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).
Energie
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Puissance de la vie
Craque ma vieille écorce
Encore un printemps, dis !
Accorde moi la rage
De mériter la vie
Casse moi le lit cage
Fais moi courir encore
Beaucoup, à la folie
Courir après l'aurore
Du fin fond de la nuit
Oui, donne moi le souffle
L'étincelle jaillie
Des cuisses comme un buffle
Martelant la prairie
Tous ces enfants qui naissent
Ils veulent que ça rie
Ils veulent la prouesse
De la joie qui surgit
Ils demandent une force
Aussi douce qu'un fruit
Ah ! brise moi l'écorce
Crève ma sève, dis !
Que je donne à ces gosses
La sève de ma vie
Et qu'avec mon écorce
Ils fassent un incendie
Déesse de la force
Puissance de la vie
Craque ma vieille écorce
Encore un printemps, dis !
The lyrics of Claude Nougaro's song "Énergie" express a longing for strength, vitality, and renewal. The singer addresses a deity of force and power, asking her to break their old shell and grant them another spring. They seek the fire and determination to deserve life, to break free from the confines of a stagnant existence.
The request for the rage to live fully is emphasized, as the singer desires to break the cage-like bed where they play their last role. They yearn to keep running, with an insatiable passion and a pursuit of the dawn emerging from the depths of the night. The lyrics capture a sense of urgency, a need for a breath of life and a spark that originates from the core, striking the prairie like a buffalo pounding the ground.
The song also reflects on the birth of children, who, in their innocent desire for laughter and joy, demand a gentle yet potent strength. The singer implores the deity to break their shell, to puncture their essence, so they can pass on the sap of their own life to these children, who will ignite a blaze with their own unique potential.
Line by Line Meaning
Déesse de la force
Goddess of strength
Puissance de la vie
Power of life
Craque ma vieille écorce
Crack my old shell
Encore un printemps, dis !
Another spring, say!
Accorde moi la rage
Grant me the rage
De mériter la vie
To deserve life
Casse moi le lit cage
Break my cage bed
Où je joue l'ici gît
Where I play the here lies
Fais moi courir encore
Make me run again
Beaucoup, à la folie
A lot, madly
Courir après l'aurore
Run after the dawn
Du fin fond de la nuit
From the deep of the night
Oui, donne moi le souffle
Yes, give me the breath
L'étincelle jaillie
The erupted spark
Des cuisses comme un buffle
From the thighs like a buffalo
Martelant la prairie
Pounding the meadow
Tous ces enfants qui naissent
All these children who are born
Ils veulent que ça rie
They want it to laugh
Ils veulent la prouesse
They want greatness
De la joie qui surgit
Of the joy that emerges
Ils demandent une force
They demand a strength
Aussi douce qu'un fruit
As sweet as a fruit
Ah ! brise moi l'écorce
Ah! Break my shell
Crève ma sève, dis !
Burst my sap, say!
Que je donne à ces gosses
So I can give these kids
La sève de ma vie
The sap of my life
Et qu'avec mon écorce
And that with my shell
Ils fassent un incendie
They create a fire
Déesse de la force
Goddess of strength
Puissance de la vie
Power of life
Craque ma vieille écorce
Crack my old shell
Encore un printemps, dis !
Another spring, say!
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, LES EDITIONS DU CHIFFRE NEUF
Written by: Bunny BRUNEL, Claude NOUGARO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind