Letissier has used numerous personal and stage names, and remarked that he "just ha many names for all the layers". He began his career as Christine and the Queens. For his second studio album, he shortened it to Chris, which was accompanied by a shift to a persona described as "a woman playing with masculine tropes". In October 2021, he was using the name Rahim. This sparked a debate around cultural appropriation due to the name's Arabic origin. He eventually began using a succession of different names such as Sam le pompier (the French title of Fireman Sam) and a full stop before settling on Redcar, sometimes shortened as Red. In August 2022, he updated his pronouns to he/him across social media platforms. In 2023, with the release of fourth album Paranoïa, Angels, True Love, he seemed to have reverted to simply Chris. However, he still occasionally uses his birth name, about which he said: "Héloïse Letissier is my parents' provenance and I love my parents. I sometimes use Héloïse to reconnect me to my childhood, but my inner child name is Manamané."
Nuit 17 à 52
Christine and the Queens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Toi allongé délié d'ornement froid
Toi allongé délié d'ornement froid, yeah
Moi dans une colère qui ne me ressemblait pas
Nuit 50 j'ai forcé le sang et la foi
Nuit 50 j'ai forcé le sang et la foi, yeah
I want it open, so cut it open
And now I'm less like
Now I'm less like
Now I'm less like for the rain to come through
Je crois que le nombre lutte contre l'oubli
Et je hais déjà la triste nuit 53
Nuit 52 tu paraissais si menacé
Avide des vents qui venaient disperser
Avide des vents qui venaient disperser, yeah
30, sa parfaite obscurité et ta revanche
Au petit matin c'est l'horizon qui penche
Au petit matin c'est l'horizon qui penche, yeah
I want it open, so cut it open
Cut it open so you could see through me
And now I'm less like
Now I'm less like
Now I'm less like for the rain to come through
Je crois que le nombre lutte contre l'oubli
Et je hais déjà la triste nuit 53
Je crois que le nombre lutte contre l'oubli
Et je hais déjà la triste nuit 53
The lyrics to Christine and the Queens's song Nuit 17 à 52 tell a story of a night of intense emotions and experiences. The first verse describes the scene of the night, with the singer and another person present. The second line suggests that the other person is distant and detached, while the singer is consumed with an uncharacteristic anger. The chorus emphasizes the desire to have things opened up and exposed, with the rain serving as a metaphor for catharsis or release.
The second verse brings in references to numbers, with Nuits 50 and 53 mentioned. The numbers seem to represent different nights or experiences, and the singer believes that keeping track of them is necessary to prevent forgetting. The focus turns back to Nuit 52, with the other person appearing vulnerable and desperate for something to scatter the winds. The final line suggests that the dawn brings a change, perhaps a realization or reckoning.
Overall, Nuit 17 à 52 is a complex and poetic exploration of intense emotions and experiences, with imagery and metaphors used to convey both the beauty and pain of these moments.
Line by Line Meaning
La nuit 17 à 22 nous étions là
On the night of the seventeenth at twenty-two, we were there
Toi allongé délié d'ornement froid
You lying down, stripped of cold ornament
Toi allongé délié d'ornement froid, yeah
You lying down, stripped of cold ornament, yeah
Moi dans une colère qui ne me ressemblait pas
Me, in an anger that wasn't like me
Nuit 50 j'ai forcé le sang et la foi
Night fifty, I forced the blood and the faith
Nuit 50 j'ai forcé le sang et la foi, yeah
Night fifty, I forced the blood and the faith, yeah
Je crois que le nombre lutte contre l'oubli
I believe that numbers fight against forgetfulness
Et je hais déjà la triste nuit 53
And I already hate the sad night fifty-three
Nuit 52 tu paraissais si menacé
Night fifty-two, you seemed so threatened
Avide des vents qui venaient disperser
Eager for the winds that came to scatter
Avide des vents qui venaient disperser, yeah
Eager for the winds that came to scatter, yeah
30, sa parfaite obscurité et ta revanche
Thirty, its perfect darkness and your revenge
Au petit matin c'est l'horizon qui penche
In the early morning, it's the horizon that tips
Au petit matin c'est l'horizon qui penche, yeah
In the early morning, it's the horizon that tips, yeah
Je crois que le nombre lutte contre l'oubli
I believe that numbers fight against forgetfulness
Et je hais déjà la triste nuit 53
And I already hate the sad night fifty-three
Lyrics © NOUVELLES EDITIONS FRANCAISES, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, BECAUSE EDITIONS
Written by: Heloise Letissier
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Untefelehrr
My own translation for you english speaking people: Don't worry it doesn't either make much sense in french
The night 17 to 22 we were there
You, lying untied from cold ornaments,
I, with an anger that was not me,
Night 50 I forced blood and faith,
I believe numbers struggle against oblivion,
And already I hate the night 53,
Night 52, you looked so endangered,
Eager for the winds that were to disperse,
30, his perfect darkness and your revenge,
In early morning the horizon is bending
@IZUMI_SAGIRI
Je n'aimes pas beaucoup de chose dans la vie, je suis un grand cynique, j'ai du mal à trouver de la beauté dans les choses.
Mais cette chanson est tout pour moi.
Elle dis tout, tout de la cruauté de l'amour, du mal qu'on peu faire aux gens qu'on aime sans raison.
Le nombre lutte contre l'oublie, sûrement, mais la triste nuit 53 à toujours raison de nous au final.
Merci Christine.
@davidcarre3868
J'ai pris une claque monumentale quand j'ai entendu cette chanson la première fois il y a 5 ou 6 ans déjà. .. inoubliable !
Comme tout l album d'ailleurs mais c'est cette chanson qui m'a fait découvrir Christine !!!
@Galeeley
J'ai envie de vomir sur elle
@Wxid
Ayant une influence basé plutôt sur le rap, je dois avouer que Christine me fait bien voyager.
@TheAfricanfighter
Tu lis dans mes pensées!!
@manu7668
C'est très bien d'être réceptif à différents artistes :)
@Wxid
Oui,surtout différents styles de musiques distincts
@samcro2116
d'accord av les réponses,il faut écouter de tout,ca enrichis l esprit,et surtout,on trouve du bon dans tout,je suis comme toi,j etais enfermé dans un style mais maintenant j écoute du rap a la chanson française en passant par tout les style de rock et j en passe...tu t ouvre a la différence bravo!!!!!! ;)
@SoonJihay
Je suis dans le même cas. Mais qu'est-ce que je fous là ?
@pablofarfan207
2020 and still listening to this beauty. Anyone else??
@Untefelehrr
interpretation: Sometimes it's good to enjoy a song only through its musicality :) . Basically, she enumerates a number of nights she had with her gf, and as nights go past everything gets worse so in the end they break up, that's why she says "je hais deja la nuit 53", meaning, I already hate the night 53, because she'll be sleeping alone, as the song is entitled nuit 17 a 52 (night 17 to 52), My interretation is they waited 17 nights to sleep together because the girl wasn't sure (she was previously straight (that's why she's fouund shaggin with a guy), and she needs 17 dates to finally enjoy a "nuit" (night) with her.
What do yu guys think about the meaning(s) of the song?