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).
Les Bas
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Compositeur: Yvan Cassar
Arrangement : Eric Chevalier
Editions: Miss Terre / Yvan Cassar
Les bas, les bas, où sont passés les bas
Les bas de femme, les si beaux bas de soie
Qui glissent, qui glissent sur une cuisse de neige
Où sont passés les bas noirs, les bas beiges
Où sont passés les bas
Les bas, les bas, si beaux
Qui glissent de bas en haut
Où sont passés les bas
Les transparentes peaux
Qui glissent de haut en bas
Moi le fin limier
J’ai eu beau les filer
Ils ont disparu.
Chez les vers à soie
Où j’ai enquêté
Motus et bouche cousue
Bouche bouche cousue
Les bas, les bas, où sont passés les bas
Les bas de femme, les deux serpents de soie
Où sont passés les bas
Les sublimes couleuvres
Qu’ aiment avaler les hommes
Où sont passés les bas
Les enivrants chefs-d’oeuvre
Les bas, bas au rhum
Je les ai cherchés
Dans les prisons dorées
Ils s’étaient faits la paire
Je les ai cherchés
À la maison d’arrêt
Des porte- jarretelles
Ils avaient fait la belle
Où sont passés les bas
À bas, à bas tout ce qui n’est pas un bas
On en a marre des hauts, on veut des bas
N’y a t’il plus une seule femme ici-bas
Qui agrafe ses bas à son slip de dentelles
Hélas, tous les collants se sont rués sur elles
Oh non, tout mais pas ça
Les bas, les bas, où sont passés les bas
Les bas de femme, les si beaux bas de soie
Où sont passés les bas
Les bas, le B-A BA
Des jambes féminines
Où sont passés les bas
Les bas qui coulent de soi
Sur des chevilles fines
Ces bas dévolus
À la chair de poule
Où est-ce qu’il se planquent
Ne servent il plus
Qu’à faire des cagoules
Aux braqueurs de banque
Braqueurs de banque
Oh non tout mais pas ça
Branle-bas de combat
Je réclame un débat
Où sont passés les bas
Branle-bas de combat
Où sont passés les bas.
Claude Nougaro's song Les Bas is a humorous yet sensual ode to women's stockings, which have apparently disappeared from the world. The song laments the loss of the "beautiful stockings of silk," "the black stockings, the beige stockings," as well as their seductive and alluring qualities. The singer searches everywhere for them, from the silk worm farms to the golden prisons to the pantyhose aisle of the department store, but to no avail. The disappearance of the stockings is treated as a loss of femininity and sensuality, and the song sits on the line between innocent nostalgia and sexual frustration.
Nougaro's use of euphemisms ("the two silk snakes," "the sublime vipers") and playful wordplay ("the Bs of feminine legs") make the song full of double entendres, and there is a certain seduction element to the whole thing. Is he singing about stockings, or is he really singing about something else? Like many great French songs, it's up to the listener to decide.
The song has become an iconic French classic, and its catchy chorus and infectious melody continue to charm listeners to this day.
Line by Line Meaning
Les bas, les bas, où sont passés les bas
Claude Nougaro is asking about the whereabouts of women's stockings.
Les bas de femme, les si beaux bas de soie
He misses the elegance and sensuality of women's silk stockings
Qui glissent, qui glissent sur une cuisse de neige
He remembers how they gently slid over the smoothness of a woman's thigh.
Où sont passés les bas noirs, les bas beiges
He wonders where black and beige stockings have gone.
Les bas, les bas, si beaux
He expresses how beautiful and attractive they were.
Qui glissent de bas en haut
He describes how they elegantly slid upwards on a woman's leg.
Où sont passés les bas
He continues his search for these stockings.
Les transparentes peaux
He misses the sheer, almost transparent look they had on women's legs.
Qui glissent de haut en bas
He remembers how they slid down from the hip to the ankle.
Moi le fin limier
He describes himself as a clever detective.
J’ai eu beau les filer
He tried to follow them without success.
Ils ont disparu
He could not find the stockings he was looking for.
Chez les vers à soie
He looked among the silk worms.
Où j’ai enquêté
He carried out his investigation.
Motus et bouche cousue
But nobody seemed willing to talk about the stockings.
Les bas de femme, les deux serpents de soie
He describes stockings like two silky snakes on a woman's leg.
Les sublimes couleuvres
He compares the stockings to magnificent snakes.
Qu’aiment avaler les hommes
He is empathizing how much men love them.
Les enivrants chefs-d’oeuvre
He sees them as intoxicating masterpieces.
Les bas, bas au rhum
He describes them as dark and strong, similar to a rum drink.
Je les ai cherchés
He admits to looking everywhere for them.
Dans les prisons dorées
He looked in the luxurious mansions.
Ils s’étaient faits la paire
But the stockings were already taken and gone together.
À la maison d’arrêt
He also checked the places where people are jailed.
Des porte- jarretelles
He found the garter belts, which hold the stockings up.
Ils avaient fait la belle
But the stockings had escaped and were nowhere to be found.
À bas, à bas tout ce qui n’est pas un bas
He calls for everything that is not a stocking to get out of the picture.
On en a marre des hauts, on veut des bas
He concludes that people are tired of other kinds of lingerie and just want stockings back.
N’y a t’il plus une seule femme ici-bas
He is wondering if there aren't any women left wearing stockings.
Qui agrafe ses bas à son slip de dentelles
He misses the way women clipped stockings to their lacy underwear.
Hélas, tous les collants se sont rués sur elles
Unfortunately, pantyhose had taken over.
Oh non, tout mais pas ça
He expresses his disgust with the fact that women now mostly wear pantyhose.
Les bas, le B-A BA
He wants to re-establish the importance of stockings as a basic item.
Des jambes féminines
He associates stockings with femininity.
Les bas qui coulent de soi
He likes the way stockings move by themselves.
Sur des chevilles fines
He finds them particularly attractive on slender ankles.
Ces bas dévolus
He considers stockings as being dedicated to a special use.
À la chair de poule
He loves the way stockings can give goosebumps.
Où est-ce qu’il se planquent
He's wondering where stockings are hiding.
Ne servent-il plus
He's questioning why stockings seem to be no longer popular.
Qu’à faire des cagoules
He's sarcastically saying that the only things stockings are good for are disguises.
Aux braqueurs de banque
He's saying that the only ones who need stockings now are bank robbers.
Branle-bas de combat
He's calling for change and action.
Je réclame un débat
He believes there needs to be a discussion about the importance of stockings.
Où sont passés les bas
He repeats his plea and search for stockings
Lyrics © Les Editions Miss Terre
Written by: Eric CHEVALIER, Claude NOUGARO, YVAN CASSAR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind