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.
Mes jeunes années
Charles Trenet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The opening lyrics of "Mes jeunes années" evoke memories of the singer's childhood spent in the mountains, running through paths filled with birds and flowers. The Pyrenees, its beauty and the winds from Spain are all celebrated in the lyrics. The words "Chantent la mélodie Qui berça mon cœur" highlight the romanticism of the song, with the melody serving as an uplifting and warm reminder of the singer's childhood.
The imagery in the song is quite vivid, as the singer recalls the memories of his past life. The lines "Chantent les souvenirs de ma tendre enfance Chantent tous les beaux jours A jamais enfuis" demonstrate the bittersweet line between the past and present as the memories of his youth will forever bring joy, yet they can never be fully experienced again. The final lines "Et comme les bergers Des montagnes de France Chantent le ciel léger De mon beau pays" emphasize the singer's longing for his homeland and the simpler times of his youth.
Line by Line Meaning
Mes jeunes années
The memories of my youthful days
Courent dans la montagne
Run through the mountains
Courent dans les sentiers
Run through the trails
Pleins d'oiseaux et de fleurs
Full of birds and flowers
Et les Pyrénées
And the Pyrenees
Chantent au vent d'Espagne
Sing to the winds of Spain
Chantent la mélodie
Sing the melody
Qui berça mon cœur
That rocked my heart
Chantent les souvenirs
Sing the memories
De ma tendre enfance
Of my tender childhood
Chantent tous les beaux jours
Sing of all the beautiful days
A jamais enfuis
Forever gone
Et comme les bergers
And like the shepherds
Des montagnes de France
From the mountains of France
Chantent la nostalgie
Sing of nostalgia
De mon beau pays
Of my beautiful country
Loin d'elle loin des ruisseaux
Far from her, far from the streams
Loin des sources vagabondes
Far from the wandering sources
Loin des fraîches chansons des eaux
Far from the fresh songs of the waters
Loin des cascades qui grondent
Far from the roaring waterfalls
Je songe et c'est là ma chanson
I dream, and that's my song
Au temps béni des premières saisons
Of the blessed time of the first seasons
Et comme les bergers
And like the shepherds
Des montagnes de France
From the mountains of France
Chantent le ciel léger
Sing of the light sky
De mon beau pays
Of my beautiful country
Contributed by Carter E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Thierry
Mes jeunes années
Courent dans la montagne,
Courent dans les sentiers
Pleins d'oiseaux et de fleurs
Et les Pyrénées
Chantent au vent d'Espagne,
Chantent la mélodie
Qui berça mon coeur,
Chantent les souvenirs,
Chantent ma tendre enfance,
Chantent tous les beaux jours
A jamais finis
Et, comme les bergers
Des montagnes de France,
Chantent le ciel léger
De mon beau pays
Parfois, loin des ruisseaux,
Loin des sources vagabondes,
Loin des fraîches chansons d'eau,
Loin des cascades qui grondent,
Je songe, et c'est là ma chanson,
Au temps béni des premières saisons
Mes jeunes années
Courent dans la montagne,
Courent dans les sentiers
Pleins d'oiseaux et de fleurs
Et les Pyrénées
Chantent au vent d'Espagne,
Chantent la mélodie
Qui berça mon coeur,
Chantent les souvenirs,
Chantent ma tendre enfance,
Chantent tous les beaux jours
A jamais finis
Et, comme les bergers
Des montagnes de France,
Chantent le ciel léger
De mon beau pays
Lina Panycz
Mes jeunes années chanson magnifique m'es sa passe trop vite on voit pas le temps et ont par trop vite au ciel merci beaucoup pour cette magnifique sublime chansons qui est grave dans mon cœur ❤️❤️❤️❤️
nine de la petite mer
Un hymne à notre magnifique pays! Ne le laissons pas souiller, défendons le avec notre coeur et nos tripes! Merci, les grands Charles qui l'ont ant aimé, notre pays!
Bernard Malbert
Que dire...Charles Trenet...tout est dit. Sans lui où serait la chanson française. Qu y a t il de plus beau...le sourire de ma maman. La force de mon papa. Nous tous en marche dans ces sentiers des Pyrénées. Tout est si joyeux. Pourquoi un jour tout s arrête...
Yvan Lenaers
Très émouvant Merci !! ❤❤❤
Marianne Davila
this song is magical
thank you Trenet for making such beautiful music.
Claude Pi
☀️👍
chorfi fayçal
Emotion et poésie.Merci Monsieur pour ce bonheur Trénet.Erik Chorfi le poète.
f. b.m
Toutes les chansons de Trenet pourraient devenir notre hymne national.
Pierre Corniglion
Trop de souvenirs , trop d'émotion ♥️
wallersayn 79
Versions magnifiques, que ce soit les 2 enregistrements des Compagnons ou celui de Charles Trenet