The other day I came across a great "bande dessinée" entitled "Opération Copperhead": it's a mix of fantasy and actual facts about David Niven and Peter Ustinov's activities during WW2. I highly recommend it!

Equally great was, at the end of the book, a poem by American novelist Peter Swanson about David Niven. I fell in love with it and immediately set out to turn it into a song.

If you enjoy it, you might be equally (or actually, even more) interested in the works of the people who drove me to post this so be sure to check out:

- Peter Swanson's website: http://www.peter-swanson.com/ (you'll also find some of his books in English or French on Amazon or other similar sites).

- and this link to Opération Copperhead: http://www.dargaud.com/bd/Auteurs/Harambat-Jean

David Niven: a Villanelle
Originally appeared in The Vocabula Review, December, 2007

There is a better world to live in:
Dressed for dinner in black tie,
Debonair like David Niven.

With shoulders wide and sun-browned skin,
The mustache trimmed, the bluest eye.
There is a better world to live in,

Where formality’s a given,
A place where you, in black, and I,
As neatly dressed as David Niven,

Drink silver cocktails shaken
Very cold and very dry.
There is a better world to live in,

Of string quartets, of My Blue Heaven,
Of clouds and girls that never cry,
Of men that look like David Niven,

Or close enough, something akin,
Beneath some starry, starry sky.
There is a better world to live in,
Dead and gone like David Niven.

David Niven - With lyrics by Peter Swanson

Bonjour,

Cette page Soundcloud regroupe la suite de mes collaborations sur Soundcloud et dans la vraie vie.

Contact : yvienne@gmail.com

Autres pages Soundcloud :

Compte principal : https://soundcloud.com/non-sapiens

Collaborations Internet : https://soundcloud.com/non-sapiens-and-ko

Collaborations Internet avec Carlo Presti : https://soundcloud.com/spidersapiens 



Hi,

My collaborations are still at the following pages: 
https://soundcloud.com/non-sapiens-and-ko 
https://soundcloud.com/ns-hugo
https://soundcloud.com/spidersapiens

But most of them end up being reposted here anyway...

Apart from these, I sometimes repost stuff from others that I've particularly liked but I only do so for 24 hours so as not to clog my own stream too much (nostalgic sigh for old SC...).

And who am I exactly, then? Well, my name's Yann Vienne and I'm a French teacher of English living in Alsace, near Germany. My hobby is to write and perform simple little songs in French and English and since discovering Soundcloud to post them for everyone to hear and my ego to inflate. My wife and some friends appear on certain tracks. 

Please don't hesitate to leave a comment, be it positive or negative. And for regular updates you can visit my Facebook page (and "like" it if you please) at : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Non-Sapiens/231217246890785?sk=wall

Bonjour,

Je m'appelle Yann Vienne, je suis prof d'anglais et je vis en Alsace. Mon hobby ? Composer de petites chansons sans prétention, les enregistrer avec les moyens du bord et poster ces petits brouillons sur Soundcloud. Et depuis quelques mois j'ai un VRAI groupe que vous pouvez écouter ici : https://soundcloud.com/nonsapienslive

David Niven - With lyrics by Peter Swanson

Non Sapiens and Ko #2