Track of the Week

Week 1: Rail de Musique (A “Line” of Music) by Stromae

CD-quality:
mp3:

Here are the lyrics, with English translation. The words are shot through with double meanings connecting drug slang and music terminology. FWIW, Stromae—who was still living with his mother when this album came out, and for many years thereafter—does not use any of the substances referenced.

This is an early and deep track for Stromae, before each and every song came with an elaborate music video. But starting with his very first self-release, he has made a semi-mock promotional “lesson” for his Facebook page, in which he reconstructs the backing track to each song.

Here is the lesson on “Rail de musique”. While it’s a little tongue-in-cheek the way he lays down the component tracks as if this were a simple recipe on a beginner cooking show, there’s an underlying truth here. Although Stromae’s rhythmic and pitch choices, his sound design, the precise details of his groove, his rap timing, and his exquisite wordplay are all extremely artful, the basic musical content of the tracks that make up his beats is surprisingly simple.