Togetherness throughout the holidays helps to improve friendships and family ties. This is particularly true on Bastille Day, which was established as a holiday to recognize and celebrate French unity. It gets its name from the Bastille Storming, which took place more than 230 years ago. Since Bastille Day became a recognized holiday in 1880, French citizens have celebrated the 14th of July with performances, speeches, fireworks, and other festivities.
The Storming of the Bastille
To guard one of Paris’ main gateways, the government constructed the ominous yet formidable Bastille in the 1300s. The Bastille eventually became a prison where political prisoners were frequently sent and kept for protracted periods without being tried. Some detainees were sent by the King, who didn’t require a reason or a trial to imprison someone. The King had the authority to send people to the Bastille if they didn’t share his opinions.
France’s social and political atmosphere was more than fragile during the reign of King Louis XVI. Government debt, high unemployment, and severe food shortages were all factors. King Louis imposed taxes on the poor to collect money, adding to the unrest that most French people were already experiencing. Insurrection and revolution seemed inevitable by July 1789. Rioting Parisians stormed the Bastille on the 14th of July, ousted the guards, and released all the prisoners. They had had enough of the King’s harsh behavior. Given that there were only seven inmates inside the Bastille at the time of the storming—four of whom had been found guilty of forgery and one who had been brought there by his own family—this final action may not have been as spectacular as it may have seemed.
However, the day was a sign of a much more significant rebellion. The Bastille, which had just been demolished, stood for the abuse of authority.
The Significance of Bastille Day
The French Revolution had its start with the storming of the Bastille, and it marked the beginning of the monarchy’s demise. It represented a demand for freedom, equality, and a more democratic system of governance. The occasion to honor French unity and the French way of life is the holiday today. The largest military parade of its kind, with thousands of participants and millions of spectators, is held on Bastille Day. The 14th of July might represent many different things to different individuals, but for French people around the world, it is a day to honor their nation!
French Artists Who Revolutionized French Music
Visiting Paris and missing its musical heritage is like skipping a trip to La Pigalle or the Eiffel Tower. In celebration of Bastille Day, commemorating the Bastille storming in 1789, here are some revolutionary French musicians who helped shape EDM in the country:
Daft Punk
Like they did for singer-songwriter-driven pop music, the French are equally responsible for defining house and electronic music today, largely due to retro-futurists Daft Punk, who brought French house music “around the world.”
Justice
Justice’s music has traces of early EDM, and the distinctive 90s EDM motif of hard rock dance music has been carried on by this pair from their forebears. Pushing every filter above its limit resulted in metallic, industrial riffs rattling bones and rupturing eardrums.
Madeon
In a rich, slick sound influenced by French house and electro-pop, Hugo Leclercq started releasing his first tracks under the moniker Madeon around 2010. Additionally, he created several mash-ups, such as “Pop Culture,” which condensed more than three dozen songs into three minutes
Bob Sinclair
Bob Sinclair rose to prominence for his heavy use of sampled and filtered disco strings to popularize the “French touch” of house music. He claims that “peace, love, and house music” are the sources of his musical inspiration.
Air
With their distinctive approach to electronica, baroque pop, jazz, and lounge, Air—one of the most influential French electronic musicians of the 2000s and beyond—became the unexpected torchbearers of French pop and the most popular crossover acts to rule the Anglosphere.
David Guetta
The electronic dance music that French producer, musician, and songwriter David Guetta created is his most well-known work. His style is more experimental than most, fusing pop, techno, and hip-hop.
Eric Prydz
As Eric Sheridan Prydz’s primary endeavor, Eric Prydz mostly creates Traditional Progressive House music. Pryda typically releases songs with a heavier Electro or Dance influence.
