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 petits pavés
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
J'ai lancé deux petits pavés
Sur tes carreaux que j'ai crevés
Mais tu ne m'es pas apparue
Tu te moques de tout je crois {x2}
Demain je t'en lancerai trois
Par devant ta porte cochère
Trois et quatre pavés j'ai mis
J'exècre tes amis ma chère
Demain je recommencerai {x2}
Et tes amis je les tuerai
Si tu ne changes pas d'allure
J'écraserai tes yeux ton front
Entre deux pavés qui feront
A ton crâne quelques fêlures
Je t'aime t'aime bien pourtant {x2}
Mais tu m'en as fait tant et tant
Les gendarmes en cavalcade
Me poursuivront après ce coup
Pour m'attacher la corde au cou
Je me bâtis ma barricade
Et sur les pavés je mettrai {x2}
Mon cœur durci par le regret
Autant de pavés par le monde
De grands et de petits pavés
Que de chagrin-ins encavés
Dans ma pauvre âme vagabonde
Je meurs je meurs de tout cela {x2}
Et ma chanson s'arrête là.
The song Les petits pavés by Claude Nougaro is about an unrequited love where the singer has been waiting for the person he loves in the street. The word 'pavés' refers to paving stones or cobblestones, and in this song, they symbolize the singer's frustration, anger, and sadness. He starts by throwing two small paving stones at the window of the person he loves but doesn't appear. He feels that she doesn't care about him and plans to throw more stones the next day. He then goes on to say that he will throw more stones to impress her, even if it means killing her friends who are with her.
The singer's obsession is revealed when he says that he will hurt her physically if she doesn't change her mind, even though he still loves her. He is prepared to face the consequences of his destructive behavior and build a barricade to protect himself from the police, but his heart is broken, and his regret is palpable. The song ends on a tragic note with the singer expressing his pain and hopelessness while surrounded by the cobblestones, a symbol of his suffering.
Line by Line Meaning
Las de t'attendre dans la rue
Tired of waiting for you in the street
J'ai lancé deux petits pavés
I threw two small stones
Sur tes carreaux que j'ai crevés
That broke your tiles
Mais tu ne m'es pas apparue
But you didn't appear to me
Tu te moques de tout je crois {x2}
You seem to mock everything
Demain je t'en lancerai trois
Tomorrow I will throw three more
Par devant ta porte cochère
In front of your carriage door
Pour faire tomber tes amis
To make your friends fall
Trois et quatre pavés j'ai mis
I put three or four stones
J'exècre tes amis ma chère
I hate your friends, my dear
Demain je recommencerai {x2}
Tomorrow I will do it again
Et tes amis je les tuerai
And I will kill your friends
Si tu ne changes pas d'allure
If you don't change your behavior
J'écraserai tes yeux ton front
I will crush your eyes and forehead
Entre deux pavés qui feront
Between two stones that will
A ton crâne quelques fêlures
Give some cracks to your skull
Je t'aime t'aime bien pourtant {x2}
I love you, love you, however
Mais tu m'en as fait tant et tant
But you have done so much to me
Les gendarmes en cavalcade
The police on horseback
Me poursuivront après ce coup
Will chase me after this attack
Pour m'attacher la corde au cou
To put a rope around my neck
Je me bâtis ma barricade
I build my barricade
Et sur les pavés je mettrai {x2}
And on the stones I will place
Mon cœur durci par le regret
My heart hardened by regret
Autant de pavés par le monde
As many stones in the world
De grands et de petits pavés
Big ones and small ones
Que de chagrin-ins encavés
As many hidden sorrows
Dans ma pauvre âme vagabonde
In my poor wandering soul
Je meurs je meurs de tout cela {x2}
I'm dying, I'm dying from all of this
Et ma chanson s'arrête là.
And my song ends here.
Contributed by Daniel B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Marchandeser MF
Superbe interprétation de `claude sur cette chanson ,je l'avais trouvé sur un site spécial musique Brésilienne , à ma grande surprise, et quelle joie de l'entendre , merveilleux Claude Nougaro .
patricia hours
de l'album récréation où Claude avait repris plusieurs chansons d'artistes français
Jean-Marc Dermesropian
Génial comme c'est toujours le cas avec Claude Nougaro.
J'ai eu le plaisir de le voir deux fois chanter en public à Marseille cette magnifique chanson qui date de 1891 et qui est signée Paul Delmet.
A la guitare Ricardo et aux percussions Teca.
Dominique Bernard
@rémi Le beau-père de Cora, auteur des paroles. Elle l'a d'ailleurs chantée :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCC9uG788F0
rémi
P DELMET et Maurice VAUCAIRE
Syrena Dumont
Et le coupeur de citron...?
Jean-Marc Dermesropian
A la contrebasse Luigi Trussardi.
jean michel achiary
+Jean-Marc Dermesropian
A la batterie Lolo bellonzi ! A la contrebasse je ne sais pas..
Bernard Carrier
Oui vraiment excellent, un grand monsieur.
PYD Productions
Très belle version Bientôt une nouvelle version sur la chaîne Youtube Salis and Cats editions réservée à Paul Delmet,l'auteur de cette chanson