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).
Facon Chaplin
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Les Temps Modernes
Charlie Chaplin
Avec la p'tite Paulette Goddard
Main dans la main
Ils se barrent
Le vagabond, sa vagabonde
Et moi qui n'ai pas de badine
De chapeau m'lon
Façon Chaplin
J'aimerais partir avec toi
Du premier pas
À l'ultime
Moi vagabond, toi vagabonde
Notre amour pour conquérir le monde
Avec toi j'aimerais bien partir comme eux
Lui dans ses croquenots, elle avec sa robe bleue
Car l'on verrait la vie en rose
Même dans un film en noir et blanc
"Allez ma Paulette"
"Fais-moi ta risette"
Et les voilà partis contents
Le p'tit homme et la p'tite femme
S'éloignant dans le soleil couchant
C'est la dernière image du film
Les Temps Modernes
C'est la dernière image du film
Les Temps Modernes
Charlie Chaplin
Avec la p'tite Paulette Goddard
Main dans la main
Ils se barrent
Le vagabond, sa vagabonde
Leur amour pour conquérir le monde
Le vagabond, sa vagabonde
Leur amour pour conquérir le monde
In Claude Nougaro's song Facon Chaplin, the lyrics describe the final scene of Charlie Chaplin's film Les Temps Modernes. The scene depicts Chaplin and Paulette Goddard, holding hands and walking away into the sunset. The singer longs to be like them, to leave everything behind and roam the world with their loved one. The lyrics refer to Chaplin's iconic character, with the “chapeau melon” (bowler hat) and the cane, clearly identifying with the sentiment of wanderlust and the desire for a simple life.
The singer imagines himself and his lover in the shoes of Chaplin and Goddard, walking away from their troubled lives, with just each other for comfort. The image of Chaplin and Goddard walking away, hand in hand, represents hope and the possibility of a better future. The line "C'est la dernière image du film" (It's the final image of the film) suggests that this image will remain with the singer and inspire him to pursue his own dreams.
Line by Line Meaning
C'est la dernière image du film
This is the final scene of the movie
Les Temps Modernes
The Modern Times movie
Charlie Chaplin
Featuring Charlie Chaplin
Avec la p'tite Paulette Goddard
With the little Paulette Goddard
Main dans la main
Hand in hand
Ils se barrent
They run away
Le vagabond, sa vagabonde
The tramp, his vagabond
Leur amour pour conquérir le monde
Their love to conquer the world
Et moi qui n'ai pas de badine
And me who does not have a cane
De chapeau m'lon
Of hat and cane
Façon Chaplin
In Charlie Chaplin style
J'aimerais partir avec toi
I would like to leave with you
Du premier pas
From the first step
À l'ultime
To the ultimate
Moi vagabond, toi vagabonde
Me, the tramp, you, the vagabond
Notre amour pour conquérir le monde
Our love to conquer the world
Avec toi j'aimerais bien partir comme eux
I would like to leave with you like them
Lui dans ses croquenots, elle avec sa robe bleue
Him in his boots, she with her blue dress
Car l'on verrait la vie en rose
Because we would see life through rose-colored glasses
Même dans un film en noir et blanc
Even in a black and white movie
"Allez ma Paulette"
"Let's go my Paulette"
"Fais-moi ta risette"
"Give me your smile"
Et les voilà partis contents
And there they go, happy
Le p'tit homme et la p'tite femme
The little man and the little woman
S'éloignant dans le soleil couchant
Walking away into the setting sun
Le vagabond, sa vagabonde
The tramp, his vagabond
Leur amour pour conquérir le monde
Their love to conquer the world
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, LES EDITIONS DU CHIFFRE NEUF
Written by: Jean-Claude Vannier, Claude Nougaro
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
richard Ammar
Qu'elle classe !
Ismael M
Déjà 20 ans.
Agnès Roure
Oui, ça ne nous rajeunit pas... :-)