When Alain Bashung was one year old he was sent to the Strasbourg area, in Wingersheim, to stay with his grandparents. He spent his childhood in the country in a conservative environment. When he was five years old he discovered Music most notably Kurt Weill, as he played harmonica. He was also a Choirboy in the church at Wingersheim and played basket-ball. At School he was regarded serious child.
He returned to Paris in 1959, where he discovered the great names of Chanson Française, the radio, American Rock with Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. Whilst studying to become an accountant, he started a short lived Band with friends “les Dunces” whose style swong between Folk and Rockabilly. He quickly dropped his studies.
Bashung started a band with musicians met in Royan, a new band playing in Restaurants, Hotels and most of all the American bases. his career started with some difficulties with the release of his first single at 19 years of age “Pourquoi rêvez-vous des États-Unis ?” in 1966. He released a dozen singles, one using the pseudonym David Bergen, and two others. In 1971/1972 under the pseudonym "Hendrick Darmen" compositor and singer of the band “Monkey Bizness”. He wrote a number of songs for stars of the time like Noël Deschamps, but doesn't appear to have reached success.
In 1973, he played Robespierre in the Musical “La Révolution française” written by Claude-Michel Schönberg. He met Dick Rivers the singer of Les Chats Sauvages, for whom he composed and produced music.
He met musician Andy Scott and the songwriter Boris Bergman, and in 1977 wrote his first innovative LP “Romans photos”, though it was a Commercial failure in the context of Punk storming music.
In 1979, he released “Roulette russe”, a very dark and more Rock orientated album.
He confirmed his talent with critical acclaim and public success in 1981, with the rock influenced album “pizza”, mainly with one single from the album “Gaby, oh Gaby” that finally got Bashung success in the charts in 1981 followed by the single “Vertige de l'amour”, and started touring the bigger venues Notably “l'Olympia” in Paris.
In 1982, Bashung collaborated with Serge Gainsbourg on the complex album “Play blessures”, that did not achieve commercial success.
In 1983, he confused his fan base with an album deviating from the previous rock style, “Figure imposée”. In 1985, he came back with a number of titles written for “SOS Racisme” (anti-racism organisation).
In 1986, he released “Passé le Rio Grande”, which won him a “Victoire de la Musique”. Two singles achieved some success over the airwaves: “Malédiction” and “L'arrivée du tour”. However the album itself did not sell much.
In 1992, he started a long partnership with writer Jean Fauque, for “Osez Joséphine”, an album which also contains some cover of classic Rock such as “Night in White Satin”. His fan base grew and the album sold 350 000 copies. In 1994, he followed up with “Chatterton,” collaborating with Sonny Landreth, Ally McErlaine, Link Wray, Marc Ribot and Stéphane Belmondo. The key single extracted from this album is “Ma petite entreprise.” He started a two-year tour that results in the 1995 live album, “Confessions publiques.”
After recording a duet with Brigitte Fontaine "City" for her album "Les Palaces", Bashung returned to the musical world following a stint acting and in 1998 with “Fantaisie militaire”. While making this album in collaboration with Rodolphe Burger, Les Valentins and Jean-Marc Lederman. He will receive three Victoires de la Musique for the Album in 1999.
In 2002, he released the “L'imprudence” album to further critical acclaim. During the same year, he recorded with his wife, actress and comedian Chloé Mons “le Cantique des cantiques”. They created this title for their wedding in 2001, on a music written by Rodolphe Burger and on the basis a a new translation of the “Cantique des cantiques” from the Bible by the Author Olivier Cadiot.
In 2004, he released live double album “La tournée des grands espaces."
In 2005, for the twentieth Victoires de la Musique, he received an award for the best album of the last 20 years for “Fantaisie militaire.”
In the beginning of 2007, he participates in the tour “Les Aventuriers d'un autre Monde” with Jean-Louis Aubert (Téléphone), Cali, Daniel Darc, Richard Kolinka (Téléphone) and Raphaeël.
In March 2009, he recieved three Victoires de la Musique for his last album "Bleu Pétrol".
He passed away on March 14th, 2009 of complications of metastatic lung cancer.
Il Voyage En Solitaire
Alain Bashung Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Et nul ne l'oblige à se taire
Il chante la terre
Et il chante la terre
Et c'est une vie sans mystère
Qui se passe de commentaire
Pendant des journées entières
Mais il est seul
Un jour, l'amour
L'a quitté, s'en est allé
Faire un tour, d'l'autr' côté
D'une ville où y avait pas de places pour se garer
Il voyage en solitaire
Et nul ne l'oblige à se taire
Il sait ce qu'il a à faire
Il chante la terre
Il reste le seul volontaire
Et puisqu'il n'a plus rien à faire
Plus fort qu'une armée entière
Il chante la terre
Mais il est seul, un jour
L'amour l'a quitté, s'en est allé
Faire un tour d'l'autr' côté
D'une ville où y avait pas de places pour se garer
Et voilà le miracle en somme
C'est lorsque sa chanson est bonne
Car c'est pour la joie qu'elle lui donne
Qu'il chante la terre
Ta-da-da-da, ta-da-da-da, da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
"Il Voyage En Solitaire" or "He Travels Alone" is a song by French singer-songwriter Alain Bashung. The lyrics are about a man who travels alone, singing about the earth or the land. The man sings endlessly, without a care for what anyone thinks. He is quite content with his life, and though he is alone, he is happy. He is a man without any secrets or mysteries, and his life does not need any explanation or commentary. He sings about the land, perhaps because it is the only thing that is constant in his life.
The song takes on a sombre tone when we learn that the man has been left by his lover. She has gone to the other side of town, where there is no place to park. However, the man does not let this affect him; he continues to travel alone, singing the same song about the land. The song is a reflection of loneliness, isolation, and the power of music to comfort and help us overcome.
In conclusion, "Il Voyage En Solitaire" is a song about loneliness, but it also speaks of the resilience of the human spirit. The man in the song is alone, but he continues to sing, and his song becomes a source of joy for him. The song invites us to reflect on the power of music to heal and comfort us when we are going through difficult times.
Line by Line Meaning
Il voyage en solitaire
He travels alone
Et nul ne l'oblige à se taire
And no one forces him to be quiet
Il chante la terre
He sings about the earth
Et c'est une vie sans mystère
And it's a life without mystery
Qui se passe de commentaire
That needs no commentary
Pendant des journées entières
For entire days
Il chante la terre
He sings about the earth
Mais il est seul
But he is alone
Un jour, l'amour
One day, love
L'a quitté, s'en est allé
Left him, went away
Faire un tour, d'l'autr' côté
To take a walk, to the other side
D'une ville où y avait pas de places pour se garer
Of a city where there were no places to park
Il voyage en solitaire
He travels alone
Et nul ne l'oblige à se taire
And no one forces him to be quiet
Il sait ce qu'il a à faire
He knows what he has to do
Il chante la terre
He sings about the earth
Il reste le seul volontaire
He remains the only volunteer
Et puisqu'il n'a plus rien à faire
And since he has nothing else to do
Plus fort qu'une armée entière
Stronger than an entire army
Il chante la terre
He sings about the earth
Mais il est seul, un jour
But he is alone, one day
L'amour l'a quitté, s'en est allé
Love left him, went away
Faire un tour d'l'autr' côté
To take a walk, to the other side
D'une ville où y avait pas de places pour se garer
Of a city where there were no places to park
Et voilà le miracle en somme
And that's the miracle, in short
C'est lorsque sa chanson est bonne
It's when his song is good
Car c'est pour la joie qu'elle lui donne
Because it's the joy it gives him
Qu'il chante la terre
That he sings about the earth
Ta-da-da-da, ta-da-da-da, da-da-da
Ta-da-da-da, ta-da-da-da, da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
Lyrics © EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING FRANCE
Written by: Gerard Manset
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Yannick MALLEN
L’écriture de Manset est sublimée par la magnifique interprétation de Bashung. Tu nous manques, Alain.
julie laran
Mon Dieu quelle émotion 🥰
Corinne Le du
Eh oui Bashung nous manque tellement
Corinne Le du
Ce grand voyageur des mots., Avec Monsieur Manset alors quoi... Un miracle ?
Andre NORDE
@Carmen SIMONETTI ppoppppp
Carmen SIMONETTI
@Ben BZH bien sûr et le génie d'alain qui me manque effrontément
barbara guzik
Une interprétation très émouvante !
Très touchante !
On ne t'oubliera jamais !!
juan moro
jamais
Association Malek Hamadou - Jedis in real life
Nous sommes nombreux à voyager en solitaire, dans les méandres de nos souffrances, ou dans les pièges de notre société, prisonniers de l'inutile, comme la course au pognon, par exemple !
ludovic gressot
J’adore cette musique me donne des frissons ❤