Nicolas Godin’s homeland of France shares a 623km border with Spain, and for something as innocuous as a border, there’s a lot to like about it.
There’s the small Spanish village of Llivia, which sits entirely within French territory just a mile from the actual border. On a map it looks like a little chunk of Spain has broken off and set adrift, like an iceberg from a glacier.
There’s the weird, tiny country of Andorra, a landlocked mini-country sandwiched between France and Spain in the Catalan region. Covering only 468 sqaure kilometres, Andorra is so small that Russia literally loses as much land annually due to erosion.
And there’s Pheasant Island, which is part of France.
Or at least, it’s part of France if you’re reading this between August 1st and January 31st. If it’s currently February 1st to July 31st, then it’s part of Spain.
Sitting in the Bidasoa river at the western edge of the French-Spanish border, Pheasant Island is an oddity created by the treaty that established the border in 1659. As a sign of goodwill, the island changes hands every six months, and representatives from each country apparently meet on the island twice a year to do the paperwork.
I just love the idea of well-dressed government officials from France and Spain meeting for this symbolic bit of administrative work twice a year. Do they swim across? Go by kayak? Zipline?
The phrase “in today’s world” is generally something I try to avoid, but I think sharing an uninhabited island in this way is a tiny piece of diplomatic policy that many countries would do well to adopt.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. Nicolas Godin has been a master of pulse-slowing music for 20 years now. He is one half of the legendary French duo Air (featured here way back in week 89) and his chillout game is still as strong as ever. The drums on this track sound like they’re being played in a pillow fort.
2. The effect on the vocals, similar to the effect Air used on “Kelly Watch The Stars,” makes it feel like a friendly robot is singing you a lullaby.
3. The main synth line, which enters for the first time at 0:39, switches between the left and right channels every few notes. Listen on headphones to hear it; I can’t hear it without thinking of Pheasant Island changing nationalities every six months.
Recommended listening activity:
Lying on the opposite side of the bed.