Charles Trenet (May 18, 1913, Narbonne, France – February 19, 2001, Créteil… Read Full Bio ↴Charles Trenet (May 18, 1913, Narbonne, France – February 19, 2001, Créteil, France) was a French singer and songwriter, most famous for his recordings from the late 1930s through the mid-1950s, though his career continued through the 1990s. In an era in which it was exceptional for a singer to write his or her own material, Trenet wrote prolifically and preferred to record his own songs.
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.
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.
Où Sont-Ils Donc?
Charles Trenet Lyrics
Où sont-ils donc tous ces pays
Dont on nous parle dans les chansons
Ils sont ailleurs bien loin d'ici
Nuits tropicales, clairs horizons.
Soleil de feu sur la mer Rouge
Palmiers géants de l'Hindoustan.
Technicolor mon coeur qui bouge
Voudrait connaître tous les printemps.
Toute la s'maine je vis au fond de mon quartier
Je n'y vois qu'un mur j'n'en vois même qu'la moitié
Et dans l'fond là-bas sur une corde à linge
Des cal'çons, des ch'mises qui font les singes.
J'voudrais un jour quitter tout ça
Voguer vers c'que je n'connais pas.
Où sont-ils donc tous ces palais
Tous ces trésors brillant la nuit
Ces beaux garçons dans les forêts
Qui tuent des lions et mangent des fruits.
Qui se suspendent à toutes les lianes
Et puis vous prennent au creux d'leurs bras
Où sont-ils donc dites ! ma soeur Anne
Tous ces pays de cinéma.
Coda
Où sont-ils donc ces pays-là ?
Ils sont là-bas, là-bas, là-bas
Mais moi je sais
Je sais qu'ils sont
De faux pays
Dans les chansons.
Dont on nous parle dans les chansons
Ils sont ailleurs bien loin d'ici
Nuits tropicales, clairs horizons.
Soleil de feu sur la mer Rouge
Palmiers géants de l'Hindoustan.
Technicolor mon coeur qui bouge
Voudrait connaître tous les printemps.
Toute la s'maine je vis au fond de mon quartier
Et dans l'fond là-bas sur une corde à linge
Des cal'çons, des ch'mises qui font les singes.
J'voudrais un jour quitter tout ça
Voguer vers c'que je n'connais pas.
Où sont-ils donc tous ces palais
Tous ces trésors brillant la nuit
Ces beaux garçons dans les forêts
Qui tuent des lions et mangent des fruits.
Qui se suspendent à toutes les lianes
Et puis vous prennent au creux d'leurs bras
Où sont-ils donc dites ! ma soeur Anne
Tous ces pays de cinéma.
Coda
Où sont-ils donc ces pays-là ?
Ils sont là-bas, là-bas, là-bas
Mais moi je sais
Je sais qu'ils sont
De faux pays
Dans les chansons.
Lyrics © RAOUL BRETON EDITIONS
Written by: Trenet Charles
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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