Pete Doherty’s new song is ode to Normandy (and making Calvados)
The track is inspired by the reformed rocker’s French home
Pete Doherty rose to fame as the troubled singer in The Libertines, but has now written a song inspired by Calvados in his new home of Normandy
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British musician and Libertines star Pete Doherty has written a new song in homage to the Normandy region, in particular to its famous spirit, Calvados.
The track, fittingly called Calvados, will appear on the singer’s forthcoming album, Felt Better Alive, which is set to be released on May 16, 2025. It is the second track to be released from the album.
The music video for the first track, also called Felt Better Alive, was filmed in front of the famous cliffs of Étretat. But for Calvados, Mr Doherty put out a call for tenders to find someone who would like to provide the visuals.
The winning bid came from animation group Sad Lip Studio. Along with artist Natalie Sidorenko, the studio created a sepia-tinted video, with a deep red colour in homage to apples and the Calvados spirit.
Calvados lyrics
The new song’s lyrics include:
“There's an old cart horse with a wiry mane / Pulls a cart along a country lane / Been rolling since before the break of day / Tending the orchard, stacking up the hay
The farmer sits holding the reins / Guiding the cart through Normandy lanes / Slow and steady is the way! / The way it was, the way it is, and the way it will remain...
And the apples will grow / And into barrels will roll / Soon to become liquid gold / And the Calvados will flow.”
‘Incredible elixir’
The new song describes the art of Calvados production, while also referencing the passage of time, and the “things that will never change”.
Mr Doherty has been living near Étretat with his wife Katia de Vidas, their daughter Billie-Mae, and dog Zeus for several years.
Speaking to music magazine NME, Mr Doherty explained that the inspiration for the new song came from his local area.
“Where I live there’s a fellow in town, he’s got a shop that specialises in Calvados and ciders; the apple juice becomes cider, becomes Calvados,” he said. “He took me on a tour of all the old Calvados makers, in his van, place to place, staying with them. It’s that story.
“These farms have been there for generations. You can’t hurry it, you wait for the apples to grow, you wait for the seasons to change, it’s not a laboratory. And at the end you get this incredible elixir. Fire water!” he explained.
Read also: Cider, crêpes and monuments: What fuels the Normandy-Brittany rivalry?
‘Prends ton chemin’
The Times newspaper has described Étretat as a “sleepy seaside town” and said it had “tamed Pete Doherty”. The artist was previously known for his often-damaging alcohol and drug addiction habits.
It said that Mr Doherty was a regular in the town’s “brasseries, biscuiteries and barres tabac”. He now enjoys a “sedate life”, with a “love of tartines topped with Comté cheese, daytime naps and 11am coffees with a brandy shot (an enfant terrible can only reform so much, after all)”, the article continues.
In a recent documentary with Louis Theroux, Mr Doherty invited the famous documentarian into his French home, and also took his dog Zeus for a walk across green fields, close to Norman cows.
He told Mr Theroux that the quiet countryside had helped him recover from his rock’n’roll days. “It tells me to prends ton chemin…to find my way,” he said - although he admitted to still drinking, smoking, and having replaced drugs with a new addiction to French cheese.
The star is set to play five dates in England in March and May this year, before embarking on a European tour from April to May. He is also set to play at a series of outdoor shows in the UK this summer as part of his iconic band, The Libertines.
