Some of his best known songs include "Boum...!", "Y'A D'La Joie", "Que Reste-T-Il De Nos Amours?", "Ménilmontant", and "Douce France". His catalog of songs is enormous, numbering close to a thousand. While many of his songs mined relatively conventional topics such as love, Paris, and nostalgia for his younger days, what set Trenet's songs apart were their personal, poetic, sometimes quite eccentric qualities, often infused with a warm wit. Some of his songs had unconventional subject matter, with whimsical imagery bordering on the surreal. "Y'A D'La Joie" evokes "joy" through a series of disconnected (though all vaguely phallic) images, including that of a subway car shooting out of its tunnel into the air, the Eiffel Tower crossing the street and a baker making excellent bread. The lovers engaged in a minuet in "La Polka Du Roi" reveal themselves at length to be "no longer human": they are made of wax and trapped in the Musée Grévin. Many of his hits from the 1930s and 1940s effectively combine the melodic and verbal nuance of French song with American swing rhythms.
Other artists have had hits with some of Trenet's songs, such as the American Bobby Darin's success with "Beyond the Sea" ("La Mer"). Darin's version preserved the charming chording of Trenet's original which the author dashed off in about an hour in 1946 as an homage to the French coastline, once again free of battleships and the scars of World War II.
Other Trenet songs were recorded by such popular French singers as Maurice Chevalier, Jean Sablon, and Frehel.
Boum!
Charles Trenet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Les oiseaux du lac font pic-pic-pic-pic
Glou-glou-glou font tous les dindons
Et la jolie cloche ding-din-don, mais boum
Quand notre cœur fait boum
Tout avec lui dit boum
Et c'est l'amour qui s'éveille
Boum
Il chante "Love in Bloom"
Au rythme de ce boum
Qui redit boum à l'oreille
Tout a changé depuis hier et la rue a des yeux qui regardent aux fenêtres
Y a du lilas et y a des mains tendues, sur la mer le soleil va paraître
Boum
L'astre du jour fait boum
Tout avec lui dit boum
Quand notre cœur fait boum-boum
Le vent dans les bois fait hou-hou-hou
La biche aux abois fait mê-mê-mê
La vaisselle cassée fait fric-fric-frac
Et les pieds mouillés font flic-flic-flac, mais boum
Quand notre cœur fait boum
Tout avec lui dit boum
L'oiseau dit boum, c'est l'orage
Brrr, boum
L'éclair qui lui fait boum
Et le Bon Dieu dit boumDans son fauteuil de nuages
Car mon amour est plus vif que l'éclair
Plus léger qu'un oiseau, qu'une abeille
Et s'il fait boum, s'il se met en colère
Il entraîne avec lui des merveilles
Boum
Le monde entier fait boum
Tout avec lui dit boum
Quand notre cœur fait boum-boum
Boum
Le monde entier fait boum
Tout avec lui dit boum
Quand notre cœur fait boum-boum
Boum, je n'entends que boum-boum
Ça fait toujours boum-boum, boum, brrr, boum
The lyrics of Charles Trenet's song Boum are a whimsical expression of the intensity of love. Trenet describes how everything in the world seems to respond to the sensation of the heart beating fast with love. The ticking of a clock, the chirping of birds, the noise of kitchen utensils clanging are all described as sounding like "boum," emphasizing the all-encompassing power of love. Trenet uses onomatopoeia throughout the song to create a playful and lighthearted tone. He also touches on the idea that love can change everything and everyone. The lilac-scented streets, outstretched hands, and the appearance of the sun on the horizon signal that something new and wonderful has happened, that love has transformed the world.
The final section of the song describes love as something that can even affect nature and God himself. Lightning strikes with a "boum," and the song ends with Trenet's lover's heart beating with such ferocity that it drowns out all other sounds, leaving only the sound of "boum-boum" in his ears.
Overall, the song's lyrics highlight the all-encompassing, transformative power of love. Through its use of playful language and clever imagery, the song conveys the intensity of the feeling in a joyful and lighthearted way.
Line by Line Meaning
La pendule fait tic-tac-tic-tic
The clock makes a ticking sound, marking the passage of time
Les oiseaux du lac font pic-pic-pic-pic
The birds by the lake are making small chirping sounds
Glou-glou-glou font tous les dindons
The turkeys are making gobbling sounds
Et la jolie cloche ding-din-don, mais boum
And the beautiful bell is ringing, but then comes a loud boom
Quand notre cœur fait boum
When our heart goes boom
Tout avec lui dit boum
Everything around it goes boom
Et c'est l'amour qui s'éveille
And it's love that awakens
Il chante "Love in Bloom"
He's singing "Love in Bloom"
Au rythme de ce boum
To the rhythm of that boom
Qui redit boum à l'oreille
That echoes the boom in the ear
Tout a changé depuis hier et la rue a des yeux qui regardent aux fenêtres
Everything has changed since yesterday and the street has eyes that look into windows
Y a du lilas et y a des mains tendues, sur la mer le soleil va paraître
There is lilac and there are hands reaching out, the sun is going to appear over the sea
Le vent dans les bois fait hou-hou-hou
The wind in the woods is making a hooing sound
La biche aux abois fait mê-mê-mê
The doe in distress is making a bleating sound
La vaisselle cassée fait fric-fric-frac
The broken dishes make a scraping sound
Et les pieds mouillés font flic-flic-flac, mais boum
And wet feet make a splashing sound, but then comes a loud boom
L'oiseau dit boum, c'est l'orage
The bird says boom, it's the storm
Brrr, boum
Brrr, boom
L'éclair qui lui fait boum
The lightning that makes that boom
Et le Bon Dieu dit boum
And the Lord says boom
Dans son fauteuil de nuages
In his cloud throne
Car mon amour est plus vif que l'éclair
Because my love is faster than lightning
Plus léger qu'un oiseau, qu'une abeille
Lighter than a bird, than a bee
Et s'il fait boum, s'il se met en colère
And if it goes boom, if it gets angry
Il entraîne avec lui des merveilles
It brings along wonders with it
Le monde entier fait boum
The whole world goes boom
Quand notre cœur fait boum-boum
When our heart goes boom-boom
Boum, je n'entends que boum-boum
Boom, I only hear boom-boom
Ça fait toujours boum-boum, boum, brrr, boum
It always goes boom-boom, boom, brrr, boom
Lyrics © RAOUL BRETON EDITIONS
Written by: Raoul Joseph Auguste Breton, Charles Louis Augustin Trenet, Raymond Wraskoff
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind