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.
Un beau déluge
Alain Bashung Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
L'horizon tiraillé qui m'a sorti de la torpeur
Sur toi immense et blanche
Couvait l'orage
Tous les oiseaux se sont enfuis
C'est pas la peur qui s'envole
Un simple coup de fusil
De ses ailes hurlant à nos ouïes
Et la terreur colle
Je me venge à l'envie
D'aller souiller la colombe
D'aller se mouiller sous les trombes
C'est un beau déluge
C'est un beau déluge
Dans l'aube déchirée
Fourmille sous mes pieds
Un murmur oublié
L'écho d'une bataille
Y a des milliers d'années
À l'heure où je suis né
Une avalanche d'acier
Nous renvoie sa ferraille
Qu'avons nous vu
Qu'est-ce qu'on a pris?
Et je me berce du fracas de la prairie
Je me venge à l'envie
D'aller souiller la colombe
D'aller se mouiller sous les trombes
Et je me venge à l'envie
D'aller souiller la colombe
D'aller se mouiller sous les trombes
Quel beau déluge!
Quel beau déluge!
Quel beau déluge!
Quel beau déluge!
The song "Un beau déluge" by Alain Bashung is a poetic reflection on the human desire to wreak havoc and destruction. The opening lines describe a moment of awakening as the singer is surprised by the torn dawn and the tumultuous horizon that snaps them out of their numbness. The image of a gathering storm looming over a vast and white landscape underscores a sense of foreboding and unease, while the flight of the birds suggests a desire to escape.
The next stanza introduces the idea of revenge and the urge to defile the dove, a symbol of peace and innocence. The singer seems to relish the prospect of getting wet under the downpour and the thunderous roar of the storm, which is likened to a beautiful deluge. The repetition of this phrase at the end of each stanza reinforces its importance and suggests a kind of mantra that the singer uses to steel themselves against the fear and uncertainty of the world around them.
The final stanza brings together past and present as the singer hears a forgotten murmur beneath their feet that echoes the sound of an ancient battle. The image of an avalanche of steel and the question of what they have seen and taken leave the listener with a sense of ambiguity and ambiguity. At the same time, the singer is comforted by the sound of the grass rustling in the wind, an image that connects them to the natural world and offers a kind of solace.
Overall, "Un beau déluge" is a haunting and evocative song that speaks to the darker impulses and conflicted emotions that define the human experience.
Line by Line Meaning
C'est l'aube déchirée qui m'a surpris
I was surprised by the torn dawn
L'horizon tiraillé qui m'a sorti de la torpeur
The conflicted horizon woke me from my stupor
Sur toi immense et blanche Couvait l'orage
The storm was brewing over you, immense and white
Tous les oiseaux se sont enfuis
All the birds have flown away
C'est pas la peur qui s'envole
It's not fear that's flying away
Un simple coup de fusil
Just a gunshot
C'est par le ciel transpercé
Piercing through the sky
De ses ailes hurlant à nos ouïes
Its wings screaming in our ears
Et la terreur colle
And the terror sticks
Je me venge à l'envie
I take revenge as I please
D'aller souiller la colombe
To go soil the dove
D'aller se mouiller sous les trombes
To go get wet under the downpour
C'est un beau déluge
It's a beautiful deluge
Dans l'aube déchirée Fourmille sous mes pieds
In the torn dawn swarms beneath my feet
Un murmur oublié L'écho d'une bataille
A forgotten murmur, echoes of a battle
Y a des milliers d'années À l'heure où je suis né
Thousands of years ago, when I was born
Une avalanche d'acier Nous renvoie sa ferraille
An avalanche of steel sends its scrap metal back at us
Qu'avons nous vu
What have we seen
Qu'est-ce qu'on a pris?
What have we taken
Et je me berce du fracas de la prairie
And I'm lulled by the crash of the prairie
Quel beau déluge!
What a beautiful deluge!
Quel beau déluge!
What a beautiful deluge!
Quel beau déluge!
What a beautiful deluge!
Quel beau déluge!
What a beautiful deluge!
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Xavier Plumas, Alain Bashung
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Valerie Larra
Trop biiiennn....
Merci cher Alain..
Chère Chloé
.ohhh ouiii c est un.beau déluge....un murmure oublié...je vous aime... vous vos chants et votre cantique...vos paroles intemporelles......douces bises....Valerie
François Bousserez
Superbe
Damien Balzac
Ah ah ah ! Jamais entendue ! Encore une surprise... Ça ne finira jamais ! ^^