Learn French Through Music: 40 French Songs to Sing Along With ACCORD Paris
Looking for a fun way to learn French? At ACCORD, our French school in the heart of Paris, just a short walk from the Eiffel Tower, we believe that learning French should be both effective and genuinely enjoyable.
This is why we’ve put together a playlist of French songs, including some of the most famous ones out there. Whether you’re a fan of Piaf, Trenet, Higelin, Lavilliers, Gainsbourg, Barbara or Goldman, our music selection will help you improve your French while having fun, singing along and learning the lyrics as you go.
Why learn French through music?
Listening to music is a particularly effective form of language immersion: it encourages you to discover and memorise new vocabulary and improves your listening comprehension.
Listening is great, really great, but repeating song lyrics (and singing along with the artist!) really helps with your pronunciation without you even noticing. In almost all of the video clips below, the lyrics are shown karaoke-style, but you’ll always hear the original singer performing the song.
Learn French with…
Female singers
Edith Piaf – La vie en Rose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPU8mENUBXk
Edith Piaf – Hymne à L’Amour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgBldNsK-xw
Edith Piaf – L’Homme à la moto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-c-w6SBe_E
Barbara – L’aigle noir https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-d1-783aA0
Françoise Hardy – Tous les garçons et les filles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPkBMqehr5k
Dalida – Le Temps Des Fleurs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO_YzK5dTjg
Sylvie Vartan – La plus belle pour aller danser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBWfklvlUAE
Juliette Gréco – Sous le ciel de Paris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MtkiiF6YMo
Juliette Gréco – Un petit poisson, un petit oiseau https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj_LzQYyaAM
Marie Laforêt – Viens, viens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HUW2Zcpdlk
Brigitte Bardot avec Serge Gainsbourg – Bonnie and Clyde https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgBqyNJwjqE
Brigitte Bardot – Harley Davidson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzhtfFfuL84
France Gall – Poupée de cire, poupée de son https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H0UPA_bixs
France Gall – Ella, Elle l’a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaFFlu_QQxE
Male singers
Serge Gainsbourg – Ce mortel ennui https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyMqgv5Djf0
Serge Gainbourg – Couleur Café https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etTcm6b4y3A
Serge Gainsbourg – Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN-Kk5dFt9s
Charles Trenet – La mer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka–QM_tJ-s
Charles Trenet – Que reste‐t‐il de nos amours ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muTtoG399kM
Charles Trenet – Douce France https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsEw0kcx8yE
Jacques Higelin – Pars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO6xE1j0axQ
Bernard Lavilliers – Les mains d’or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_FrCekiYSY
Jean-Jacques Goldman – Quand la musique est bonne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_7G-FXQK3c
Jean-Jacques Goldman – Comme Toi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvzFxSoiLBY
Jean-Jacques Goldman – Là-bas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWNnf5-hhU8
Joe Dassin – Et si tu n’existais pas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMR8S154_zA
Joe Dassin – Les Champs Elysées https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FNJtKRL20s
Jacques Brel – Ne me quitte pas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0tPRFMBZ98
Jacques Brel – Amsterdam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn2KkqTue1Q
Jacques Brel – La Chanson des vieux amants https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_0RZ4WzFUg
Florent Pagny – Savoir aimer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlAjOjtbI9Q
Jean Ferrat – La montagne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JBeO0RhzQY
Jean Ferrat – Aimer à perdre la raison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpjcSFNj4BQ
Alain Bashung – La nuit je mens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0KOBTkNrWE
French pop-rock bands
ANGE – Ces gens-là (chanson de Jacques Brel) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHVU6dQBkKE
Téléphone – Un autre monde https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE4Pf24pfEg
Téléphone – La bombe humaine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgfoOJziPfc
BIJOU – Rock à la radio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWxuMXM8UWs
Noir Désir – Le vent nous portera https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd-Gga7Smyg
TRUST – Antisocial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2MChYplYeM
Indochine – J’ai demandé à la lune https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot4aDt3j1RE
Learning French through music is also a great complement to a language stay in France. At ACCORD, our French courses draw on a wide range of materials: songs, but also newspaper and magazine articles in French, French films and role-playing exercises. Our goal is to help you progress as quickly as possible while immersing you in French culture.
Dynamic French courses open to all levels
Our French language school in Paris offers French courses for all levels, from complete beginner to advanced. Depending on your goals, you can choose from our 9 intensive courses, our 2 semi-intensive courses, our exam preparation courses (DELF, DALF, Abitur, A/AS Level, ILC), or our specialist courses such as Business French or Legal French. See the full list of our French courses in Paris.
While you wait to join us at ACCORD Paris, learn French through music with ACCORD Paris, sing along with the 40 songs we’ve put together for you today!
