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).

La Vie En Noir
Claude Nougaro Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Y en a qui voient la vie en rose
Moi y en a voir la vie en noir
Est-ce le monde, une overdose
D'horreurs diverses, de désespoirs ?
Ou bien les fêtes d'une névrose
Dès le départ, va-t'en savoir ...
Y en a qui voient la vie en rose
Moi y en a voir la vie en noir.

Y en a qui nagent dans l'eau de rose
Chacun sa bulle dans l'aquarium
Chacun de nous cherche sa cause
Sa religion, son opium
J'ai cherché des métamorphoses,
Des alambics trop biscornus
Je voulais voir la vie en rose
Et c'est en noir que je l'ai vue.

J'appartiens aux inguérissables
Aux affamés d'un abreuvoir
Où parmi les dunes de sable
On boit l'étoile jusqu'à plus soif
Le noir ça va bien aux étoiles
Les araignées de l'Éternel
Y en a qui voit la vie en rose
Moi c'est en noir, au septième ciel.

Le noir ça va bien aux étoiles
Les araignées de l'Éternel

Y en a qui voit la vie en rose
Moi c'est en noir, au septième ciel.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Claude Nougaro's song La Vie En Noir talk about the contrast between two perspectives on life - one that sees life in a positive light, and the other that sees life in a negative light. The first stanza talks about how some people see life in rose-tinted glasses while the singer of the song sees life in black. The singer is unsure if this perspective is due to the world being filled with various horrors and despairs, or if it's due to their own mental health problems. The second stanza compares the optimistic worldview of some people to life inside an aquarium with each person in their own bubble. The singer talks about their own struggles with trying to change their perspective by seeking out different experiences but only managing to see life in black.

There is a sense of melancholy and despair in the lyrics of the song. The singer is searching for something more in life but can't seem to find it. This is especially highlighted in the last stanza where the singer finds some solace in the darkness of the night sky and the eternally spinning webs of the spiders. Even though the singer sees life in black, they still find beauty in this darkness.

Overall, Claude Nougaro's La Vie En Noir is a song about the complexity of human emotions and how our perceptions of life can differ from person to person.

Line by Line Meaning

Y en a qui voient la vie en rose
Some people see life in a positive way

Moi y en a voir la vie en noir
I see life in a negative way

Est-ce le monde, une overdose
Is the world too much for me to handle?

D'horreurs diverses, de désespoirs ?
Full of different kinds of horrors and despair?

Ou bien les fêtes d'une névrose
Perhaps it's the celebration of a mental illness

Dès le départ, va-t'en savoir ...
Who knows from the beginning?

Y en a qui nagent dans l'eau de rose
Some people live in a world of pure bliss

Chacun sa bulle dans l'aquarium
Each person in their own bubble

Chacun de nous cherche sa cause
Everyone searches for their purpose

Sa religion, son opium
Religion, their escape

J'ai cherché des métamorphoses
I searched for transformation