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).
La Mutation
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sous un ciel plein de satellites
J'aurai des cheveux en queue de cheval
Tu me prendras dans tes bras cerclés de métal
Tu seras l'homme et moi la femme
Ce s'ra la mutation
Tu m'embrasseras longuement, petite
Tu me diras "Viens, j'ai envie de toi"
Je te répondrai "Je ne suis pas celui que tu crois"
Tu seras l'homme et moi la femme
Ce s'ra la mutation
Je me dégagerai de tes bras, petite
Sous le ciel plein de satellites
J' remettrai en place ma queue de cheval
Et le drapé de ma tunique virginale
Tu seras l'homme et moi la femme
Ce s'ra la mutation
Alors tu me baratineras
Quelle joie !
Tu me conteras fleurette
Quelle fête !
Tu me feras des déclarations passionnées
Quel pied !
Je te connaîtrai une nuit, petite
Sous un ciel plein de satellites
J'aurai des cheveux en queue de cheval
Tu me reprendras dans tes bras cerclés de métal
Tu seras l'homme et moi la femme
Ce s'ra la mutation
Et tu arriveras à tes fins, petites
Sous le ciel plein de satellites
Tu dénoueras ma queue de cheval
Le drapé de ma tunique virginale
Et tu me feras un enfant, petite
Sous le ciel plein de satellites
Et neuf mois après tu m'abandonneras
En me laissant notre fils sur les bras
Et je dirai à notre fils, petite
Sous le ciel plein de satellites
"Mon pauvre enfant, elles nous ont eus
Mais dans cent mille ans et s'il le faut un peu plus
Viendra, patience
Notre revanche
Ce s'ra la mutation"
The lyrics to Claude Nougaro's song La Mutation tell a story of a woman who is pursued by a man and ultimately gives in to his advances. The setting is futuristic, under a sky full of satellites, and the language used throughout the song is rich in metaphor and allegory. The man and woman are described as undergoing a "mutation," a transformation from their current selves into something new and different.
The first stanza describes the initial encounter between the man and woman, with the woman having "hair in a ponytail" and the man holding her with "metal cuffs." The second stanza describes the man's advances and the woman's reluctance, with her responding "I am not who you think I am." The third stanza sees the woman pushing the man away, and the fourth stanza depicts a scene where the man sweet-talks her into giving him another chance.
The final stanza takes a shocking turn, as the man impregnates the woman and then abandons her and their child. The woman vows to seek revenge, with the power of time and evolution on her side. The overarching theme of the song seems to be the inevitability of change and the unending cycle of growth and transformation.
Line by Line Meaning
Je te connaîtrai une nuit, petite
I will know you for one night, my dear
Sous un ciel plein de satellites
Under a sky full of satellites
J'aurai des cheveux en queue de cheval
I will have long hair pulled into a ponytail
Tu me prendras dans tes bras cerclés de métal
You will hold me in your arms encircled with metal
Tu seras l'homme et moi la femme
You will be the man, and I will be the woman
Ce s'ra la mutation
This will be the transformation
Tu m'embrasseras longuement, petite
You will kiss me for a long time, my dear
Sous le ciel plein de satellites
Under a sky full of satellites
Tu me diras "Viens, j'ai envie de toi"
You will say "Come, I want you"
Je te répondrai "Je ne suis pas celui que tu crois"
I will reply, "I am not who you think I am"
Je me dégagerai de tes bras, petite
I will release myself from your arms, my dear
Sous le ciel plein de satellites
Under a sky full of satellites
J' remettrai en place ma queue de cheval
I will adjust my ponytail
Et le drapé de ma tunique virginale
And my draped virgin tunic
Alors tu me baratineras
Then you will try to persuade me
Quelle joie !
What a joy!
Tu me conteras fleurette
You will sweet-talk me
Quelle fête !
What a celebration!
Tu me feras des déclarations passionnées
You will make passionate declarations to me
Quel pied !
What a thrill!
Et tu arriveras à tes fins, petites
And you will get what you want, my dear
Sous le ciel plein de satellites
Under a sky full of satellites
Tu dénoueras ma queue de cheval
You will undo my ponytail
Le drapé de ma tunique virginale
And my draped virgin tunic
Et tu me feras un enfant, petite
And you will make a child with me, my dear
Sous le ciel plein de satellites
Under a sky full of satellites
Et neuf mois après tu m'abandonneras
And nine months later, you will abandon me
En me laissant notre fils sur les bras
Leaving our son in my arms
Et je dirai à notre fils, petite
And I will tell our son, my dear
Sous le ciel plein de satellites
Under a sky full of satellites
"Mon pauvre enfant, elles nous ont eus
"My poor child, they got the best of us
Mais dans cent mille ans et s'il le faut un peu plus
But in a hundred thousand years, if it takes a little longer
Viendra, patience
Our revenge will come, be patient
Ce s'ra la mutation"
It will be the transformation
Contributed by Levi A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
fleur bleu message
j aime encore fabienne meme ci elles a re fait ca vie elles reste dans mon coeur quoi qui arrive
gluups
@princessbobo910 Merci princess...
fleur bleu d amour
les parole son vent les parole reste
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pour mon amour
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j aurais du etre une femme pour mon histoire
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pour toi