The sad story behind my music

I think it’s time to tell you the (sad) story behind this piece of mine, “La Valse Perdu” which has recently become so popular.

Firstly, if you speak French, you’ll notice it’s spelled incorrectly since valse is grammatically feminine, so it should be “perduE” not Perdu. But, of course, this is intentional. And here’s why:

When I was a young boy, I had a very close friend with whom I played every single day. We would shoot penalties with a cloth football that we sewed together ourselves, play hide and seek around our neighborhood, you know, all the happy things one does with a friend as a child. 

Time passed and our paths separated.

Many years later I visited my old neighborhood, a chaotic place where the worst things you could imagine happened all the time.

I was devastated to learn that my friend had fallen victim to d_rugs and c_rim_e. He was in jail because of committing the worst crime possible.

25 years later, I’m still in shock. And I still wonder where my friend, whose nickname was “perdu” (spelled pérdu in Spanish) had gone. I mean, where had that happy innocent child gone, where and why did he fall into that path…

…my heart still aches. 

Strolling around Paris one day, I thought of Perdu. When I went back to my room, I took my instrument and the melody of this Valse just came out of me.

Some months ago, I found the valse again. I made some minor changes, recorded it, and released it last November.

Today, I learned it’s on the top 50 global viral audios on Instagram, worldwide. Thanks to everyone for listening!

This composition of mine is a sad recalling of the good soul that Perdu was, and a hopeful cry that he will someday find back that essence, wherever he might be today.

Watch me play “La Valse Perdu” in a video I´ve just released by clicking here.

Have a great day,

Claudio.