This is a blog about my experiences researching and living in Lyon, France, while on a Fulbright Fellowship.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
French Theme Songs
My kids have been watching the Disney Channel on cable in our apartment. I make them watch it in French, and they pointed out an odd phenomenon. When there is an American show, with a title sequence that has a song, it's invariably higher-pitched in French than in English, even if it's the exact same song. So, for example, Selena Gomez (really popular here in France, at least according to my daughters and their friends) sings the theme song to Shake It Up! In the US, it sounds like this:
but when listening to it in France it sounds like this:
The same is true for Good Luck Charlie, Jessie, and others: all modified to be at a higher pitch. I welcome thoughts on why that might be! (I am especially curious since Selena Gomez is popular; I wouldn't think they would change her voice that much more here than in the U.S.)
One of my daughters just observed that it's faster in the "French" version, too. That may be why it's higher pitched. Maybe the answer is simple: theme songs are shorter in France than in the US, and they're speeding them up to fit into the alloted time.
One of my daughters just observed that it's faster in the "French" version, too. That may be why it's higher pitched. Maybe the answer is simple: theme songs are shorter in France than in the US, and they're speeding them up to fit into the alloted time.
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