In 1956, he set "Les yeux d'Elsa" ("Elsa's eyes"), a Louis Aragon poem which Ferrat loved, to music.

Nuit et Brouillard ("Night and Fog"), which followed in 1963, was awarded the Académie Charles Cros's Grand Prix du Disque and showed any topic could be put in songs.

In 1990, he received an award from the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique, (SACEM) the French association of songwriters, composers and music publishers.

[7] In 2015, a tribute album was released by Columbia Records where various artists interpreted songs by Jean Ferrat.

The 15-track album titled Hommage à Jean Ferrat: Des airs de liberté contained performances by artists Marc Lavoine, Cali, Dionysos, Julien Doré, Patrick Bruel, Catherine Deneuve, Benjamin Biolay, Raphaël, Patrick Fiori, Grégoire, Sanseverino, Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine, Zebda, Natasha St Pier, Patricia Petibon & Marc Lavoine and "Ma France" sung by Jean Ferrat.