Alain Bashung - Yesterday
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© 2009 - Ben Heine
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Pencil drawing on paper.
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Alain Bashung (born in 1947) was a renowned French singer, songwriter, comedian and actor. He died the 14th of March 2009 at the age of 61. See his official website.

And below is a poem by Peter S. Quinn expressly written for Bashung.
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We Are Flowers
in Dark Love


A poem by Peter S. Quinn

We are flowers in dark love
Only for pleasures minutes to come
Like drifts in the clouds above
Come here to be somewhere from

Listen to the words of your heart
Every root is on the rise gone
Giving its moments before depart
To carry our seeds on and on

Yesterday dreams into darkness
Nothing but its moments to go
Within every color of its starkness
When sunshine will return in glow

Then comes the night in heart waves
Singing a song of its sadness
Following a love song that craves
On to your touch and your madness

Nothing to give or to take
Only the flowers of its darkish mood
Feeling that shadows might up wake
On to the street’s blossoms nude

The summer is coming like evening
On to the glow of the night
When every gleam in dim will sing
To follow the lost glow in bright

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Alain Bashung was the son of a factory worker and an Algerian father, whom he never knew. His mother remarried, and at the age of one, Bashung was sent to Strasbourg to live with his new step-father's parents. He therefore spent his childhood in the countryside.

The multi-platinum artist Alain Bashung has spent his career singing a pop-chanson repertoire. He received the Legion of Honour on 1 January 2009 and he received three prestigious Victoires de la musique awards during a recent ceremony at the Paris Zenith, including best male artist, best album for "Bleu Pétrole" (Barclay/Universal) and best live show. With 11 such awards, he became the most celebrated French musician in history. The award ceremony was his last public appearance. He appeared frail, but still performed 'Residents de la Republique'.

Bashung, who had cancer, had to postpone several dates of his current tour. While receiving his award, he said he hoped that record companies would "remain in a human dimension by making people happy with records."

He died in Paris on 14 March 2009 from lung cancer at the age of 61.
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