An Unexpected Experience

Bonjour!

A little fact about me: I just spent six weeks studying abroad in my favorite city in the world (Paris, France). Going into this trip, I had a few expectations and presumptions about what I would experience. I knew that I would get whistled at and cat called. I knew that some of the people would be rude and wouldn't give you the time of the day. I knew that the food would be delicious and the desserts would be irresistible. I knew the sights would amaze me and I would never want to leave. One of my assumptions was completely turned on its head, though. I thought that being in France, I would hear new and unique French music and that I would bear witness to that side of French culture. I was thoroughly disappointed.

In approximately 90% of all of the restaurants, stores, and sites that I went inside, English music played. I did not hear any unique sounding French songs. Instead, I heard songs that I would hear in America; I could sing along to the majority of the music in the majority of places I went. I honestly hated it. For me, the propagation of American and anglophone music into a country and city that is contrasted to America itself messed with my head. I know that myself and many of my classmates on my trip with me felt put off by the lack of French music. It wasn't just in touristy areas, either. We would walk into a family owned restaurant in a suburban residential part of the city and hear the sounds of American pop top 40 songs. Most of the people in the restaurant couldn't even understand the songs, either, as little spoke English. I couldn't (and still can't) understand why Americanized music remains so popular in a country who has a completely different national language. Because of this confusion on my part, I decided to do my final project on the reasonings and aspects of the spread and fame of Anglophone music in Paris.