- THE THREE SOUND OF REVOLUTION / RING SOUND / MIDDLE SOUND / INDEX SOUND
Laure Boer
(France)
Bio:
Laure Boer (FR) is a sound artist and musician based in Berlin. Her music is inspired by noise music and traditional folk. Her performances are hypnotic improvisations involving traditional instruments, electroacoustic elements, light-sensitive sound objects, and sometimes a voice—singing or reciting in her native French—creating a vibrant universe that is both vulnerable and brutal. Boer is one half of the duo AMA, collaborating with Danish artist Marie-Louise Andersson to explore the intersections of sound, sunlight, performance, sound sculptures, and experimental music. She composed the music for Zombie Mermaids – A Song for Future Waters, an opera by Swiss artist Magali Dougoud, performed together with the opera singer Myriam Jarmache. Boer is also a member of the quartet Crutches, alongside Jan Frisch, Olga Reznichenko, and Valentin Schuster. Boer has collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Tarek Atoui, Rabih Beaini, Miki Yui, Nicolas Becker, and Luise Volkmann. She has participated in residencies such as Nusasonic in Manila (PH), Projet Bloom (FR), and Sound Art Lab (DK). She has performed at Berlin Atonal, WSK Festival/PH, documenta fifteen, Kunsthaus Bregenz, and ARTE TV, and has toured Europe solo and in various band constellations. Her music is published by labels such as Kashual Plastik, Chinabot, and Otomatik Muziek, and she has been featured on The Wire's Below the Radar, BBC Radio, and NPR.
CONCEPT
Le Chant des Partisans, (Song of the Partisans) was the most popular song of the Free French and French Resistance during World War II. The music was originally composed in 1941 by Anna Marly, a Russian musician who had fled the Russian Revolution to France. In 1940, after the French surrender, she had to flee again, this time to London. There, she met Joseph Kessel and his nephew Maurice Druon, who had just joined the Free French Forces. They wrote the lyrics in 1943.
The melody, whistled, became on May 17, 1943, the signature tune of a Free France radio program broadcast by the BBC during the war. It was used as the opening of Honneur et Patrie, which aired twice a day on BBC, and later became a recognition signal among the maquis. The choice to whistle the tune was both a tactical decision—to avoid drawing attention by singing it—and a practical one, as it remained audible despite German jamming of the BBC signal.
The combination of the melody and lyrics creates a mix of emotions, unusual in protest and resistance songs. Often, anthems turn into simplistic and uncomfortable expressions of patriotism and violence. But Le Chant des Partisans contains something different. Its melody can be both lively and solemn, urgent yet calm. The lyrics call for collective resistance while carrying poetic imagery. It manages to balance both purpose and depth: it is a rallying cry, meant to unite and inspire action, yet it does not sacrifice complexity or beauty. The images and rhythm give it an emotional power that goes beyond mere propaganda.
Lyric
FRENCH
Ami, entends-tu le vol noir des corbeaux sur nos plaines?
Ami, entends-tu les cris sourds du pays qu'on enchaîne?
Ohé, partisans, ouvriers et paysans c'est l'alarme
Ce soir, l'ennemi connaîtra le prix du sang et des larmes
Montez de la mine descendez des collines, camarades
Sortez de la paille les fusils la mitraille, les grenades
Ohé, les tueurs à la balle et au couteau, tuez vite
Ohé, saboteur, attention à ton fardeau, dynamite
C'est nous qui brisons les barreaux des prisons pour nos frères
La haine à nos trousses et la faim qui nous pousse, la misère
Il y a des pays où les gens au creux des lits font des rêves
Ici, nous vois-tu? Nous, on marche et nous, on tue ou on crève
Ici, chacun sait ce qu'il veut ce qu'il fait quand il passe
Ami, si tu tombes un ami sort de l'ombre à ta place
Demain, du sang noir séchera au grand soleil sur les routes
Sifflez, compagnons dans la nuit, la liberté nous écoute
ENGLISH
My friend, do you hear the dark flight of the crows over our plains?
My friend, do you hear the dulled cries of our countries in chains?
Oh, friends, do you hear, workers, farmers, in your ears alarm bells ringing?
Tonight all our tears will be turned to tongues of flame in our blood singing!
Climb up from the mine, Walk down the hills, Comrades!
Take out from the hay The guns, the munitions, the grenades…
Hey you, killers, with bullets and knives, kill quickly!
Hey you, saboteurs, be careful with your burden: Dynamite!
We are the ones who break the jail bars For our brothers!
Hate on our heels, and hunger driving us, Misery…
There are countries Where people, deep in beds, Are dreaming.
Here, do you see, We march on, we kill on, We kick the bucket.
But here, everyone knows What they want, what they do When they walk by…
My friend, if you fall, A friend stems from the shadows Into your place.
Tomorrow, black blood Shall dry out in the sunlight On the roads.
Let’s whistle, companions, In the night, Freedom hears us…
