Bratsch was formed in 1975 by guitarist Dan Gharibian and violinist Bruno Girard. Gharibian, who was raised in an Armenian home, was inspired by the Armenian, Russian, Greek and Oriental music favored by his grandparents. Although he played with teen-aged rock bands, he became fascinated with the music of Django Reinhardt at the age of 14. Girard, who studied violin at the age of nine, refused to read music, preferring to play by memory. After receiving a degree in biology, he spent a decade working in science while playing music part-time. Although they initially mixed a global range of musical styles including Arabic and South African music, Bratsch soon shifted their focus to gypsy jazz. The group also features accordion player François Castiello and clarinet player Nano Peylet.
Bratsch have taken the music of the European Gypsies and turned it into something all their very own, bringing it to life with masterly skill in their atmospheric and compact concerts. Their music brings new vitality to both the traditions of Eastern Europe and the roots of "Tsigane Jazz", as made world famous by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli. With great emotion, poignant melodies and subtle arrangements, they create a unique acoustic music, which, for years, has been enthralling both the French audiences and the press in equal measure. Their first live album is a rare document, recording their very first German concert.
"These vagabonds carry the nostalgia of Eastern Europe in their bundles, the vibrancy of the Mediterranean, the dexterity of the Gypsies and the irony of the Jews. Music without frontiers." (Le Monde)
"A wondrous journey from West to East with a band of joyously abandoned nomads, who poke fun at all restraints. Whether the tunes they play are Gypsy, Russian, Armenian, or Yiddish, or their own original songs, they have the audience on its feet, shouting for more." (L’Express)
"The music of Bratsch is vital, lyrical, raw and romantic, but never sentimental and certainly never saccharine." (plärrer)
La Goutte d'eau
Bratsch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Qui a fait déborder l'orage
De la grisaille des nuages
Donnant quarante jours de pluie
Si je tenais la goutte d'eau
Je ferais de ce bled sans ombre
Une oasis unique au monde
Et en vertu de ce cadeau
J'inviterais Dieu à ma table
Ainsi que la rose des sables
A partager cette eau de vie
Je servirais l'eau à pleins seaux
Je désaltérerais la chance
Cette assoiffée de jouissances
Qui donne au rêve du génie
Si je tenais la goutte d'eau
Qui a fait déborder l'orage
Par la gargouille des nuages
Donnant quarante jours de pluie
Si je tenais la goutte d'eau
Les sentiers deviendraient des fleurs
Et je t'apporterais la preuve
Qu'un don du ciel ne se tarit
Mes fardeaux seraient des radeaux
Le futur vivrait sans histoire
Et je t'inviterais à croire
Que l'avenir vient d'un berceau
Toi qui acceptes le combat
D'une existence difficile
Entre les fils et le reptile
Où l'abondance est hors la loi
Si je tenais la goutte d'eau
Les sources auraient leur sanctuaire
Pour rappeler que sur la Terre
L'eau aide à faire de vieux os
Et si j'avais cette goutte d'eau
J'enracinerais l'espérance
Pour récolter la providence
Et l'espoir de sauver ma peau
Car j'ai peur que le manque d'eau
Aggrave encore l'insupportable
Puisque la soif est indomptable
Et la pénurie un fléau
Quand l'horizon retiendra l'eau
Ma terre deviendra une île
Et ce bonheur sera utile
Pour sortir la tête de l'eau
Et ce bonheur sera fertile
Car je tiendrai la goutte d'eau
The song "La Goutte d'eau" by Bratsch speaks of the immense power that just a single drop of water can hold. The lyrics express a deep desire to possess this drop of water, which has the capability to cause the overflow of the storm and the grayness of the clouds, providing forty days of rain. If the author had this drop of water, they would give life to a village without shade and make it a unique oasis. The author would invite God and the rose of the sands to share in the water of life as a gift, serving it by the bucketful to quench the thirst of those in search of pleasures, which gives birth to genius.
The song speaks of hope and its roots in providence as a solution to save one's own skin. It highlights the importance of water, which is so easily taken for granted, as an aid to make old bones and the anxiety surrounding its scarcity. The lyrics encourage people to accept the struggle of life and to remember that water has the power to make one's land a fertile tropical paradise, and bring hope and prosperity.
Line by Line Meaning
Si je tenais la goutte d'eau
If I held the droplet of water
Qui a fait déborder l'orage
That made the storm overflow
De la grisaille des nuages
Out of the gloom of the clouds
Donnant quarante jours de pluie
Giving forty days of rain
Je ferais de ce bled sans ombre
I would make of this barren land
Une oasis unique au monde
A singular oasis in the world
Pour que la force lui soit en vie
So that it might live on strength
Et en vertu de ce cadeau
And in the virtue of this gift
J'inviterais Dieu à ma table
I would invite God to my table
Ainsi que la rose des sables
As well as the desert rose
A partager cette eau de vie
To share this water of life
Je servirais l'eau à pleins seaux
I would serve water by the bucketful
Je désaltérerais la chance
I would quench the thirst of opportunity
Cette assoiffée de jouissances
This thirsty seeker of pleasures
Qui donne au rêve du génie
Who lends genius to the dream
Les sentiers deviendraient des fleurs
The paths would become flowers
Et je t'apporterais la preuve
And I would bring you proof
Qu'un don du ciel ne se tarit
That a gift from heaven does not run dry
Mes fardeaux seraient des radeaux
My burdens would be rafts
Le futur vivrait sans histoire
The future would live without struggle
Et je t'inviterais à croire
And I would invite you to believe
Que l'avenir vient d'un berceau
That the future comes from a cradle
Toi qui acceptes le combat
You who accept the fight
D'une existence difficile
Of a difficult existence
Entre les fils et le reptile
Between the threads and the snake
Où l'abondance est hors la loi
Where abundance is against the law
Les sources auraient leur sanctuaire
The sources would have their sanctuary
Pour rappeler que sur la Terre
To remind us that on Earth
L'eau aide à faire de vieux os
Water helps to make old bones
Et si j'avais cette goutte d'eau
And if I had that droplet of water
J'enracinerais l'espérance
I would root hope
Pour récolter la providence
To reap the providence
Et l'espoir de sauver ma peau
And the hope of saving my skin
Car j'ai peur que le manque d'eau
Because I fear that the lack of water
Aggrave encore l'insupportable
Would further worsen the unbearable
Puisque la soif est indomptable
Since thirst is indomitable
Et la pénurie un fléau
And the scarcity a scourge
Quand l'horizon retiendra l'eau
When the horizon will retain water
Ma terre deviendra une île
My land will become an island
Et ce bonheur sera utile
And this happiness will be useful
Pour sortir la tête de l'eau
To get one's head above water
Et ce bonheur sera fertile
And this happiness will be fertile
Car je tiendrai la goutte d'eau
Because I will hold the droplet of water
Lyrics © ABACABA EDITIONS
Written by: CESAR PANTERA, Charles AZNAVOUR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind