Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Album Takes Aim At New French President

The new Carla Bruni-Sarkozy album Little French Songs contains verbal disses directed at French president Francois Hollande.

If there seems nothing unusual about that (musicians have, after all, used their art to attack our leaders for decades), it’s worth remembering Bruni-Sarkozy is married to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. The US equivalent would be Laura Bush releasing an acid-tongued putdown of Barack Obama. Which, let’s face it, probably ain’t going to happen.

“Le Pingouin,” the final track on the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy album, has a title that translates to “The Penguin,” which also happens to be a French term for a wishy-washy individual who lacks social grace (perhaps now isn’t the time to link this story about Bruni-Sarkozy’s husband – oops).

While the lyrics of the song have not yet been revealed online, we sense Mme. Bruni-Sarkozy won’t be receiving an invite for the next Palais de l’Élysée garden party.

Hollande isn’t the only famous individual referenced by Bruni-Sarkozy. Another track, “At Keith and Anita’s Place,” reflects on a day spent with ex-boyfriend Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and his ex-gal pal Anita Pallenberg (you can see the video for this below).

And then, inevitably, there’s a song about Nicolas Sarkozy himself. “Mon Raymond” is a somewhat treacly tribute to Bruni-Sarkozy’s husband, and describes the former French leader as someone who is tireless and charismatic, but also prone to moping.

Whether the new Carla Bruni-Sarkozy album is any good is another matter, but early reviews seem mediocre. A two-star Bloomberg review notes:

“Any schoolgirl could do [Bruni-Sarkozy’s] gentle cooing. The album is as relaxing as a quiet night in with a shared bottle of decent Merlot. It’s inoffensive, likeable, polite and curiously devoid of passion.

“The instrumentation is tastefully restrained: gentle electric guitars with reverb, classy piano. There’s nothing to disturb that soothing bath before bedtime.”