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.
Retour à Paris
Charles Trenet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Un petit séjour d'un mois
Revoir Paris
Et me retrouver chez moi
Seul sous la pluie
Parmi la foule des grands boulevards
Quelle joie inouïe
D'aller ainsi au hasard
Qui va le long de la Seine
Et me revoici
Au fond du Bois de Vincennes
Roulant joyeux
Vers ma maison de banlieue
Où ma mère m'attend
Les larmes aux yeux
Le cœur content
Mon Dieu que tout le monde est gentil
Mon Dieu quel sourire à la vie
Mon Dieu merci
Mon Dieu merci d'être ici
Ce n'est pas un rêve
C'est l'île d'amour que je vois
Le jour se lève
Et sèche les pleurs des bois
Dans la petite gare
Un sémaphore appelle ces gens
Tous ces braves gens
De la Varenne et de Nogent
Bonjour la vie
Bonjour mon vieux soleil
Bonjour ma mie
Bonjour l'automne vermeil
Je suis un enfant
Rien qu'un enfant tu sais
Je suis un petit Français
Rien qu'un enfant
Tout simplement
Paris
The song "Retour a Paris" or "Revoir Paris" by Charles Trenet is a nostalgic journey that takes the listener back to Paris, the city of love. The song begins with the singer talking about his short trip to Paris for a month and then joyfully reuniting with his mother back home. It describes the happiness he feels as he navigates the bustling city streets of Paris alone in the rain. The singer takes a taxi ride along the Seine, reminiscing about his visit to the Bois de Vincennes, and then headed to his suburban home where his mother was eagerly awaiting.
Throughout the song, the singer marvels at how friendly and happy everyone seems to be in Paris, rejoicing in the little things like the rise of the sun that dries up the tears of the trees. The song's lyrics are powerful in that they evoke strong emotions of love, joy, and happiness. The overwhelming sense of nostalgia, longing, and unbridled joy in returning to a place of immense meaning to the singer, Paris, adds depth to the lyrics of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Revoir Paris
To see Paris again
Un petit séjour d'un mois
A short visit of one month
Revoir Paris
To see Paris again
Et me retrouver chez moi
And find myself at my home
Seul sous la pluie
Alone in the rain
Parmi la foule des grands boulevards
Among the crowd of the grand boulevards
Quelle joie inouïe
What immense joy
D'aller ainsi au hasard
To go like this by chance
Prendre un taxi
To take a taxi
Qui va le long de la Seine
That goes along the Seine
Et me revoici
And here I am again
Au fond du Bois de Vincennes
In the depths of the Bois de Vincennes
Roulant joyeux
Rolling joyously
Vers ma maison de banlieue
Towards my suburban house
Où ma mère m'attend
Where my mother is waiting for me
Les larmes aux yeux
Tears in her eyes
Le cœur content
The heart content
Mon Dieu que tout le monde est gentil
My God, how kind everyone is
Mon Dieu quel sourire à la vie
My God, what a smile to life
Mon Dieu merci
My God, thank you
Mon Dieu merci d'être ici
My God, thank you for being here
Ce n'est pas un rêve
It's not a dream
C'est l'île d'amour que je vois
It's the Isle of Love that I see
Le jour se lève
The day is rising
Et sèche les pleurs des bois
And dries the tears of the woods
Dans la petite gare
In the small train station
Un sémaphore appelle ces gens
A signalman calls these people
Tous ces braves gens
All these brave people
De la Varenne et de Nogent
From La Varenne and Nogent
Bonjour la vie
Hello life
Bonjour mon vieux soleil
Hello my old sun
Bonjour ma mie
Hello my sweetheart
Bonjour l'automne vermeil
Hello the crimson autumn
Je suis un enfant
I am a child
Rien qu'un enfant tu sais
Just a child, you know
Je suis un petit Français
I am a little Frenchman
Rien qu'un enfant
Just a child
Tout simplement
Simply
Paris
Paris
Writer(s): Charles Trenet
Contributed by Arianna P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Colette
Charles Trenet est indémodable. Cette émouvante chanson accompagne tous mes retours à Paris. Merci à cet auteur qui nous transmet bonheur et joie de vivre.
wallersayn 79
Une merveilleuse chanson pour une ville extraordinaire, encore plus à l’époque
corinne nord
Paris où je vis me séduit chaque jour et encore plus en écoutant Mr Trenet
VincentDS
une de ses plus belles chansons. Chante' avec tres grande emotion.
Jean Pierre Zutter
Une très belle chanson !!
Usual Suspect
Magnifique chanson!!
Magnifique Charles Trenet!!🥰🥰🥰
albert beckermannn
Ça fait du bien, d,entendre Mr Trenet .
Monique Majewski
qu'el merveilleux poete merci monsieurTrenet
MB D
The wonderful Monsieur Trenet. Unforgettable.
hervé vincent
@Daniele Clauzel n'importe quoi quoi ?