IFLTS: 'Ce Jeu,' Yelle

'Ce Jeu,' Yelle
From 2007

I grew up spending every summer in France with my Mom's family, initially clinging to my cassettes of Madonna and Cyndi Lauper in order to escape endless language barriers. However, my thirst for music soon overpowered my linguistic shyness. I quickly discovered my first huge love in Francophile music -- a sassy pop star named Lio who sang the 1986 hit 'Les Brunes Comptent Pas Pour Des Prunes.' It was a brunette anthem, enticing boys to stay with their saucy brunettes, not textbook blondes -- an ode to Sophia Loren and the Mona Lisa. I was a blonde at the time, but I instinctively identified with future that laid in store for my roots.

Flashforward 20 years. I have forgotten the lessons of my youth -- shamelessly abandoned for "natural" highlights and Brigitte Bardot over Loren. Miraculously, as if the French pop-Gods realized how far I had strayed, I was brought a belated yet tantalizing remnant of my youth; this time in the form of another funky dark haired vixen, Lio's hipper musical "sister" Yelle.

Yelle's ode to women and relationships comes in the form of 'Ce Jeu,' the ultimate in French electro-pop. A bubbly, clap happy tune with searing ball-busting lyrics. Who doesn't know that relationship she is chirping about? The boy who manipulates and toys with the girl. The girl who loves this and toys right back. The exasperation that kicks in. The crying. The coy laughter. The endless and incomprehensible love dance that accompanies this. French pop just doesn't get much better. "It's so evident, and I don't see much sense/we're both victims of this game of lovers..." And the whistling carries you away.

What song do you freakin' love? Write our next IFLTS. Send it to us at spinnereditor@aim.com