Discover the story of the song > Comme ils disent – Charles Aznavour

- "Comme ils disent" is a song written, composed and performed by Charles Aznavour, released on the album Idiote je t'aime, then as a single in 1972.
- There are two versions of the single with different B-sides: one with Idiote je t'aime as a promotional release and another with On se réveillera pressé for sale.
- The song deals with homosexuality and the taboo that surrounds it, in the early 1970s, after May 1968.
- If the few songs of the time described the theme of homosexuality in a frivolous and mocking way, Charles Aznavour is the first to describe the story of a man "living alone with mom" without subtlety or sarcasm.
- A double entendre in the third verse almost describes the portrait of an old bachelor, then comes: "But my real job is at night / That I practice cross-dressing: I am an artist".
- Aznavour recalls the first time he performed Comme ils disent in front of a circle of gay friends:
- "It threw a chill. Then I was asked who would sing it. I answered: "me". Another silence. Then someone asked if I was going to make an announcement ? I said, "No, we won't. New silence. Then I sang. "