Émilie Simon (born 1978 in Montpellier, Occitanie, France) is a French sing… Read Full Bio ↴Émilie Simon (born 1978 in Montpellier, Occitanie, France) is a French singer, songwriter and composer of electronic music.

She began her musical education at a French conservatory at seven years old. By age 18, she was studying Musicology at the University in Montpellier, France, and then obtained her Master in Musicology at the Sorbonne in Paris. Émilie was intrigued by the idea of combining her traditional musical education with new music technologies and studio experimentations. She developed these interests into unique skills at the cutting edge new technology music school, the IRCAM in Paris, which to this day remains the only center in the world dedicated to contemporary musical research and production, bringing science and art together in order to widen instrumentation and rejuvenate musical language.

Here she met Cyrille Brissot who she still works with today to develop and build specific instruments adapted to Émilie’s needs, both in the studio and on stage, including the “Brissot” - a breathtaking arm controller that allows her to remotely control, modulate and transform her live voice through a series of controlled effects. Émilie uses a variety of other new technology devices including Yamaha’s “Tenori-on” and a variety of other new hardware and software. Émilie uses this technology to give herself a wide range of versatility on stage, including being able to control everything – from beats to multiple instruments to vocal harmonies and modulation simultaneously while alone on stage.

Shortly after Ircam, Émilie Simon signed a record deal with Barclay/Universal France. Since then, she has written, arranged, performed and produced her two records and the original music for the French (original) version of March of the Penguins. There, Émilie used many diverse and inventive techniques including rubbing pieces of ice together to produce beats and sounds, and blended them with her electronic machinery and inviting lyrics.

Despite garnering best album honors in the electronic category at France’s
“Victoires de la Musique” Awards for her debut, and being touted as one of the most promising female artists, the Montpellier-bred chanteuse is quick to champion her independence as an artist over such acclaim. “[Awards] are nice, but it’s like a cherry on top, really,” the singer/songwriter insists. “It’s great when you have the feeling you are doing something important or that you’re understood. But it doesn’t alter the way I work in any way. I’m always thinking back on what I have done, because I don’t want to be redundant. I want to make music without rules, without anybody telling me what I have to do.”

Émilie Simon first made her mark on the U.S. in the fall of 2006 with her debut U.S. release, The Flower Book on Nov. 7, 2006. Her plush, artful soundscapes had already yielded her significant praise and awards in her French homeland, as well as acclaim across the rest of Europe and Japan. Singing in both French and English, Émilie allows her music to flow naturally, rewarding her with devoted fans worldwide. A year and a half after The Flower Book’s release, Émilie is currently residing in New York City and writing her next record. She will be performing shows in NYC this Fall to preview her new material. Having always begun the creative process in the recording studio, and then following with live performances, Émilie is trying a new approach. For the new record, she will let the songs breathe and evolve in a live environment before heading into the studio.

Fools Like Us
Émilie Simon Lyrics

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En parallèle je vivais dans un estomac de baleine
Une sombre cavité de porcelaine
Je n’avais pas remarqué toutes ces chaînes attachées à mes poignets

You call the shots
You state the rules
You now the players and the players play it cool
You can’t complain

You can’t make a fuss
There’s only one turn of the cards for fools like us
You turne the wheel
You throw the dice
You know the play and it ain’t always nice

But you can’t complain
You can’t make a fuss
There’s only one turn of the cards for fools like us

Je sens qu’ils m’appellent oui je sais qu’ils voudraient mon âme et mes veines
Même loin d’eux j’entends le chant des sirènes
Je n’ai pas pu oublier que dans cette arène on ne joue que pour gagner

You call the shots
You state the rules
You now the players and the players play it cool
But you can’t complain
You can’t make a fuss
There’s only one turn of the cards for fools like us

You turne the wheel
You throw the dice
You know the play and it ain’t always nice
But you can’t complain
You can’t make a fuss
There’s only one turn of the cards for fools like us

You can’t complain

You can’t make a fuss
There’s only one turn of the cards for fools like us

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Emilie Simon's song Fools Like Us tell the story of a person who feels trapped and powerless in a situation that they can't quite escape from. The metaphor of being inside the stomach of a whale represents this feeling of claustrophobia and helplessness, as the person can't move freely and is bound by chains. This may be a reference to the biblical story of Jonah, who was swallowed by a whale and then saved by God's grace. Like Jonah, the singer of the song is in a desperate situation and is longing for deliverance.

The rest of the song speaks to a sense of resignation that the singer feels, as they come to terms with the fact that they can't control their fate. The person calling the shots and setting the rules represents a figure of authority, perhaps at work or in society more generally. The players who must play it cool may represent the singer's colleagues or peers, who also feel powerless to challenge the status quo. The repeated refrain of "You can't complain, you can't make a fuss" reinforces the sense of powerlessness, as it suggests that the singer feels they have no voice and must accept their fate.

Line by Line Meaning

En parallèle je vivais dans un estomac de baleine
I was living in a whale's stomach in parallel

Une sombre cavité de porcelaine
A dark porcelain cavity

Je n’avais pas remarqué toutes ces chaînes attachées à mes poignets
I didn't notice all these chains attached to my wrists

You call the shots
You are the one making the decisions

You state the rules
You are the one creating the rules

You now the players and the players play it cool
You know the people involved and they act unbothered

You can’t complain
You can't express dissatisfaction

You can’t make a fuss
You can't make a big deal out of anything

There’s only one turn of the cards for fools like us
There is only one chance for people like us

You turne the wheel
You are in control

You throw the dice
You are taking risks

You know the play and it ain’t always nice
You are aware of the situation and it's not pleasant

Je sens qu’ils m’appellent oui je sais qu’ils voudraient mon âme et mes veines
I feel they are calling me, yes, I know they would like my soul and my veins

Même loin d’eux j’entends le chant des sirènes
Even far away from them, I hear the siren's song

Je n’ai pas pu oublier que dans cette arène on ne joue que pour gagner
I couldn't forget that in this arena, people only play to win

Contributed by Mackenzie W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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