Souchon signed his first contract in 1971, but had no success until he began to collaborate with composer/arranger Laurent Voulzy ; they would write together, but each released albums under his own name. Souchon's first hit was "J'ai 10 ans" (1974), from the album of the same name. Souchon's biggest hit was probably "Foule Sentimentale" from 1995's C'est Deja ca. His recent album is from 2005, called La Vie Theodore which features his song "Et si en plus, y'a personne" [What if, even more, there is no one], a song condemning religious intolerance.
He wrote the theme for François Truffaut's 1979 film Love on the Run (L'amour en fuite).
Les Paquebots
Alain Souchon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ont la ferraille nostalgique
Nous nous aimions avant-hier
Sur toutes les lignes régulières
Qui conduisaient en Amérique
Les grands paquebots sont morts
Les petits mouchoirs des ports
Les grandes baleines électriques
Ne glissent plus vers l'Amérique
Un sang de rouille efface leur sillage
Les grands paquebots qui s'estompent
Ont le chalumeau sur la tempe
Les Boeings sont des tricheurs
Ils volent le temps et les tiédeurs
Des nuits d'amour pour l'Amérique
Les grands paquebots sont morts
Les petits mouchoirs des ports
Ne bougent plus, pauvres sémaphores, la la
Les grandes baleines électriques
Ne glissent plus vers l'Amérique
Un sang de rouille efface leur sillage
Les grands paquebots vides se lassent
Regardant les avions qui passent
Leurs gros ventres coûtaient trop cher
Aux épiciers du mal de mer
Et nous irons faire nos amours
Sur plans de vol
The song “Les Paquebots” by Alain Souchon portrays the nostalgia of a bygone era of transatlantic travel on great ocean liners. The lyrics describe how the grand ships of the Atlantic, referred to as “les grands paquebots,” are now nothing more than rusted hulks fading away into memory. The nostalgic tone is established in the opening line, which describes the ships as having “ferraille nostalgique,” or nostalgic scrap metal. The song emphasizes how people used to travel on these ocean liners to America for romance and adventure, but the ships have now been replaced by airplanes, symbolized by the “Boeings” that “steal time and warmth” from the nights of love in America.
The chorus of the song repeats the melancholic theme of the demise of ocean liners and how they have been abandoned in favor of airplanes. The “petits mouchoirs des ports,” or small handkerchiefs from the harbors, no longer move since the great ships have stopped going to sea. The “grandes baleines électriques,” or big electric whales, no longer glide towards America because their “sillage,” or wake, has been erased by the “sang de rouille,” or rust. The song suggests that even though the grand ocean liners have been metaphorically killed, their memories will not die for those who once traveled on them for love and adventure.
Line by Line Meaning
Les grands paquebots d'Atlantique
The majestic Atlantic steamships
Ont la ferraille nostalgique
Are now just a heap of nostalgic scrap metal
Nous nous aimions avant-hier
We were in love just yesterday
Sur toutes les lignes régulières
On all the regular routes
Qui conduisaient en Amérique
That led to America
Les grands paquebots sont morts
The grand steamships are gone
Les petits mouchoirs des ports
The small handkerchiefs of the harbor
Ne bougent plus, pauvres sémaphores, la la
No longer wave goodbye, poor signalmen, la la
Les grandes baleines électriques
The giant electric whales
Ne glissent plus vers l'Amérique
No longer glide towards America
Un sang de rouille efface leur sillage
A rust-red tide erases their trail
Les grands paquebots qui s'estompent
Fading steamships
Ont le chalumeau sur la tempe
Have a blowtorch to their heads
Les Boeings sont des tricheurs
The Boeings are cheaters
Ils volent le temps et les tiédeurs
They steal the time and the warmth
Des nuits d'amour pour l'Amérique
Of the nights of love towards America
Les grands paquebots sont morts
The grand steamships are gone
Les petits mouchoirs des ports
The small handkerchiefs of the harbor
Ne bougent plus, pauvres sémaphores, la la
No longer wave goodbye, poor signalmen, la la
Les grandes baleines électriques
The giant electric whales
Ne glissent plus vers l'Amérique
No longer glide towards America
Un sang de rouille efface leur sillage
A rust-red tide erases their trail
Les grands paquebots vides se lassent
Empty grand steamships grow tired
Regardant les avions qui passent
Watching the planes fly by
Leurs gros ventres coûtaient trop cher
Their large bellies were too expensive
Aux épiciers du mal de mer
For the merchants of seasickness
Et nous irons faire nos amours
And we will make love
Sur plans de vol
According to flight schedules
Writer(s): Alain Souchon
Contributed by Camilla E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.