Credit.- “Dansons”, a twilight ballad written by Jean-Jacques Goldman in 2020 for Celine Dion, has just been released. What does it say about the latest mega star on the planet? What does it say about us, who are willing to pay fortunes to be in the same huge concert hall as her?
What has Celine Dion become? After the buzz caused by the announcement of her upcoming concerts, a new piece arrives. What should we think of this “Dansons”? And is it even permissible to think anything about it? Like most current stars in pop or cinema, Celine Dion sets the pace and tempo for the media, using her social networks to communicate, announce, and talk to her fans. The distance no longer exists, the excitement is real. Especially since the announcement of her illness, which has been heavily documented, her appearance at the Paris Olympics over a year ago, and the fact that she almost never speaks in the media.
The enthusiasm was spectacular just a few days ago when a billboard and social media campaign announced her return to the stage for next September. At the ticket sales, 7 million people connected for 350,000 available seats. Would the Rolling Stones do better? Will Rosalía do better one day? For now, the Canadian singer who France watched grow up (remember her childhood appearances on Michel Drucker’s show) is sweeping everything. And she highlights her power by quietly releasing a newly recorded piece, both with great modesty and powerful vocals. It is a ballad, rather slow and without great emphasis (that’s for the modesty), but written by Jean-Jacques Goldman (that’s for the powerful vocals, considering Goldman remains one of the most appreciated personalities by the French while being one of the most discreet, having almost put an end to his career – which is understandable, given his numerous successes). Their piece reflects the state of the world: however, it was written for her by him in 2020, the year of Covid.
Six years later, the song resonates with the virus era, Celine Dion’s illness, the loss of her husband, and the current state of the world that has never seemed closer to exploding, imploding, or being on the brink of collapse, as one of the song’s expressions suggests. Deeply sad, led by piano and violins, the piece is driven by the singer’s deep and calm voice, almost flat, not pushing the high notes or performance, even though you can feel her holding back, sometimes trying to raise her voice, to make it soar high as usual. Occasionally, the tone almost resembles that of Jean-Jacques Goldman, as if their vocal ranges had merged slightly, softening each other, almost worsening. The song is titled “Dansons”, but it is neither “Let’s Dance” nor “Dancing Queen” – it reveals the opposite of hedonism, of letting go. This “Dansons” rather speaks of a form of sadness, of distance also from the times, as a last refuge: dancing as a place to exist, to remain safe, saved. Hearing it, so stretched thin, the question is full of how Celine Dion will manage all her concerts, with her known fragile health. Will she, like Dalida, “die on stage”? Or rather, as Jean-Jacques Goldman sang, “go to the end of my dreams”? Whatever the case, what Celine Dion says about us is probably our common desire, on the brink of the abyss, to continue to dance, to find a renewed meaning in our ways of being together. Even if it means paying 500 euros for a concert ticket?
