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).
C'Est Mon Coeur
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sous une gelée de douceur
Cette étoile blessée qui voit rouge
C'est mon cœur, c'est mon cœur
Cette éponge de sang qui ne songe
Qu'à laver les sept plaies du malheur
Ce paradis perdu qui me ronge
C'est mon cœur, c'est mon cœur
Cette chose qui se veut l'image
D'un amour partagé tous en chœur
Cette bête affolée dans sa cage
C'est mon cœur, c'est mon cœur
Cette horloge qui bat dans le monde
Cette grappe d'un vin de vigueur
Cette giclée de pleurs qui m'inonde
C'est mon cœur, c'est mon cœur
Ce vieux cœur brinquebalant je le montre
À qui veut s'en servir pour voir l'heure
Pour voir l'heure qu'il était à ma montre
Si je meurs, si je meurs
Les aiguilles formaient une fille
Tellement belle qu'elle m'en faisait peur
Ce clair minuit obscur
Ce noir midi qui brille
C'est mon cœur, c'est mon cœur
In Claude Nougaro's song "C'est Mon Coeur" (It's My Heart), the lyrics describe the singer's heart as a tumultuous and conflicted entity. The first verse portrays the heart as an old star, boiling and moving beneath a soft frost. This imagery suggests a contradictory combination of warmth and coldness, representing the emotional turmoil within the singer. The star, wounded and seeing red, symbolizes a heart that is deeply hurt and filled with anger.
The second verse likens the heart to a sponge soaked in blood, focused solely on washing away the seven wounds of unhappiness. This image conveys a sense of constant suffering and an insatiable desire to heal the wounds of the soul. The heart is further described as a lost paradise that gnaws away at the singer, emphasizing the longing and emptiness the heart experiences.
The third verse presents the heart as a thing that desires love and connection, but finds itself trapped and frantic in a cage. This image reflects the singer's struggle to find fulfillment and freedom in love, mirroring the heart's constant turmoil. The heart is also compared to a beating clock in the world, a cluster of lively wine, and a gush of tears that overwhelm the singer. These descriptions reinforce the idea of an emotional rollercoaster experienced within one's heart.
In the final verse, the singer exposes his vulnerable and unsteady heart to others, offering it as a means to determine the time. The mention of the clock and the fear the singer has of a beautiful girl formed by the clock's hands suggest a desire to find love and meaning in life, but also a fear of vulnerability and potential heartbreak. The singer concludes by stating that his heart is both a clear midnight and a shining black noon, an oxymoronic representation of the conflicting emotions and experiences his heart embodies.
Line by Line Meaning
Ce vieil astre qui bout et qui bouge
This old star that boils and moves
Sous une gelée de douceur
Under a jelly of sweetness
Cette étoile blessée qui voit rouge
This wounded star that sees red
C'est mon cœur, c'est mon cœur
It's my heart, it's my heart
Cette éponge de sang qui ne songe
This sponge of blood that doesn't think
Qu'à laver les sept plaies du malheur
Only to wash the seven wounds of misfortune
Ce paradis perdu qui me ronge
This lost paradise that gnaws at me
C'est mon cœur, c'est mon cœur
It's my heart, it's my heart
Cette chose qui se veut l'image
This thing that wants to be the image
D'un amour partagé tous en chœur
Of a love shared all in chorus
Cette bête affolée dans sa cage
This frantic beast in its cage
C'est mon cœur, c'est mon cœur
It's my heart, it's my heart
Cette horloge qui bat dans le monde
This clock that beats in the world
Cette grappe d'un vin de vigueur
This bunch of vigorous wine
Cette giclée de pleurs qui m'inonde
This gush of tears that floods me
C'est mon cœur, c'est mon cœur
It's my heart, it's my heart
Ce vieux cœur brinquebalant je le montre
I show this old rocking heart
À qui veut s'en servir pour voir l'heure
To anyone who wants to use it to see the time
Pour voir l'heure qu'il était à ma montre
To see the time it was on my watch
Si je meurs, si je meurs
If I die, if I die
Les aiguilles formaient une fille
The hands formed a girl
Tellement belle qu'elle m'en faisait peur
So beautiful that it scared me
Ce clair minuit obscur
This clear midnight in the dark
Ce noir midi qui brille
This shining black midday
C'est mon cœur, c'est mon cœur
It's my heart, it's my heart
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, LES EDITIONS DU CHIFFRE NEUF
Written by: Claude NOUGARO, Fred FREED
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
christiane lavigne
Du grand Michel Legrand et Claude pourtant il ne voulait pas chanter mais moi les poèmes
je préférerai que tu les chantes en marchant le nez dans le vent c était plus marrant