Le Déserteur

About Le Déserteur

"Le déserteur" (The Deserter) is a famous anti-war song written by French singer Boris Vian and released on May 7, 1954 during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. It was first sung by Marcel Mouloudji, in 1954. Subsequently, it was forbidden by the French censor to be sold or broadcast until 1962. It was later translated into English, Italian (by Luigi Tenco, Ornella Vanoni and Ivano Fossati), Spanish, Swedish ("Jag står här på ett torg", Lars Forssell), Dutch ("De deserteur" by Peter Blanker), Polish ("Dezerter" by Wojciech Młynarski), Catalan and Danish and then many other languages. The song was recorded in French by Peter, Paul & Mary in 1966 and by Esther & Abi Ofarim in 1967. In the United States, it was a major anti-war song by Joan Baez during the Vietnam War. The song is in the form of a letter written to the French President by a man who states that he is going to refuse his call to arms and desert, and explains his reasons for doing so. In the late 1970s, the song was covered by nuclear protesters in Brittany, as a direct apostrophe to the fierce pro-nuclear French president Giscard d'Estaing in the Plogoff struggle. more »