The passing of Françoise Hardy has caused the music world to stand still, reflecting upon its loss. A groundbreaking songwriter who helped shape French culture during the tumultuous 60s, she became an iconic figure in music and fashion, an acclaimed actress, and a noted author. Mick Jagger famously fell under her spell, but Hardy perhaps left the deepest impact on Bob Dylan.
The American artist was drawn to Françoise Hardy, entranced by the gentleness of her music, and the alienation found in her lyrics. Notably, his album ‘Another Side Of Bob Dylan’ features ‘some other kinds of songs’ on its sleeve – including a poem dedicated to the French singer . ‘For Françoise Hardy, at the Seine’s edge, a giant shadow of Notre Dame’ is a public sign of adoration, and it seems Dylan’s feelings ran deep.
During a later interview, Françoise Hardy explained that Bob Dylan sent her passionate letters – the exact details of which she could never divulge. “I realise that in the early ’60s, Bob Dylan maybe really had a romantic fixation on me – as only young people can have,” she once said. “I can say that the two drafts are very moving, but I cannot reveal what they say.
Also, I don’t understand everything of what he has written. I do think, from the poem he wrote, which I did not take too seriously at the time, and now these letters, that I had quite a place in his mind at that time and even in his heart. I think maybe I was very serious for him.
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