A French song you probably have heard a thousand times on TV shows and movies over the decades, but have no idea who sang it or when, was played on the new season of Black Mirror on Netflix this week — Black Mirror, Season 6, Episode 3, “Beyond the Sea“.
Yep, it is probably one of the most well-known French language songs ever released and, I must admit, while I knew the song’s title, I had no idea who sang it either.
That song is Charles Trenet’s ‘La Mer’ (‘The Sea‘), and it was played on Black Mirror‘s ‘Beyond the Sea” as David plays the song on the radiogram and asks his wife to dance.
It plays again as Cliff and his wife dance in the barn, and finally over the episode’s ending scenes and then over the show’s end credits.
When was Charles Trenet’s ‘La Mer’ released?
Charles Trenet’s ‘La Mer’ was first released way back in 1946, although he wrote the lyrics for the song as a still-16-year-old in 1929.
The French singer released the song after the war, after coming up with a melody to accompany the lyrics in 1943 while on a train ride.
It went on to become a surprise hit, and was then re-recorded over the next 60-plus years by several thousand people in several languages.
In English, several versions of the song titled ‘Beyond the Sea’ have been recorded by various iconic singers including Stevie Wonder and Roger Williams.
‘La Mer‘ has since gone on to become one of France’s best-selling songs, as well as been played on a myriad of TV shows and movies, including Mr. Bean’s Holiday, The Simpsons, L.A. Story, The X-Files and Derry Girls.
Listen to Charles Trenet’s original version of ‘La Mar‘ as heard on the Black Mirror episode ‘Beyond the Sea‘ in the video and on Spotify.
You can listen to more songs from the latest season of Black Mirror on Leo Sigh.