Francis Lai, composer of the unforgettable "Dabadabada", is dead

The music ofA man and a woman, the theme of Love Story and A bicycle, it was him. At 86, the composer Francis Lai, musician of Claude Lelouch, died, leaving behind his melodies at once simple and unforgettable.

It is with immense pain that I learn of the death of Francis Lai, a formidable musician and composer from Nice, to whom we owe in particular the music of "A man and a woman" and "Love Story" for which he had received an Oscar. Thoughts for his family and loved ones. pic.twitter.com/qbxzW1IE3x

– Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi) November 7, 2018

It is the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, who announced the death of the Niçois Wednesday in a statement, indicating that the city was going to pay tribute to him: "I will soon propose to his family to give his name to an emblematic place of our city. " "We shared a lot of time together in Isola, where he had a house. We liked to meet again on August 15th, at the Hameau de Mollières in the heart of the Mercantour National Park ", continues Christian Estrosi.

"Dabadabada" then "chabada-bada", taken over 200 times

Self-taught, born in April 1932 of parents horticulturists in Nice, Francis Lai began his career as an accordionist of the poet and singer Bernard Dimey, with whom he writes songs for the gratin of the time: Edith Piaf, Juliette Greco or Yves Montand again. For Edith Piaf, he writes his first song, The right to love.

But it was his encounter with filmmaker Claude Lelouch two years later in 1965 that marked a turning point in his career, thanks to a mutual friend Pierre Barouh, the one who wrote the words "dabadabada". The mythical theme of the film, which was transformed over time into "chabada-bada", sung by Nicole Croisille, was taken over 200 times.

Composer of Lelouch

"Music is something inexplicable. It's an easy theme to memorize and that's what Lelouch was looking for, a theme easy to memorize at first listen, "he told AFP in January 2017, after the death of his friend Pierre Barouh. "Ba da ba da ba da is only an allusion to jazz. We were all jazz buffs and this ba da ba da ba, this kind of onomatopoeia, was an extension of these stanzas. It's a bit like our signature, "he said.

Composer of Lelouch, he wrote all the music of his films Live for living, A man who likes me, 13 days in France, Life, love, death, The thug, Adventure is adventure, Itinerary of a spoiled child… He had also recently worked on new recordings for the sequel to Claude Lelouch's cult film, A man and a woman, currently shooting.

It's for his score of Love Story that he will receive an Oscar in 1970. The theme Where Do I Begin performed by Andy Williams and Shirley Bbadey is immediately taken over by Mireille Mathieu (A love story).

He has composed for more than 100 films and signed more than 600 songs

"I am very sad and I think very much about his wife and children. His flight of violins and his "Chabadabada" will miss me but will resonate eternally as an international "Love Story", reacted Mireille Mathieu, to whom he wrote about forty songs.

The composer will also be signing songs for Serge Reggiani, Dalida, Ella Fitzgerald, Nicoletta, Johnny Hallyday and the famous A bicycle (now The bicycle) for Yves Montand. He will write in all the music of more than 100 films and will sign more than 600 songs. He was one of the last great music composers of his generation, with Michel Legrand and Vladimir Cosma.

"With only a few notes, Francis Lai had the gift of making great movies more beautiful, even more upsetting," said Culture Minister Franck Riester on Twitter.

With only a few notes, Francis #Lai had this gift to make great movies more beautiful, even more upsetting. At the time of seeing it go, its immortal original tones resonate in our hearts. pic.twitter.com/Y7TSgrxGUh

– Franck Riester (@franckriester) November 7, 2018

"He will not write any more scores. His melodies had a crazy charm; and him! "Regretted on his side the former president of the Cannes Film Festival Gilles Jacob. "His romantic talent of the melody, his shyness, his good smile and his very deep and real humanity," greeted his side Pierre Lescure, current president of the festival.