Francis Cabrel & The Calling

What better way to celebrate St. Valentine's Day than by listening to a romantic Frenchman singing about love and newspapers?

My person knew enough French to explain that the title of Francis Cabrel's album, Quelqu'un de l'Intérieur, means "Someone on the Inside," and she translated other titles such as "L'enfant qui dort" (the sleeping child) and "Question d'équilibre" (a question of balance).
Cabrel is fairly famous in France as a singer, guitarist, songwriter, and local politician. Early in his career, he was influenced by Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen (who I will be reviewing in a few weeks), and I could hear those influences in his songs.
A lot of Cabrel's songs seem to be about ethical questions, which are not of much interest to cats. One song did catch my attention: "Edition Spéciale" which Cabrel sings and plays really fast. It's very catchy, and my person sang along in what I suspect was really bad French. This song is what motivated her to buy the album in the first place. She'd seen Albert Brooks sing along with it in the movie Broadcast News, so I assumed that the song is about the news, and I got to thinking about the newspaper that the other cat and I eat our breakfast on every morning. It's certainly a "special edition" on the days we're served chopped kidneys or liver. After that thought, it was hard for me to pay much attention to the rest of "Someone on the Inside," since I was thinking about my own insides and how empty they felt.

Listen to Cabrel sing "Edition Spéciale" at www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXJX2AWeFew

After Frenchy was finished, we sampled The Calling's Camino Palmero, which I thought might be in Spanish, but it wasn't. The Calling released only two albums and haven't been heard from since 2005. They are one of those one-hit wonders whose song "Wherever You Will Go" was all over the charts in 2001, went to number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the Adult Top 40 for 23 weeks.
I guess if a band is only going to have one big hit, it ought to be a good one like "Wherever You Will Go." Take a listen: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC8LZiNP3RE 
My person petted me pretty much non-stop during "Wherever You Will Go" and promised that we'd never part. We have a loving relationship: she loves me, and I love the way she massages my ears. It was a nice way to spend Valentine's Day afternoon.
Peace Out!