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.
Le roi dagobert
Charles Trenet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A mis sa culotte à l'envers
Mais ce que l'on n'sait pas
C'est que ce Roi-là
Eut d'autres aventures
Plus belles je vous l'jure
Vous pouvez tous m'en croire
C'est comme ça qu'on écrit l'Histoire
Aimait mieux l'été que l'hiver
Le grand Saint Éloi préférait les bois
Le Roi Dagobert préférait « La Mer », qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
Sur un bateau d'pêcheurs
Le Roi n'avait pas mal au cœur
Le bon Roi Dagobert
Aimait bien son père et sa mère
Il aimait autant les petits enfants
Il aimait l'bon vin et l'civet d'lapin
Mais ce qu'il aimait l'mieux
C'étaient les jeunes filles aux yeux bleus
Le bon Roi Dagobert
Chantait les chansons à l'envers
Sur les routes de France
Mille et une romances
Jaillissaient de lui
Fraîches comme la pluie
Les oiseaux étonnés
Le prenaient pour Charles Trenet
Il peignait des tableaux
Qu'il était seul à trouver beaux !
Fixant sur la toile la lueur des étoiles
De ses paysages
Des chevaux sauvages
Parfois même s'échappaient
Le Roi savait les rattraper
Un jour dans son palais
Un valet voulait le voler
Au valet voleur
Il dit : « Ma valeur
Étant mon seul bien
Je ne risque rien. »
Et l'vieux valet ballot
Avoua qu'il volait des vélos
Quand la guerre survint
Il la repoussa mais en vain
Tous les chevaliers
Voulant guerroyer
Préféraient l'armure
Aux vertes ramures
On enferma le Roi
Dans une tour au fond d'un bois
Et c'est là qu'il mourut
Ce roi que j'ai si bien connu
Sur sa tombe, je crois
Le grand Saint Éloi
Écrivit ceci
Qui n'est pas précis :
"DA DA GO GO BE BERT
A remis son âme à l'univers"
The lyrics of Charles Trenet's song "Le roi Dagobert" depict a whimsical and playful portrayal of the famous French king, Dagobert I. The song begins by humorously stating that Dagobert wore his trousers (culotte) inside out. However, what people don't know is that this king had other adventures that were even more beautiful. The singer promises that the listeners can trust him and that's how history is written.
The song continues to describe Dagobert's preferences, highlighting his love for summer over winter. It mentions that Saint Éloi (the patron saint of metalworkers) preferred the woods, while Dagobert preferred the sea. The line "La Mer, qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs" refers to the famous song "La Mer" by Charles Trenet himself. It describes seeing the sea dance along the clear shores while on a fishing boat, with Dagobert having no seasickness.
Dagobert is portrayed as a king who loved his parents, liked children, enjoyed good wine and rabbit stew, but most of all, he loved young girls with blue eyes. The song mentions that Dagobert had a unique skill of singing songs backward, and wherever he traveled in France, he inspired countless romances and amazed the birds, who mistook him for Charles Trenet himself.
The lyrics take a fanciful turn by stating that Dagobert painted beautiful landscapes and horse portraits, capturing the light of stars in his paintings. However, occasionally, the horses would come to life on the canvas, and the king knew how to control and capture them again.
Eventually, the narrative reveals that one day, a servant tried to steal from Dagobert. The king calmly assures the thief that since his own worth is his only possession, he has nothing to lose. The servant thief confesses to stealing bicycles, and when the war broke out, Dagobert fought against it but was ultimately defeated. The knights, driven by their desire for war, preferred armor over the beauty of nature. The king is imprisoned in a tower deep within the woods, where he eventually dies. The closing lines mention that Saint Éloi supposedly wrote on Dagobert's tombstone, though not quite accurately, "DA DA GO GO BE BERT has returned his soul to the universe."
Line by Line Meaning
Le bon Roi Dagobert
The esteemed King Dagobert
A mis sa culotte à l'envers
Put his trousers on inside out
Mais ce que l'on n'sait pas
But what people don't know
C'est que ce Roi-là
Is that this very King
Eut d'autres aventures
Had other adventures
Plus belles je vous l'jure
More beautiful, I swear to you
Vous pouvez tous m'en croire
You can all believe me
C'est comme ça qu'on écrit l'Histoire
That's how history is written
Le bon Roi Dagobert
The esteemed King Dagobert
Aimait mieux l'été que l'hiver
Preferred summer over winter
Le grand Saint Éloi préférait les bois
The great Saint Eloi preferred the woods
Le Roi Dagobert préférait « La Mer », qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
King Dagobert preferred 'The Sea', which we see dancing along the clear gulfs
Sur un bateau d'pêcheurs
On a fisherman's boat
Le Roi n'avait pas mal au cœur
The King did not feel queasy
Le bon Roi Dagobert
The esteemed King Dagobert
Aimait bien son père et sa mère
Loved his father and mother dearly
Il aimait autant les petits enfants
He loved children just as much
Il aimait l'bon vin et l'civet d'lapin
He loved good wine and rabbit stew
Mais ce qu'il aimait l'mieux
But what he loved the most
C'étaient les jeunes filles aux yeux bleus
Were the young girls with blue eyes
Le bon Roi Dagobert
The esteemed King Dagobert
Chantait les chansons à l'envers
Sang songs backwards
Sur les routes de France
On the roads of France
Mille et une romances
A thousand and one romances
Jaillissaient de lui
Sprang forth from him
Fraîches comme la pluie
Fresh like the rain
Les oiseaux étonnés
The astonished birds
Le prenaient pour Charles Trenet
Mistook him for Charles Trenet
Il peignait des tableaux
He painted pictures
Qu'il était seul à trouver beaux !
That only he found beautiful!
Fixant sur la toile la lueur des étoiles
Capturing the twinkle of the stars on canvas
De ses paysages
Of his landscapes
Des chevaux sauvages
Of wild horses
Parfois même s'échappaient
Sometimes even escaping
Le Roi savait les rattraper
The King knew how to catch them again
Un jour dans son palais
One day in his palace
Un valet voulait le voler
A valet wanted to steal from him
Au valet voleur
To the thieving valet
Il dit : « Ma valeur
He said: 'As for my worth
Étant mon seul bien
Being my only possession
Je ne risque rien. »
I have nothing to lose.'
Et l'vieux valet ballot
And the old clumsy valet
Avoua qu'il volait des vélos
Admitted to stealing bicycles
Quand la guerre survint
When the war broke out
Il la repoussa mais en vain
He tried to repel it, but in vain
Tous les chevaliers
All the knights
Voulant guerroyer
Longing for warfare
Préféraient l'armure
Preferred their armor
Aux vertes ramures
Over the green branches
On enferma le Roi
The King was locked up
Dans une tour au fond d'un bois
In a tower deep in the woods
Et c'est là qu'il mourut
And it's there that he died
Ce roi que j'ai si bien connu
This King that I knew so well
Sur sa tombe, je crois
On his grave, I believe
Le grand Saint Éloi
The great Saint Eloi
Écrivit ceci
Wrote this
Qui n'est pas précis :
Which is not accurate:
"DA DA GO GO BE BERT
"DA DA GO GO BE BERT
A remis son âme à l'univers"
Has released his soul to the universe"
Lyrics © RAOUL BRETON EDITIONS, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHARLES LOUIS TRENET, ANDRE PIERRE CADOU, DP
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Frédéric Halbreich
Difficile de définir ce qu'il y a de merveilleux à écouter Trenet. En fait c'est une sorte de magicien totalement en dehors du temps. Parfois (souvent) désuet, démodé jamais. Ce qu'il nous exprime est de tout le temps. Y'a qu'à transposer.
Luke Aloi
Mon nom de famille est Aloi (la forme américaine) comme “le grand Saint Éloi” de cette chanson
Paléo Musika
Eloi est un prénom, pas un nom de famille