Four weeks ago, Françoise Hardy caused a stir in France with a moving letter to the president: She asked for compassion for those who are hopelessly ill. For permission to make it easier for them to die when there is no other way. She wrote about the right, dignity and will of people at the end of their life – and in doing so triggered a social debate about the topic of euthanasia.
An ulcer was first discovered on her in 2004, from which cancer later developed. Things got better for a while, but now, as she describes it, it has gotten unbearably worse. She suffers from severe pain and can hardly hear anymore – the various therapies saved her life, but at the same time turned it into a nightmare: “I’m exhausted,” she writes.
A lanky young woman with long, straight hair
Françoise Hardy, born in Paris on January 17, 1944, has never been afraid of clear words. The fact that she is one of France’s greatest musicians is thanks to her songs, which became hits without being shallow. In contrast to many singers of her generation, she not only interpreted what others had written – she also wrote her own pieces right from the start: “Tous les garçons et les filles” conquered the charts at the beginning of the 1960s. A quiet, precise piece, that tells of loneliness and at the same time sets the tone of that dreamy sadness that is still her trademark today. Almost overnight, the young, lanky woman with straight long hair became an icon of her time as an actress – and nothing about her career could be predicted been.
Françoise Hardy grew up as the illegitimate daughter of a married man: a shame at the time. Her mother works a lot, her grandmother lets the girl feel her frustration. She was ugly, an outsider who wouldn’t achieve anything. As a teenager, Françoise Hardy was taller and thinner than the others in her class, she read a lot and almost never went out. The complexes, she says, have grown with her. The fact that she finally discovered music was a coincidence. Her father, whom she hardly ever sees, gave her a guitar when she was 16. Françoise Hardy writes melodies, she fights her own timidity and is lucky: when she auditions for a record company, they recognize her talent and encourage her to keep going. She decides to try being a singer – it’s a liberation, even from her home.
A female biography full of seriousness and mystery
Later, on stage, people rave about her shy fragility: the young woman who just stands there with her guitar and sings. Even later you recognize the strength and concentration of an artist who wants to work as perfectly as possible. Françoise Hardy never stopped making music. Between 1962 and 2018 she released 28 albums; a journey through life, a female biography full of seriousness and mystery.
The great love of her life is the actor and singer Jacques Dutronc, who, at least as she describes it, is her personality counterpart, so easy-going and self-confident. For a while in the 1970s, the two were the dream couple of the French cultural scene – and that’s basically still the case today. Although they officially ended their relationship in 1990, they never completely separated. Françoise Hardy still regularly returns to Jacques Dutronc’s house in Corsica, where the couple once lived together with their son Thomas. Since her last record, Françoise Hardy has almost completely withdrawn from the public eye.
She will probably be leaving soon – she also wrote that in her open letter four weeks ago.