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).
Des Voiliers
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On en a marre de ployer
À tes rames de misère
Nous voulons des voiliers,
De beaux voiliers qui voyagent,
Les fesses gonflées de bons vents,
Joyeux comme le mariage
De l'Espace et du Temps
De l'air, de l'air, on veut des voiliers
Oui, nous voulons des voiliers
En voiles de mariée,
Allant de l'avant
Sous l' vent émouvant...
De l'air, de l'air, de l'air !
Comme un jeune marin enlaçant
La taille de la terre,
Bandons
Sur le bandonéon
D'un cœur gros comme la mer !
De l'air, de l'air, vieille galère
L'équipage tourne la page
De l'air, de l'air, vieille galère
Va-t'en ailleurs faire naufrage
Y a les mousses qui veulent que ça mousse
Dans le lait de chaque vague,
Grimper au mât, dans l' cinéma,
Sur la toile où l'on baise les étoiles...
Tu nous les brises, galère !
On en a marre de plier
Tes avirons pervers
Dans un rêve de noyé
On veut hisser des voiles
Comme des lits d'amants,
Boire des rasades
De soleils levant
Oui, nous voulons des voiliers
Aux ailes déployées
Allant de l'avant
Sur le flot vivant
De l'air, de l'air, de l'air!
Comme un jeune marin enlaçant
Un Dieu Goémon,
Tanguons
Sur du bandonéon
Une rose entre les dents...
Viens,
Gonfle-toi,
Bateau ivre d'un vent de joie
Ô saphir,
Ô mon vaisseau zéphyr
Nous allons découvrir enfin la vie
Viens
Le voyage sera long
Comme des cinglés,
Cinglons!
The song "Des Voiliers" by Claude Nougaro is about the desire for freedom and the longing to escape from one's current situation. In the song, "galère" (which means "galley" or "slave ship" in French) is used as a metaphor for a difficult and oppressive situation in life, such as poverty or a dead-end job. The singer of the song (presumably Nougaro himself) is tired of being stuck in this situation and wants to break free, to sail away on beautiful sailboats that are propelled by the wind and not by the labor of those aboard.
The verses of the song depict the singer's frustration with the current situation, telling galère to "get lost" and to let them have their sailboats instead. The chorus, which repeats the phrase "De l'air, de l'air" (meaning "Air, air" or "Breath, breath"), represents the singers' desperate need for freedom, for a breath of fresh air, and for the wind to carry them away from their troubles. The metaphor of sailing as a form of escape and a symbol of freedom is carried throughout the song, as sailors are depicted as joyous and free, with sails like wedding veils and a sense of adventure and discovery.
Overall, the song is a plea for liberation from the constraints of life, and for the opportunity to set sail on one's own terms, free from the burdens that weigh us down.
Line by Line Meaning
Tu nous les brises, galère !
We are tired of you, ship of toil and misery.
On en a marre de ployer À tes rames de misère
We are sick of bending to your oars of misery.
Nous voulons des voiliers,
We want sailboats,
De beaux voiliers qui voyagent,
Beautiful sailboats that travel,
Les fesses gonflées de bons vents,
With their butts full of good winds,
Joyeux comme le mariage
As happy as the marriage
De l'Espace et du Temps
Of Space and Time
Arrête, galère! fais-toi oublier
Stop, ship! make yourself forgotten,
De l'air, de l'air, on veut des voiliers
We want sailboats, fresh air, fresh air,
Oui, nous voulons des voiliers
Yes, we want sailboats,
En voiles de mariée,
In wedding sails,
Allant de l'avant Sous l' vent émouvant...
Moving forward with the emotional winds...
Comme un jeune marin enlaçant La taille de la terre,
Like a young sailor embracing the size of the earth,
Bandons Sur le bandonéon D'un cœur gros comme la mer !
Let's play the bandoneon with a heart as big as the sea!
De l'air, de l'air, vieille galère L'équipage tourne la page
Fresh air, fresh air, old galley. The crew turns the page.
De l'air, de l'air, vieille galère Va-t'en ailleurs faire naufrage
Fresh air, fresh air, old galley. Go crash somewhere else.
Y a les mousses qui veulent que ça mousse Dans le lait de chaque vague,
There are young sailors who want foam in every wave,
Grimper au mât, dans l' cinéma, Sur la toile où l'on baise les étoiles...
Climbing the mast, into the movie, on the canvas where the stars make love...
Tes avirons pervers Dans un rêve de noyé
Your perverted oars In a drowning dream
On veut hisser des voiles Comme des lits d'amants,
We want to raise sails Like lovers' beds,
Boire des rasades De soleils levant
Drinking deep from the rising suns,
Oui, nous voulons des voiliers Aux ailes déployées
Yes, we want sailboats with wings unfurled,
Allant de l'avant Sur le flot vivant
Moving forward on the living wave,
Comme un jeune marin enlaçant Un Dieu Goémon,
Like a young sailor embracing a seaweed deity,
Tanguons Sur du bandonéon Une rose entre les dents...
Let's sway to the bandoneon with a rose between our teeth...
Viens, Gonfle-toi, Bateau ivre d'un vent de joie
Come on, swell up, Drunk ship with a wind of joy
Ô saphir, Ô mon vaisseau zéphyr
Oh Sapphire, Oh my Zephyr vessel
Nous allons découvrir enfin la vie
We will finally discover life
Viens Le voyage sera long Comme des cinglés,
Come on, the journey will be as long as crazy people,
Cinglons!
Let's sail!
Contributed by Charlie A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Gérard Mx
1980. L’accordéoniste de jazz Richard Galliano met le point final à sa nouvelle composition. Son inspiration est évidente : il a passé toute la nuit à écouter des morceaux de son idole, le compositeur argentin Astor Piazzolla. Ce dernier est célèbre pour avoir créé le "new tango", en intégrant de nouveaux instruments et rythmes au tango traditionnel.
Et c’est cela qui inspire Galliano lorsqu’il compose sa mélodie : elle doit mettre en musique le poème "Des voiliers", du chanteur Claude Nougaro.
Crédits : Musiktips
Nelly Guanich
merveilleux.
JACQUILLO2
BEAU