I'm a Sucker for Yannick Noah (the singer)

WHEN I WAS 12 years old Yannick Noah won the French Open and I remember it. I'm not exactly sure why I remember it, but I do --- maybe the big mop of hair. 25 years later and now I'm a fan of his music. (Well, at least one of his songs).

Toward the end of last school year Patrick and Julia kept singing this song involving a chorus where they sort of chant 'aux arbres citoyens', a clever play on the 'aux arms citoyens' from the French national anthem. They learned the song in school and recently begged me to download it to our iPod. I'd heard the song several times and kind of liked it so I said yes and asked if they knew who the artist was. 'Yannick Noah,' they said.

What?! The tennis player?! Patrick was first with the response. "No, Joakim Noah's dad." (Hello, generation gap!)

Anyway, I knew Yannick Noah was a musician but I had no idea he was the guy who sang this song that I really kind of like. 'Aux Arbres Citoyen' is kind of an environmental song talking about how we need to save the trees, the world, etc., etc. But knowing it's by Yannick Noah only makes me like it more. If you don't know the song I'm including two versions from Youtube: a live version from France2 and the official video. Take a look and try to deny that's it's kind of a catchy tune (while keeping in mind that it is a French song so keep your expectations at a realistic level). The video doesn't have great sound quality, but you can hear it fine. If you want to sing along with the chorus (oh, and you will) here are the words. Just chant the words in bold at the appropriate time:

Puisqu'il faut changer les choses
Aux arbres citoyens !
Il est grand temps qu'on propose
Un monde pour demain !

Now Patrick and Julia sing the whole song all the time. And from time to time Kerri and I join in the chorus. (It would be more accurate to say that Kerri joins from time to time and I join all the time. Really loud. The kids hate it).

CJS