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).
Mon Disque D'Eté
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
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Par les rayons gris de la mélancolie
Mon disque pleure sur sa dernière heure envolée
Mon disque d'été est déjà voilé
Sa mer est noire sur ses plages de pluie
On ne peut être l'été après avoir été
Gale et son tour de chant
Vient le temps de la fourmi parci
Monieuse au ton tranchant
- Vous chantiez, j'en suis fort aise
Eh bien dansez maintenant
Mon disque d'été s'est mis à dater
Ses amoureux bronzés se sont rembrunis
Spire après spire son orchestre est à l'agonie
Mon disque d'été est déjà rayé
Des listes bleues des hit paradis
Et Barclay Eddie n'en touchera plus un radis
C'est ainsi que meurt la ci
Gale et son tour de chant
Vient le temps de la fourmi parci
Monieuse au ton tranchant
- Vous chantiez, j'en suis fort aise
Eh bien dansez maintenant
Mon disque d'été est déjà fané
J'ai ramassé ses cendres de papillon
Et mon sang impur abreuve ses sillons
C'était mon disque d'été...
The lyrics of Claude Nougaro's song "Mon Disque D'Eté" portray a melancholic sentiment of fleeting summer memories. The singer starts by stating that his summer record is already scratched, ruined by the gloomy grey rays of melancholy. As the song progresses, he talks about how his once bright and sunny record has become veiled and the sea in it is now dark, with its beaches experiencing rainfall. He mourns the fact that once you have lived through the summer, it becomes impossible to relive it.
The song then takes a darker turn as the singer talks about the end of a tour of a famous artist, and how now is the time of the ant, who is harsh and sharp-tongued. He then quotes a famous line from Jean de La Fontaine's "The Grasshopper and the Ant," which reads, "you sang, and I am pleased about it, well now dance." Symbolically, this quote can be interpreted in two ways - either as a reminder to enjoy the moment while it lasts and dance to the music, or as a taunt towards the singer and his record, implying that after all the singing is done, it's time to face reality and dance to the tune of it.
Towards the end of the song, the singer talks about how his summer record is now dated and forgotten. He refers to the bronze lovers who once adorned the beaches and how they have now lost their tan. The singer's once-sunny record now lies forgotten with its orchestra on its deathbed. The song concludes with the singer talking about how he has collected the ashes of the record and how his impure blood irrigates the furrows of it. A mourning sentiment of how things have come to an end, he finishes the song with the line "it was my summer record."
Line by Line Meaning
Mon disque d'été est déjà rayé
My summer record is already scratched
Par les rayons gris de la mélancolie
By the gray rays of melancholy
Mon disque pleure sur sa dernière heure envolée
My record cries for its last disappeared hour
Mon disque d'été est déjà voilé
My summer record is already hazy
Sa mer est noire sur ses plages de pluie
Its sea is black on its rainy beaches
On ne peut être l'été après avoir été
One cannot be summer after having been
C'est ainsi que meurt la ci
This is how the cicada dies
Gale et son tour de chant
Gale and her singing show
Vient le temps de la fourmi parci
The time of the ant comes
Monieuse au ton tranchant
Ant with sharp tone
- Vous chantiez, j'en suis fort aise
- You were singing, I am quite happy about it
Eh bien dansez maintenant
Well, now dance
Mon disque d'été s'est mis à dater
My summer record has started to show its age
Ses amoureux bronzés se sont rembrunis
Its tanned lovers have now tanned less
Spire après spire son orchestre est à l'agonie
Spiral after spiral, its orchestra is dying
Des listes bleues des hit paradis
From blue lists of hit paradises
Et Barclay Eddie n'en touchera plus un radis
And Barclay Eddie won't make a penny from it anymore
Mon disque d'été est déjà fané
My summer record is already faded
J'ai ramassé ses cendres de papillon
I have gathered its butterfly ashes
Et mon sang impur abreuve ses sillons
And my impure blood waters its furrows
C'était mon disque d'été...
It was my summer record...
Lyrics © LES EDITIONS DU CHIFFRE NEUF
Written by: Quincy JONES, Claude NOUGARO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@clementpiacentino5271
Merci Monsieur Nougaro .