 to 1962 from public broadcast.

References

External links

''Le Déserteur'' in 45 languages
with the complete history of the song in French, Italian and English, from websit
Chansons Contre la Guerre (CCG/AWS)"Le Deserteur (Monsieur le President)" performed by Esther & Abi Ofarim
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deserteur, Le Songs about soldiers Songs about letters (message) Songs about the military 1954 songs Anti-war songs French songs Desertion Music controversies Works by Boris Vian Peter, Paul and Mary songs Esther & Abi Ofarim songs

See also

References

External links