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.
Si le Coeur Vous en Dit
Charles Trenet Lyrics
Si le cœur vous en dit
Comme l'oiseau sur la branche
N'ayez pas de lundi, de mardi, de jeudi
Si le cœur vous en dit
Qu'il soit toujours dimanche
Que tout vous soit permis
Si le cœur vous en dit
Au hasard des chemins
Et d'humeur vagabonde
Courez de par le monde
Sans songer à demain
Si l'amour vous sourit
Vous entraîne dans sa ronde
Gardez-le pour la vie
Si le cœur vous en dit
À quoi bon tant de choses quotidiennes
Qu'on appelle à la longue le destin
Oubliant qu'une vie bohémienne
Est toujours à portée de la main
Au hasard des chemins
Et d'humeur vagabonde
Courez de par le monde
Sans songer à demain
Si l'amour vous sourit
Vous entraîne dans sa ronde
Gardez-le pour la vie
Si le cœur vous en dit
Comme l'oiseau sur la branche
N'ayez pas de lundi, de mardi, de jeudi
Si le cœur vous en dit
Qu'il soit toujours dimanche
Que tout vous soit permis
Si le cœur vous en dit
Au hasard des chemins
Et d'humeur vagabonde
Sans songer à demain
Si l'amour vous sourit
Vous entraîne dans sa ronde
Gardez-le pour la vie
Si le cœur vous en dit
À quoi bon tant de choses quotidiennes
Qu'on appelle à la longue le destin
Oubliant qu'une vie bohémienne
Est toujours à portée de la main
Au hasard des chemins
Et d'humeur vagabonde
Courez de par le monde
Sans songer à demain
Si l'amour vous sourit
Vous entraîne dans sa ronde
Gardez-le pour la vie
Si le cœur vous en dit
Lyrics © RAOUL BRETON EDITIONS, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: CHARLES LOUIS TRENET
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found