March 2009

Hello everyone,

Touchez pas à la mer ... Take Good Care Of The Sea... 22 years after I wrote and recorded this song, it has never been so timely as today.

Here, in Tahiti, all Polynesians aged about 30 sing it to me whenever they see me: they learnt it at school during a big campaign that we had launched then with the French Ministry of the Environment, a famous French TV program called Thalassa and an association created to send whole classes of children to study one month by the sea.

I think the sea needs, more than ever, to be protected, and that a song can have an educational virtue : so we are presently busy creating a website entirely dedicated to this song : children, schoolmasters, music teachers, choirmasters, will be able to download for free the song, its recordings, its words, tablatures and sheet music for choir. Schoolmasters and others will be invited to send us recordings, either in sound or video, of the sons.

I for one, plan to travel around the World and to film people of all countries, fishermen, sailors, children, women, men, singing this song ; the shots will be on our site, as well a the recordings I have already done of this song with famous French artists

I will also record the song with a large number of artists from various countries, and in several languages : we have begun in Polynesia in the traditional village of the Tiki Village Theater, with men on canoes and beautiful dancers, all in ceremonial clothing, and we have recorded the song with several Polynesian artists such as Theo Sulpice, Angelo, Teuva LC (here the song has become "Ua Puru I Te Tai" ) ; others will follow and our shootings around the world will give birth to picturesque, amusing and useful footage that you'll find with pleasure on our web site.

So, today more than ever, do not forget to Take Good Care Of The Sea