Son of an opera singer and an Italian piano teacher (Liette), he was raised by his grandparents in Toulouse, where he heard Glenn Miller, Édith Piaf and Louis Armstrong (among others) on the radio.
In 1947 he failed his baccalaureat and commenced a career in journalism, writing for various journals including Le Journal des Curistes at Vichy and L'Echo d'Alger. At the same time he wrote songs for Marcel Amont (Le barbier de Belleville, Le balayeur du roi) and Philippe Clay (Joseph, La sentinelle). He met Georges Brassens, who became his friend and mentor.
In 1949 he performed his military service in the foreign legion at Rabat, Morocco.
He sent his lyrics to Marguerite Monnot, Édith Piaf's songwriter, who put them to music. (Méphisto, Le Sentier de la guerre). He started to sing for a livelihood in 1959 in a Parisian cabaret in Montmartre, Le lapin agile.
In 1962, he decided to sing his works himself: Une petite fille and Cécile ma fille (dedicated to his daughter, born in 1962 to his wife Sylvie, whom he met at Le lapin agile). These songs made him immediately known to the larger public, which he had already started to penetrate by participating in the concerts of Dalida.
A car accident immobilised him for several months in 1963. The following year he travelled to Brazil, and sang in prestigious halls in Paris: the Olympia, the Palais, the Théâtre de la Ville.
Following the death of his friend Jacques Audiberti in 1965 he wrote, in homage, the song Chanson pour le maçon.
The events of May 1968 inspired him to the torrential Paris Mai, a plea for life, which would be banned from the airwaves. The same year he recorded his first live album at the Olympia: Une soirée avec Claude Nougaro.
His career continued normally punctuated with success: Le jazz et la java, Tu verras, Île de Ré, Armstrong, Toulouse, Petit taureau. But in 1984, his recording company did not renew his contract. Nougaro left for New York, seeking inspiration, and while there wrote and recorded a self-financed disc, Nougayork, whose resounding success was a surprise.
In 1988 Victoires de la musique rewarded him with best album and best artist, and between 1993 and 1997 he released three new albums.
His health deteriorated after 1995, when he underwent a heart operation. In 2003, his condition left him unable to appear at the festival du Verbe at Toulouse. From 1998 to 2004 he devoted himself more to concerts and festivals, apart from an album in aid of children suffering from AIDS. Having undergone further surgery in early 2004, he died of cancer in March, 74 years old.
His music drew inspiration, among other sources, from American jazz, from which he borrowed heavily (Charles Mingus, Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Sonny Rollins), but also from Brazilian music (Antonio Carlos Jobim, Baden Powell de Aquino, Chico Buarque).
Au niveau des pâquerettes
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
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Au niveau des pâquerettes
Le regard plein de ciel
Ta tête au creux d'mon bras
Ivres morts de soleil
De parfums de caresses
Laissons-nous emporter
Où l'amour le voudra
Tu courais dans les champs
En riant aux éclats
En riant je courais après toi
Mais en te rattrapant
Je t'ai fait trébucher
La terre s'est retournée
Et depuis nous voilà
Étendus tous les deux
Au niveau des pâqu'rettes
Le regard plein de ciel
Ta tête au creux d'mon cœur
On voudrait que le temps
Et que la vie s'arrêtent
Quand on vole dans du bleu
Sur un tapis de fleurs
Tout à l'heure il faudra
À la nuit descendue
Repartir vers la ville
Tout là bas
Mais au bruit de nos pas
Résonnant dans les rues
Sans nous dire un seul mot
Nous pens'rons qu'il y a
Qu'il y a quelque part
Au niveau des pâquerettes
Notre amour en secret
Caché parmi les fleurs
Et ces fleurs écrasées
Par le poids de nos têtes
Moi je sais qu'elles sont mortes
Pour refleurir ailleurs
Pour fleurir à jamais dans nos cœurs.
The lyrics of Claude Nougaro's song "Au niveau des pâquerettes" depict a serene and intimate moment shared between two lovers. The first stanza describes the couple lying together, their gazes filled with the vastness of the sky, with the singer's head cradled in their partner's arm. They are blissfully intoxicated by the sun, the scents, and the tender caresses, allowing themselves to be carried away wherever love may lead them.
The second stanza reminisces about a playful chase in the fields, with the singer laughing and running after their partner. However, in the process of catching up with them, they unintentionally made their loved one stumble, causing the earth to turn and unite them in their current state.
The chorus repeats the image of the two lovers lying together, again at the level of the "pâqu'rettes" (pansies), with their eyes filled with the sky and the singer's beloved resting their head on their heart. They wish for time and life to halt in these moments, while they soar through the blue sky on a carpet of flowers.
In the final stanza, the impending return to the city is acknowledged as night falls. However, the lyrical "we" underscore the unspoken understanding that amidst the sounds of their footsteps echoing in the streets, there is something special hidden among the pansies. Their secret love remains protected, symbolized by the crushed flowers beneath their heads. These flowers have withered only to bloom again elsewhere, forever blossoming in their hearts.
Line by Line Meaning
Étendus tous les deux
Lying down together
Au niveau des pâquerettes
At the level of the daisies
Le regard plein de ciel
Our gaze filled with the sky
Ta tête au creux d'mon bras
Your head in the crook of my arm
Ivres morts de soleil
Dead drunk on sunshine
De parfums de caresses
From the scents of caresses
Laissons-nous emporter
Let us be carried away
Où l'amour le voudra
Wherever love wants
Tu courais dans les champs
You ran in the fields
En riant aux éclats
Laughing loudly
En riant je courais après toi
Laughing, I ran after you
Mais en te rattrapant
But while catching up to you
Je t'ai fait trébucher
I made you stumble
La terre s'est retournée
The earth turned upside down
Et depuis nous voilà
And since then, here we are
Étendus tous les deux
Lying down together
Au niveau des pâqu'rettes
At the level of the daisies
Le regard plein de ciel
Our gaze filled with the sky
Ta tête au creux d'mon cœur
Your head in the hollow of my heart
On voudrait que le temps
We would like time
Et que la vie s'arrêtent
And life to stop
Quand on vole dans du bleu
When we fly in the blue
Sur un tapis de fleurs
On a carpet of flowers
Tout à l'heure il faudra
Soon we will have to
À la nuit descendue
As the night falls
Repartir vers la ville
Return to the city
Tout là bas
All the way over there
Mais au bruit de nos pas
But at the sound of our footsteps
Résonnant dans les rues
Resounding in the streets
Sans nous dire un seul mot
Without saying a single word
Nous pens'rons qu'il y a
We'll think that there is
Qu'il y a quelque part
That there is somewhere
Au niveau des pâquerettes
At the level of the daisies
Notre amour en secret
Our love in secret
Caché parmi les fleurs
Hidden among the flowers
Et ces fleurs écrasées
And these crushed flowers
Par le poids de nos têtes
Under the weight of our heads
Moi je sais qu'elles sont mortes
I know that they are dead
Pour refleurir ailleurs
To bloom elsewhere
Pour fleurir à jamais dans nos cœurs
To bloom forever in our hearts
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, LES EDITIONS DU CHIFFRE NEUF
Written by: JEAN MICHEL ARNAUD, CLAUDE NOUGARO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind