jeux sans frontieres

[jw@math.mit.edu]

About Games without Frontiers...

Steve Tynor writes:

> It's french for "games without frontiers": "Jeux sans front`iers".

Indeed it is, but you've misplaced an accent. The French word is
spelled "frontieres" with a grave ("backwards") accent on the first "e".
I remember when this song was a moderate radio hit, and my teenage self
also thought the words were "She's so ???" -- even though my French
was certainly good enough to hear it correctly, if I'd only realized
it was French! This seems to be a common problem when a phrase from
one language is inserted into a body of text in another.

> As long as we're on the subject, has anyone deciphered who all the people
> mentioned in the song are? Adolf and Enrico are pretty obvious, but what
> about Hans, Lotte, Jane, Willi, Suki, Leo, Britt, Andre, Chiang Ching, and
> Lin Tai Yu? Are these real people or are they just metaphors for counties?

I always thought they were meant to be real people, and that one day I'd
get around to sorting them out. Now I doubt it. If this were a list of
people prominent in the latest European civil war, and the contemporary
turmoil in east Asia, we would surely recognize more of the names.
The two Chinese names, one of whom has no hill to fly his flag on,
are suggestive of the nationalist and communist Chinese. Leo could
represent the (British) lion; but so, of course, could Britt!

Obviously the inclusion of Adolf, a not terribly common name, is not
accidental. On the other hand, I could even be convinced that the
appearance of Enrico (Fermi) is merely coincidental. 
It isn't really fair to say that Fermi is notorious for having
"played" with Adolf's "bonfire". (It is a short step from bonfire to 
A-bomb, but it strains the context; Adolf's bonfire was something else.)
Perhaps Enrico is meant to be a typical Italian name (of three syllables).

Barth Richards writes:

> Peter has explained in interviews that the song is about the childish 
> ways in which countries behave towards each other, behavior which would 
> not be tolerated in individuals (adults, at least).

Yes, that's very pithy and quite profound.

> Though he has never said it (as far as I've heard or read), I'm assuming that
> the title and the line "Jeux sans frontieres" refer to a game show, called
> JEUX SANS FRONTIERES, which was popular on European TV.  (It may still
> be, for all I know.)  Contestants representing different countries would wear
> ridiculous costumes and perform absurd feats ("Dressing up in costumes,
> playing silly games").

My god, Barth, you are a certifiable genius!!!!!!!!!!! This was a program
which was put together in the early 1970s as an attempt to foster some
cooperation between the various (national) broadcasting authorities of
the European Community, and also to encourage pan-European feeling among
the viewing public. It was shortly after the EC expanded to nine members
(Britain, Ireland and Denmark joined in 1973).

Civic councils from little towns across the Community were encouraged to
put together a team from among their townspeople, and apply to the 
competition. The actual tournament site rotated among the member-states,
and so the filming was done by a different network each week, but
broadcast throughout the EC. The programs would feature a little
documentary blurb about each of the participating communities,
presumably put together by their own national network. Then there would
be silly "Beat the Clock" competitions in which the town teams were
identified by coloured uniforms and a little oval "International
Vehicle Registration" symbol with their national letters:
F, D, NL, B, L, I, GB, IRL, DK.

I didn't know that this show was broadcast in France under the title
of "Jeux Sans Frontieres". I did see it in Britain when I was about 10.
(I liked it, too; I was about the right age, and the panEuropean flavour
was quite strong.) What was it called in Britain? Wait for it:

                      IT'S A KNOCKOUT

Barth, you are unbelievable.
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btw, in re common musical tastes, has anyone yet mentioned Jane Siberry?