Favorite Song No. 335: Les Sans Culottes – Allô Allô (Hello I Love You)

I don’t think these guys are French, and I’m not even sure they speak French. The lyrics, when translated, are nonsensical, and sound more like the band is reciting lines from a first year French textbook than singing proper song lyrics, but it’s too upbeat and catchy for me to care. Plus, anything said or sang in French sounds great, so there’s yet another reason to love this song.

Are you making a mixtape for your crush or partner? This one is a great opening track for such a tape. That’s how I first heard this song. A girl made me a mixtape mix CD and this was the song that kicked it off. I thought it was brilliant, and you are encouraged to steal the idea for your next mixtape. What better way to open than with a hello? And since they are singing in French, you aren’t being all obvious with your I love you. It’s nothing more than an innocently indecipherable je t’aime, after all.

Making a mixtape for your crush is serious business, and the opening and closing tracks in particular need special consideration. You’re professing your love, after all, but doing so in a subtle, socially acceptable manner, and in a way that gives you plausible deniability in the event that your crush doesn’t crush back. “Why no, I was not giving any subliminal hints, dear friend, on the tape full of love songs I made you. I just happen to think they’re all nice songs.”

It’s fantastic if you can open up with a song that expresses how wonderful you think the recipient is, but in an upbeat manner. “New York City” by Cub, “You’re So Rad” by The Bouncing Souls, and “Babies” by Pulp are all song that come to mind that could work that way. The last thing you want to do is open up with some slow, obvious love song, so keep it fun. Or not? What do you think works best? What are your favorite opening songs for a mixtape?