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).
Homme
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
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Enfoncer le clou
Dans le cœur d'une paume
Puisqu'il te faut
Le tout pour le tout
Déchainer l'atome
Comme un coup de vent
Comme un coup de gomme
Homme
Alors qu'est ce que t'attends ?
Te faut il tant de temps
Pour cesser d'etre un homme
Tournera t il toujours en grincant
Ce plateau de manège
Pour que revienne la saison du sang
Comme vient la neige
Et revoir encore
Mon visage d'homme
D'homme
D'homme
Avec ou sans remords
Qui fabrique la mort
Comme la vie, les hommes
Mais toi la femme
À la bouche en chœur
En chœur d'anges célestes
Mais toi ma femme
Mon aspirateur
Tu dis :Moi je reste
Dans mon dénuement
Où tournoient des pommes
Homme
Homme
Entre ! Qu'est ce que t'attends !
The lyrics of Claude Nougaro's song "Homme" reflect on the complexities and contradictions of human nature. The song begins by addressing someone who seems determined to deepen a wound in the heart, to take risks and unleash destruction. The repetition of the word "homme" emphasizes the focus on masculinity and the expectations society places on men. The singer questions why it takes so long for this person to stop being just a man and suggests that they have the power to choose a different path.
The second verse describes a revolving carousel, symbolizing the repetitive and seemingly never-ending cycle of violence and bloodshed. The reference to the return of the season of blood like the arrival of snow suggests that violence is a recurring pattern in humanity. The singer expresses a desire to see his own face as a man, with or without remorse, acknowledging that both life and death are created by humans themselves.
Line by Line Meaning
Puisqu'il te faut
Since you must
Enfoncer le clou
Drive the nail
Dans le cœur d'une paume
Into the heart of a palm
Puisqu'il te faut
Since you must
Le tout pour le tout
Everything for everything
Déchainer l'atome
Unleash the atom
Comme un coup de vent
Like a gust of wind
Comme un coup de gomme
Like an eraser stroke
Homme
Man
Homme
Man
Alors qu'est ce que t'attends ?
So what are you waiting for?
Te faut il tant de temps
Do you need so much time
Pour cesser d'etre un homme
To stop being a man
Tournera t il toujours en grincant
Will it always turn with a creak
Ce plateau de manège
This carousel platform
Pour que revienne la saison du sang
So that the season of blood returns
Comme vient la neige
Like snowfall comes
Et revoir encore
And see again
Mon visage d'homme
My man's face
D'homme
Of man
D'homme
Of man
Avec ou sans remords
With or without remorse
Qui fabrique la mort
Who manufactures death
Comme la vie, les hommes
Like life, men
Mais toi la femme
But you, woman
À la bouche en chœur
With a mouth in unison
En chœur d'anges célestes
In chorus of celestial angels
Mais toi ma femme
But you, my woman
Mon aspirateur
My vacuum cleaner
Tu dis :Moi je reste
You say: I stay
Dans mon dénuement
In my destitution
Où tournoient des pommes
Where apples twirl
Homme
Man
Homme
Man
Entre ! Qu'est ce que t'attends !
Come in! What are you waiting for?
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, LES EDITIONS DU CHIFFRE NEUF
Written by: Eddy Louiss, Claude Nougaro
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind