Carla Bruni breathes Italian into classic French song

London: French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a singer and songwriter with three albums under her belt, plans to make a cover version in her native Italian of one of France`s most patriotic songs.

"Douce France" (Sweet France), written in 1943 by Charles Trenet as a tribute to the country`s rural heartlands, quickly became an anthem for the French resistance against the German occupation. The track may be included in Bruni`s upcoming fourth album and is entitled "Dolce Francia", regional newspaper Midi-Libre reported on its website, including a 50-second snippet of the new cover. Bruni`s agent told Le Parisien daily on Tuesday it had not yet been decided whether the song will appear on the album, for which Bruni-Sarkozy has written most of the songs. "A part of it will be in French and another part in Italian," the agent said. According to a poll published in Midi-Libre, 60 percent of the French love the song. In 2009, President Nicolas Sarkozy`s government launched a nationwide campaign on national identity calling on the values of Douce France to be the lynchpin of modern society. Bureau Report