After growing up in a small town on the coast of Brittany, in 1955 Barrière enrolled in the École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers in Angers. As a student he bought a guitar and started to write songs. On graduating in engineering in 1960, he moved to Paris to take up employment, and started to perform in the evenings at small clubs around the capital. He won a song contest in 1961 with the self-penned song "Cathy"; his style was chanson-based with no concession to the burgeoning yé-yé scene, but nonetheless he was soon signed to a recording contract and started to release singles regularly, enabling him to give up his job and make at least a modest living from music.
In 1963, Barrière was chosen to represent France at the eighth Eurovision Song Contest in London. His song Elle était si jolie came 5th out of the 13 entries.
Elle était si jolie turned out to be by far the biggest seller of Barrière's career to that point. He released his first album, Ma vie, in 1964 and the title-track, Ma Vie became a huge hit. In 1965 he was offered, and accepted, a leading role in a heist thriller, "Pas de panique", alongside Pierre Brasseur. This would be his only venture into acting, but his singing career reached its peak in the latter part of the decade with a string of hits making him one of France's biggest stars and a sell-out live attraction.
Barrière had gained a reputation for being uncompromising and at times difficult to work with. In the early 1970s he left his record company to set up his own label. He kept his fanbase, which ensured his records and concerts continued to provide a good living, despite his being overlooked by sections of the French broadcast media. "Tu t'en vas", a 1975 duet with fellow Eurovision veteran Noëlle Cordier, topped the French chart, and was the third biggest-selling single of the year in Switzerland.
Barrière married in 1975 and he and his wife opened a nightclub-restaurant in a converted castle in Brittany. Although it proved a successful and popular venue, Barrière soon found himself facing severe tax problems, a result of dubious advice. In 1977 he took his family to the USA, where they remained for four years.
After spending four years living in the USA, Barrière returned to france in 1981 and made several comeback attempts, to little avail. After another period spent overseas, this time in Quebec, the family were back in Brittany when Barrière's career was unexpectedly rejuvenated by the 1997 release of a CD containing remastered versions of his old hits, which proved to be a money-spinner. Shortly afterwards, Barrière released an album of new material, which also sold well.
He published an autobiography in 2006 and continues to release both retrospective and newly-recorded albums.
http://www.alainbarriere.com/
La mer
Alain Barrière Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
A des reflets d'argent
La mer
Des reflets changeants
Sous la pluie
La mer
Ses blancs moutons
Avec les anges si purs
La mer bergère d'azur
Infinie
Voyez
Près des étangs
Ces grands roseaux mouillés
Voyez
Ces oiseaux blancs
Et ces maisons rouillées
La mer
Les a bercés
Le long des golfes clairs
Et d'une chanson d'amour
La mer
A bercé mon coeur pour la vie
"La Mer" is a classic French song written by Charles Trenet and first released in 1946. It has since been covered by many artists, most notably Bobby Darin and Julio Iglesias. The song is a tribute to the beauty of the sea and the emotions it can stir within us.
The opening lines set the tone, describing the silver reflections and changing colors of the sea, even under the rain. The following verses go on to compare the sea to the clouds in a summer sky, saying that the white foam on the waves blends with the pure angels in the sky. The sea is described as a shepherdess with azure colors, stretching endlessly.
The final verses bring a more personal note to the song, as the singer seems to recall the sea's effect on his own life. He points to the wet reeds by the ponds and the white birds and rusty houses nearby. The sea has rocked these elements, just as it has rocked his own heart with a love song that will stay with him forever.
Overall, "La Mer" is a lyrical celebration of the sea's beauty, mystery and unlimited possibilities, seen through the eyes of a sensitive and attentive soul.
Line by Line Meaning
La mer
The sea
Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
That we see dancing along the clear gulfs
A des reflets d'argent
Has silver reflections
Des reflets changeants
Changing reflections
Sous la pluie
Under the rain
Au ciel d'été confond
Blends with the summer sky
Ses blancs moutons
Its white sheep
Avec les anges si purs
With the so pure angels
La mer bergère d'azur
The blue sea shepherdess
Infinie
Infinite
Voyez
See
Près des étangs
Near the ponds
Ces grands roseaux mouillés
These tall wet reeds
Ces oiseaux blancs
These white birds
Et ces maisons rouillées
And these rusted houses
Les a bercés
Rocked them
Le long des golfes clairs
Along the clear gulfs
Et d'une chanson d'amour
And with a love song
A bercé mon coeur pour la vie
Rocked my heart for life
Contributed by Lincoln P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Brigitte Berthiaux
Il est difficile de pas regarder la mer sans penser à Alain Barriere..Paix a son ame..merci a cet artiste de grand talent...
Frédéric Joly coeur de roy
Je pleure...Un talent admirable vient de nous quitter. Auteur-compositeur-interprète ...C'était un géant ...Il va nous manquer c'est certain mais nous pourrons l'écouter encore et toujours car il nous reste ses chansons intemporelles, romantiques , passionnées et remplies d'amour...Merci! Monsieur Barrière...
pauline desrosiers
tu nous manques reposes en paix
Patricia Bignoux
Bon repos a toi qui nous a fait rêver adieu toi qui nous avons encourager tu ten va mais pas dans no pensée aure voir
Anabela Coutinho
Grand artiste je ne comprend pas pourquoi il passe sur aucune radio pas même à la télé quel monde de requins 🦈 gratitude gratitude gratitude à toi Alain pour toutes les belles mélodie que tu nous laisse dans la tête 🙏🙏🙏
Pascal Benoist
c'est des Branquignolles les radios Maintenant Merci.
joel pichon
parce qu'ils preferent toutes ces chansons de merdes...que l'on actuellement
Nicole Schmutz
@guitare tous C est vrai à radio nostalgie
l'hoe ils ne connaissent pas Alain. On L écoute avec nos (7 et 6outube Merci youtube
Merci th Ardisson D a voir invité À) ain
Dany Oleffe
❤
guitare tous
Quel monde!!! Grand chanteur compositeur, très bon musicien.