As its name suggests, “LE DIVAN” (the couch) is a title of the French rock band Bagdad Rodeo. It could be in rotation everywhere and incorporated into many playlists as of June 14, 2024. This title with soft and catchy melodies, offers a biting reflection on the contradictions and challenges of everyday life. That’s a good thing!
“A mercantile happiness, a rent, debts, a semblance of freedom controlled by finance”. Through these first lines, Bagdad Rodeo criticizes materialism and the illusion of freedom in our society. And for once, everything seems really serious.
“Work, country, holiday”: a mantra repeated at will to keep people in a state of consensual bondage, preventing them from seeing beyond the barriers set by the system. However, even in the rare moments of leisure granted, the illusion of happiness in family is only a smokescreen intended to hide the emptiness of our existences. “Formula 1 on Sunday” becomes an opium for the masses, a welcome distraction in a bleak and often meaningless daily life.
The chorus asks essential questions: “We are here and what are we waiting for, what are we doing for a different world?” By questioning our collective passivity and our desire for change, Bagdad Rodeo encourages us to reflect on our actions and our role in society.
With his words, MGR Delatourette, summarizes this antinomy in a poignant way: “Comfort, overconsumption, a semblance of belonging to a social class, success. A well-established scheme that contradicts the logic that obsesses us, for a better and sustainable world. We all want change, a different future, but we always stay, ass on the couch…”
“THE DIVAN” is a metaphor for our immobility in the face of the train. Routine takes us away from our deepest aspirations.
And what about this addiction to alcohol and drugs, these crutches on which we rely to bear the crushing weight of our meaningless lives? “A little alcohol to hold, to pass the time”, but basically, what do we have to hope for from a society that keeps us under control?
Here we are, contemplating the distressing picture of our lives stifled by boredom and conformity, wondering what we really expect. “To dream of a different future”, of a world where freedom is not an empty word, where happiness is not conditioned by our ability to consume and obey the dictates of capitalism.
Despite our aspirations and dreams, we remain there, motionless, glued to a couch, unable to get up and challenge the system.
“LE DIVAN” is a protest rock song that will also appeal to fans of Souchon, Devo, B-52’s and Rita Mitsouko.
“LE DIVAN”, title extracted from «QUATRE – PART.1 – L’Album sans Fin» is the mirror of an era. The composition also reveals a new side of Bagdad Rodeo, more melancholic, almost minimalist, but definitely committed. This is another way to take the pill, gently, more gently than usual.
Lyrics and Music by Ludovic DUFOUR and Christophe SANCHEZ – Published by Éditions Amoc
The photograph of the divan is by Édith Gaudy: famous divan located in Clarksdale
More about BAGDAD RODEO
QUATRE – L’ALBUM SANS FIN – PART.1 by BAGDAD RODEO is here
