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).
Le chat
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
J'ai envie de donner ma langue au chat
Les souris, vous l'savez, je les chéris
Je les adore mais dès que j'avance là
Pat pat pat pat patatras
La dernière en date qui m'ait souri
Elle était rose comme la fleur du pecher
Miaou j'y ronronne un couplet bien troussé
Pat pat pat pat pas tricher
-Viens, c'est bath, sous ma patte
Ah! mais qu'est-ce que j'avais pas fait là!
Elle sort ses griffes:
-Ramène pas ta fraise raminagross'bit'
-Ramina quoi? Qu'est-ce que vous dit's
-J'ai dit: bas les pattes phallocat
Et là-dessus je la revois pas plus tard qu'hier
Avec un vieux matou-vu de gouttière
Pat pat pat patibulaire
Un escogriffe
Un trafiquant de poubelles
Et qui persifle
En se tapant les bluebells
Toutes les plus belles
Les voilà électrisées
Par ce mal rasé
Cet affreux minet
Commence à me miner
Devant mon pif
Il les allonge une à une
Ecorché vif
Je miaule sous la lune
J'en perds pas une
De leur charivari
Bande de pourris
Faites vos cochonneries
En catimini
Vach's j'en crache
Mes moustaches
Aussi si je vire un peu misogyne
Vous conviendrez que la chose s'explique
Elles me foutent les blues avec son blue jeans
J'en suis devenu un cat pathologique
Pat pat pat pat pathétique
Chaque fois que j'ai affaire aux souris
J'ai envie de donner ma langue au chat
Les souris, vous le savez, je les chéris
Je les adore mais dès que j'avance la
Pat pat pat pat patatras
Pat pat pat pat patatras
Pat pat pat pat patatras
In Claude Nougaro's song Le Chat, he engages in a playful exploration of the relationship between a cat and a mouse. The lyrics depict the cat's love for mice, but also his frustration when he fails to catch them. He sings that every time he encounters a mouse, he desires to give up and let the cat have it. Even though he adores them, once he makes a move, everything falls apart with a crash (Pat pat pat pat patatras).
In the second verse, he shares his latest mouse encounter, which was pink like a peach blossom flower. He tries to impress the mouse with his vocal talents (miaou j'y ronronne un couplet bien troussé), but it backfires when the mouse tells him to back off (ramène pas ta fraise raminagross'bit). This rejection leaves him feeling dejected, and he sees the same mouse hanging out with an old alley cat later on (pat pat pat patibulaire).
The lyrics continue with a description of the cat's feelings towards mice in general, including his disdain for the female mice in blue jeans. The song ends where it began, with the cat expressing his love for mice but his inability to catch them (pat pat pat pat patatras).
Overall, the song can be interpreted as a commentary on the futility of chasing after unattainable desires. Despite the cat's love for mice, he is constantly thwarted in his attempts to catch them. The playful tone and use of onomatopoeia add to the fun and lightheartedness of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Chaque fois que j'ai affaire aux souris
Whenever I have to deal with mice
J'ai envie de donner ma langue au chat
I feel like giving up and letting the cat handle it
Les souris, vous l'savez, je les chéris
You know I cherish mice
Je les adore mais dès que j'avance là
But as soon as I go after them
Pat pat pat pat patatras
It's a mess
La dernière en date qui m'ait souri
The latest one that smiled at me
Elle était rose comme la fleur du pecher
Was as pink as the peach flower
Aussi sec j'y vais de mon pot pourri
I grab my cologne right away
Miaou j'y ronronne un couplet bien troussé
I sing her a well-crafted song
Pat pat pat pat pas tricher
But it still ends badly
Viens, c'est bath, sous ma patte
Come here, it's nice, under my paw
Ah! mais qu'est-ce que j'avais pas fait là!
Oh! What did I do there!
Elle sort ses griffes:
She shows her claws:
-Ramène pas ta fraise raminagross'bit'
-Don't bring your face around here, rag-and-bone man
-Ramina quoi? Qu'est-ce que vous dit's
-What? What are you saying?
-J'ai dit: bas les pattes phallocat
-I said: hands off, sexist cat
Et là-dessus je la revois pas plus tard qu'hier
And I see her again yesterday
Avec un vieux matou-vu de gouttière
With an old alley cat
Pat pat pat patibulaire
It's ominous
Un escogriffe
A scoundrel
Un trafiquant de poubelles
A garbage trafficker
Et qui persifle
And who scoffs
En se tapant les bluebells
While he taps his bluebells
Toutes les plus belles
All the beauties
Les voilà électrisées
They're electrified by him
Par ce mal rasé
By this badly shaved guy
Cet affreux minet
This dreadful kitty
Commence à me miner
Starts to undermine me
Devant mon pif
Right in front of me
Il les allonge une à une
He gets them one by one
Ecorché vif
I'm skinned alive
Je miaule sous la lune
I meow under the moon
J'en perds pas une
I don't miss a thing
De leur charivari
From their racket
Bande de pourris
You rotten bunch
Faites vos cochonneries
Do your dirty deeds
En catimini
In secret
Vach's j'en crache
I spit out
Mes moustaches
My whiskers
Aussi si je vire un peu misogyne
So if I seem a little misogynistic
Vous conviendrez que la chose s'explique
You'll agree that it's understandable
Elles me foutent les blues avec son blue jeans
They give me the blues with their blue jeans
J'en suis devenu un cat pathologique
I've become a pathological cat
Pat pat pat pat pathétique
It's pathetic
Chaque fois que j'ai affaire aux souris
Whenever I have to deal with mice
J'ai envie de donner ma langue au chat
I feel like giving up and letting the cat handle it
Les souris, vous le savez, je les chéris
You know I cherish mice
Je les adore mais dès que j'avance la
But as soon as I go after them
Pat pat pat pat patatras
It's a mess
Pat pat pat pat patatras
It's a mess
Pat pat pat pat patatras
It's a mess
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Ward Rick, Schifrin Boris Claudio
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind