With colder mornings and cooler nights lately, summer seems to be winding down, though there's no shortage of sun or afternoon-to evening heat. Thus, I continue to share sunny-day music.
This edition of "Sunny-Day Music" features the song "Ce Matin Là" by French electronic pop duo AIR. I've been a fan of AIR since they released their debut album Moon Safari (which contains "Ce Matin Là") in 1998. Okay, so I only knew their singles "Sexy Boy" and "Kelly Watch the Stars" back then, but I have vivid memories of watching the videos for both songs on MuchMusic when I was ten-years-old and loving them every time they came on.
Fast forward to 2011, long after I'd read Jeffrey Eugenides' much-acclaimed debut novel The Virgin Suicides (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1993) and watched Sophia Coppola's 1999 film adaptation several times each. I can no longer listen to "Ce Matin Là" without imagining the scene in which the neighbourhood boys are reading the diary of deceased thirteen-year-old Cecilia Lisbon, the youngest of the five Lisbon sisters. Cecilia narrates the entry which is brought to life in a fantastical montage of her sisters (including Lux Lisbon, played by a seventeen-year-old Kirsten Dunst) dancing, playing and sitting in a field and amongst flowers, swinging on a swing and twirling sparklers with everything basked in a soothing sepia. Everything about the scene is perfect, from the delicate cross-fades to the selective slow-motion, down to the way the camera catches the light. All the while, "Ce Matin Là" playfully shimmers, creating an ethereal ambience.
Listening to "Ce Matin Là" always gives me the same feeling as watching this scene: utter peace - escape through daydreaming. There’s nothing like listening to "Ce Matin Là" while sitting on the balcony, laying on the beach or going for a walk and just letting the song take me away.
Here's the complete scene:
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