He was born in Pézenas, in the Hérault département of France. A brilliant scholar, he prepared for the entrance exam to the Centrale (engineering school) and Sup-Aero at Montpellier, but was conscripted into the Youth Building Projects in 1942 and sent to Germany in 1943 for compulsory work service. He escaped the same year, and found work as a diver in La Ciotat, a suburb of Marseilles, in 1944.
In 1946, he married Colette Maclaud. They had two children, Ticha (born 1948) and Jacky (1950).
His first published work, Les douze chants d'un imbecile, appeared in 1951. He moved to Paris and opened a fashion and baby clothes shop, still writing and producing plays. Later, he switched to being a fitter of TV aerials and began singing.
In the 1960s, Boby Lapointe started an actor’s career and acted in films by some of the greatest French directors, among which François Truffaut and Claude Sautet.
His fame grew when the actor Bourvil sang Lapointe's song Aragon et Castille in the 1954 film Poisson d'avril. In 1960, film director François Truffaut offered him a part in Tirez sur le Pianiste in which he played Framboise, accompanied by Charles Aznavour on piano. This marked the start of a career that saw Lapointe perform at major venues throughout France. His joyful character led him to build friendships with French stars Anne Sylvestre, Raymond Devos, Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens.
Lapointe was also a mathematician, and developed the bi-bi-binary system (also known as the bibi system) in 1971.
Aragon et Castille
Boby Lapointe Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Il y avait-t-gu'd-une fille
Qui aimait les glaces au citron
Et vanille
Au pays de-gue de Castille
Il y avait te-gue d'un garçon
Qui vendait des glaces vanille
Et citron
Moi j'aime mieux les glac's au chocolat
Poil au bras
Mais chez mon pâtissier
Il n'y en a plus, c'est vendu
C'est pourquoi je n'en ai pas pris
Tant pis pour lui
Et j'ai mangé pour tout dessert
Du camembert
Le camembert c'est bon
Quand c'est bien fait, vive l'amour
À ce propos revenons à nos moutons
Au pays da-ga d'Aragon
Il y avait-t-gu'd-une fille
Qui aimait les glaces au citron
Et vanille
Au pays de-gue de Castille
Il y avait te-gue d'un garçon
Qui vendait des glaces vanille
Et citron
Vendre des glaces c'est un très bon métier
Poil aux pieds
C'est beaucoup mieux que marchand de mouron
Patapon
Marchant d'mourron c'est pas marrant
J'ai un parent
Qui en vendait pour les oiseaux
Mais les oiseaux
N'en achetaient pas, ils préféraient
L'crottin de mouton
À ce propos revenons à nos agneaux
Au pays da-ga d'Aragon
Il y avait-t-gu'd-une fille
Qui aimait les glaces au citron
Et vanille
Au pays de-gue de Castille
Il y avait te-gue d'un garçon
Qui vendait des glaces vanille
Et citron
Mais la Castille ça n'est pas l'Aragon
Ah, mais non
Et l'Aragon ça n'est pas la Castille
Et la fille
S'est passée de glaces au citron
Avec vanille
Et le garçon n'a rien vendu
Tout a fondu
Dans un commerce c'est moche
Quand le fond fond, poil au pieds
À propos d'pieds, chantons jusqu'à demain
Au pays da-ga d'Aragon
Il y avait-t-gu'd-une fille
Qui aimait les glaces au citron
Et vanille
Au pays de-gue de Castille
Il y avait te-gue d'un garçon
Qui vendait des glaces vanille
Et citron!
The song "Aragon et Castille" by Boby Lapointe tells the story of two young people in different parts of Spain who sell ice cream. The girl in Aragon likes lemon and vanilla flavors, while the boy in Castille sells vanilla and lemon flavors. The singer of the song shares that they prefer chocolate ice cream, but their pastry chef doesn't have any. Instead, they eat Camembert cheese for dessert. The singer then muses about the virtues of selling ice cream versus birdseed, before returning to the story of the two ice cream sellers. However, the girl decides not to eat ice cream, and the boy doesn't sell any as it has melted. The song then ends with the repetition of the lines describing the two people and their ice cream flavors.
Line by Line Meaning
Au pays da-ga d'Aragon
In the land of Aragon
Il y avait-t-gu'd-une fille
There was a girl
Qui aimait les glaces au citron
Who loved lemon ice cream
Et vanille
And vanilla
Au pays de-gue de Castille
In the land of Castile
Il y avait te-gue d'un garçon
There was a boy
Qui vendait des glaces vanille
Who sold vanilla ice cream
Et citron
And lemon
Moi j'aime mieux les glac's au chocolat
I prefer chocolate ice cream
Poil au bras
Hairy arm (used as a humorous expression)
Mais chez mon pâtissier
But at my pastry shop
Il n'y en a plus, c'est vendu
There's none left, it's sold out
C'est pourquoi je n'en ai pas pris
That's why I didn't get any
Tant pis pour lui
Too bad for him
Et j'ai mangé pour tout dessert
And for dessert I had
Du camembert
Some camembert cheese
Le camembert c'est bon
Camembert is good
Quand c'est bien fait, vive l'amour
When it's well made, long live love
À ce propos revenons à nos moutons
Speaking of which, let's get back to the subject
Vendre des glaces c'est un très bon métier
Selling ice cream is a great job
Poil aux pieds
Hairy feet (used as a humorous expression)
C'est beaucoup mieux que marchand de mouron
It's much better than being a seller of watercress
Patapon
Nonsense word (used as a humorous expression)
Marchant d'mourron c'est pas marrant
Being a seller of watercress is no fun
J'ai un parent
I have a relative
Qui en vendait pour les oiseaux
Who used to sell watercress to birds
Mais les oiseaux
But the birds
N'en achetaient pas, ils préféraient
Didn't buy it, they preferred
L'crottin de mouton
Sheep dung
À ce propos revenons à nos agneaux
Speaking of which, let's get back to the lambs
Mais la Castille ça n'est pas l'Aragon
But Castile is not Aragon
Ah, mais non
Oh, but of course not
Et l'Aragon ça n'est pas la Castille
And Aragon is not Castile
Et la fille
And the girl
S'est passée de glaces au citron
Did without her lemon ice cream
Avec vanille
With vanilla instead
Et le garçon n'a rien vendu
And the boy didn't sell anything
Tout a fondu
Everything melted
Dans un commerce c'est moche
In a business it's ugly
Quand le fond fond, poil au pieds
When the bottom melts, hairy feet (a play on words)
À propos d'pieds, chantons jusqu'à demain
Speaking of feet, let's sing until tomorrow
Au pays da-ga d'Aragon
In the land of Aragon
Il y avait-t-gu'd-une fille
There was a girl
Qui aimait les glaces au citron
Who loved lemon ice cream
Et vanille
And vanilla
Au pays de-gue de Castille
In the land of Castile
Il y avait te-gue d'un garçon
There was a boy
Qui vendait des glaces vanille
Who sold vanilla ice cream
Et citron!
And lemon!
Lyrics © BEUSCHER ARPEGE
Written by: Boby Lapointe, Etienne Lorin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind