The Nameless Genre Problem.

Ever since I was a child I’ve been drawn to what I call ‘French café music.’ I’m sure that isn’t what it’s really called, but I’ve no idea what it is really called.

I suppose La Mer would be on the fringe of the genre, but it isn’t quite right. I seem to remember there was another one called Under the Bridges of Paris (or more likely Sous les Ponts de Paris), and I have a vague recollection that the English translation of the lyrics began: ‘How would you like to be down by the Seine with me?’ But I could just as easily have made that up myself. I did that sort of thing as a kid because my imagination hadn’t yet stretched to writing publishable fiction or silly blog posts. And there was another one which had the same opening melody as I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You, only the French version went on a couple of bars longer to bring the melody to a different resolution.

The point is, you see, that I want to find some on YouTube, but how do I do it if I don’t know what it’s called? And here we are in age where new technology is falling from the sky like bats’ droppings, but nobody is inventing a program which allows you to hum a melody into a YouTube interface and say ‘please show me things like that.’

We’re failing, aren’t we? Wrong priorities. Story of the 21^st century.