Claude Nougaro (September 9, 1929 Toulouse – March 4, 2004 Paris) was a Fre… Read Full Bio ↴Claude Nougaro (September 9, 1929 Toulouse – March 4, 2004 Paris) was a French songwriter and singer.

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).

Harlem
Claude Nougaro Lyrics

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Sois sage ô ma terreur et tiens toi plus tranquille
Je crains que ma blancheur détonne dans la ville

Chanter dans l'noir pour ne pas avoir peur
Cruel dilemme pour un homme de couleur
Dans tes rues, Harlem, j'entends des sirènes de police
Je préfère tes sirènes, celles qui ont la peau lisse
Harlem, Harlem, j'ai peur

J'ai peur Harlem au milieu de ta nuit
Je sens l'haleine d'un couteau qui me suit
Quand je me retourne
Des millions d'étoiles devant moi
Ruissellent sur tes toits de neiges et de suies
Harlem chéri
Toi la crèche où le petit crépu est né
Toi la dèche mille fois surmontée
Par un swing de velours dans un tempo d'acier
Harlem pacifié, pas trop s'y fier

Tiens, v'là Mingus, j'croyais qu'il était mort
L'olibrius a toujours du ressort
Devant moi il passe
À moitié radeau de la Rascasse, à moitié porte avions
Hérissé de rayons, cactus Mingus
Un vent glacial fait du base ball avec un journal
Un génie crève, mais voici le plus beau :
Le tambour de son cœur fait craquer son tombeau
J'ai froid, j'ai chaud, Harlem

Chanter dans l'noir pour ne pas avoir peur
Unique espoir pour un homme de couleur
Soudain le miracle
Alors que je n'ai bu que de l'eau
J'aperçois Apollon qui sort de l'Apollo
Harlem
De neige

Et d'suie
Harlem j'te suis

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Claude Nougaro's song, Harlem, speak about a man who is scared to be in Harlem at night. He feels like he sticks out like a sore thumb because of his whiteness, and is embarrassed of it. To combat his fear, he starts singing in the dark to calm himself down. However, it is a cruel dilemma as a man of color because his fear is based on the fear of being racially profiled by the police. He hears the police sirens, but prefers the smooth sirens of Harlem. He then tells the story of running into Mingus, who he thought was dead, but is now merely half man half vessel, playing music so beautiful it breaks his own heart.

The song depicts the juxtaposition between the fear of violence and discrimination a man of color may feel in Harlem at night, and the beauty of the music and culture that has been born there. The singer seems to be in awe of the place and the people that inhabit it. The song is also about the power of music and how it can be a source of comfort and salvation in times of turmoil.

HarlemClaude Nougaro Lyrics

Harlem
Claude Nougaro Lyrics