"Le Déserteur" (, ''The Deserter'') is an anti-war song written by the French poet and musician

Boris Vian Boris Vian (; 10 March 1920 – 23 June 1959) was a French polymath who is primarily remembered for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan were bizarre parodies of criminal fiction, highly controversial at the time of th ...

. 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, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

on May 7, 1954. The song 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), English (September 1964 by

John Brunner John Brunner may refer to: * Sir John Brunner, 1st Baronet (1842–1919), British industrialist and Liberal Member of Parliament * John L. Brunner (1929–1980), Pennsylvania politician * Sir John Brunner, 2nd Baronet (1865–1929), British Libe ...

), 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 Popular music, pop music star Charles Aznavour. Calabrese wrote the original Italian lyrics for the popular song "Softly, as I ...

, sung by

Luigi Tenco Luigi Tenco (21 March 1938 – 27 January 1967) was an Italian singer-songwriter. He died on the night of 27 January 1967 after a performance at the Sanremo Music Festival. His death was ruled to be the result of suicide, but even decades later, ...

Ornella Vanoni Ornella Vanoni (; born 22 September 1934) is an Italian singer. 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 albums, and is considered ...

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 ...

), 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 awarded the Bell ...

), Dutch ("De deserteur", 1964 by

Ernst van Altena Ernst Rudolf van Altena (11 December 193315 June 1999) 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 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian ...

, sung by

Peter Blanker Peter Blanker (born 11 June 1939 in Delfshaven) is a Dutch singer and Artist. Blanker sings and writes in the ''Levenslied'' genre, a somewhat sentimental popular genre, and teaches the writing of such songs. Many of his songs dealt with his birt ...

), Polish ("Dezerter" by

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

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

Ramon Muntaner Ramon Muntaner () (1265 – 1336) was a 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 The Catalan Com ...

and Joan Ollé, 1980 by Joan Isaac), Danish (1964 by Per Dich), Spanish (1986 by Glutamato Ye-yé, 2003 by Manuel Talens, later by

José Manuel Caballero Bonald José Manuel Caballero Bonald (November 11, 1926 – May 9, 2021) was a Spanish novelist, lecturer and poet. Early life Caballero was born in Calle Caballeros, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. His father was Plácido Caballero, a Cuban whose mothe ...

) and many other languages. The song was recorded in French by

Peter, Paul & Mary Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival. The trio consisted of Peter Yarrow (guitar, tenor vocals), Paul Stookey (guitar, baritone vocals), and Mary Travers (contr ...

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, 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 mo ...

sang it during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. The song is in the form of a letter to the

French president The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

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 Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...

: in it, he explains he wants nothing to do with war as he has seen his father die, his brother leave never to return, his children cry and his mother dies of sorrow. He also explains that he doesn't want to "kill poor people", that he's lost everything he loved already and he'd rather become a beggar and a peace activist, telling people not to obey, not to engage in war, and to refuse to leave when they are drafted. In the late 1970s, the song was covered by nuclear protesters in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, 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, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), th ...

's novel '' V.'' Several parts of the song were altered by Boris Vian at the request of and in collaboration with Marcel 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: 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