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).
Paris Mai
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
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Mai mai mai Paris
Le casque des pavés ne bouge plus d'un cil
La Seine de nouveau ruisselle d'eau bénite
Le vent a dispersé les cendres de Bendit
Et chacun est rentré chez son automobile.
J'ai retrouvé mon pas sur le glabre bitume
Et piochant l'évasion d'un rossignol titan
Capable d'assurer le Sacre du Printemps.
Ces temps ci, je l'avoue, j'ai la gorge un peu âcre
Le Sacre du Printemps sonne comme un massacre
Mais chaque jour qui vient embellira mon cri
Il se peut que je couve un Igor Stravinski
Mai mai mai Paris mai
Mai mai mai Paris
Et je te prends Paris dans mes bras pleins de zèle
Sur ma poitrine je presse tes pierreries
Je dépose l'aurore sur tes Tuileries
Comme rose sur le lit d'une demoiselle.
Je survole à midi tes six millions de types
Ta vie à ras le bol me file au ras des tripes
J'avale tes quartiers aux couleurs de pigeon,
Intelligence blanche et grise religion
Je repère en passant Hugo dans la Sorbonne
Et l'odeur d'eau de vie de la vieille bonbonne
Aux lisières du soir, mi manne, mi mendiant,
Je plonge vers un pont où penche un étudiant
Mai mai mai Paris mai
Mai mai mai Paris
Le jeune homme harassé déchirait ses cheveux
Le jeune homme hérissé arrachait sa chemise :
Camarade, ma peau est elle encore de mise
Et dedans mon cœur seul ne fait il pas vieux jeu ?
Avec ma belle amie quand nous dansons ensemble
Est ce nous qui dansons ou la terre qui tremble ?
Je ne veux plus cracher dans la gueule à papa
Je voudrais savoir si l'homme a raison ou pas
Si je dois endosser cette guérite étroite
Avec sa manche gauche, avec sa manche droite,
Ses pâles oraisons, ses hymnes cramoisis,
Sa passion du futur, sa chronique amnésie
Mai mai mai Paris mai
Mai mai mai Paris
C'est ainsi que parlait sans un mot ce jeune homme
Entre le fleuve ancien et le fleuve nouveau
Où les hommes noyés nagent dans leurs autos.
C'est ainsi, sans un mot, que parlait ce jeune homme.
Et moi, l'oiseau forcat, casseur d'amère croûte
Vers mon ciel du dedans j'ai replongé ma route,
Le long tunnel grondant sur le dos de ses murs,
Aspiré tout au bout par un goulot d'azur
Là bas brillent la paix, la rencontre des pôles
Et l'épée du printemps qui sacre notre épaule
Gazouillez les pinsons à soulever le jour
Et nous autres grincons, ponts-levis de l'amour
Mai mai mai Paris mai
Mai mai mai Paris
The lyrics of Claude Nougaro's song "Paris Mai" are a reflection on the city of Paris in the month of May. The first stanza sets the tone of the song with a reference to the Seine river flowing once again after the May 1968 protests that brought the city to a standstill. The imagery painted here serves as a metaphor for the city coming back to life after a period of unrest. Nougaro then goes on to describe walking through the city and feeling like a chained bird yearning for escape. He references the "Sacre du Printemps," or "Rite of Spring," a ballet by Igor Stravinsky known for its avant-garde music and controversial premiere in Paris. The lyrics suggest Nougaro's unease with the current state of affairs but his hope that things will improve in the future.
Line by Line Meaning
Le casque des pavés ne bouge plus d'un cil
The helmet of the cobblestones doesn't move a bit
La Seine de nouveau ruisselle d'eau bénite
The Seine once again flows with holy water
Le vent a dispersé les cendres de Bendit
The wind has scattered Bendit's ashes
Et chacun est rentré chez son automobile.
And everyone has gone back to their car.
J'ai retrouvé mon pas sur le glabre bitume
I've found my footing on the smooth pavement
Mon pas d'oiseau forcat enchainé à sa plume
My step like that of a jailed bird shackled to its quill
Et piochant l'évasion d'un rossignol titan
And drawing the escape of a titan nightingale
Capable d'assurer le Sacre du Printemps.
Capable of ensuring the Rite of Spring.
Ces temps ci, je l'avoue, j'ai la gorge un peu âcre
These days, I admit, I have a slightly sore throat
Le Sacre du Printemps sonne comme un massacre
The Rite of Spring sounds like a massacre
Mais chaque jour qui vient embellira mon cri
But each day that comes will embellish my cry
Il se peut que je couve un Igor Stravinski
I may be incubating an Igor Stravinski
Et je te prends Paris dans mes bras pleins de zèle
And I take Paris in my eager arms
Sur ma poitrine je presse tes pierreries
I press your jewels to my chest
Je dépose l'aurore sur tes Tuileries
I place the dawn on your Tuileries
Comme rose sur le lit d'une demoiselle.
Like a rose on a maiden's bed.
Je survole à midi tes six millions de types
I fly over your six million souls at noon
Ta vie à ras le bol me file au ras des tripes
Your overflowing life fills me to the core
J'avale tes quartiers aux couleurs de pigeon,
I swallow your districts in pigeon colors
Intelligence blanche et grise religion
White intelligence and gray religion
Je repère en passant Hugo dans la Sorbonne
I spot Hugo in the Sorbonne as I pass by
Et l'odeur d'eau de vie de la vieille bonbonne
And the smell of eau de vie from the old jug
Aux lisières du soir, mi manne, mi mendiant,
At the edges of the evening, a mix of beggar and prophet
Je plonge vers un pont où penche un étudiant
I dive towards a bridge where a student leans
Le jeune homme harassé déchirait ses cheveux
The exhausted young man was tearing his hair out
Le jeune homme hérissé arrachait sa chemise
The prickly young man was tearing off his shirt
Camarade, ma peau est elle encore de mise
Comrade, is my skin still relevant
Et dedans mon cœur seul ne fait il pas vieux jeu ?
And doesn't my heart alone make me old-fashioned?
Avec ma belle amie quand nous dansons ensemble
When my beautiful friend and I dance together
Est ce nous qui dansons ou la terre qui tremble ?
Are we the ones dancing, or is it the earth that trembles?
Je ne veux plus cracher dans la gueule à papa
I don't want to spit in Daddy's face anymore
Je voudrais savoir si l'homme a raison ou pas
I want to know if man is right or not
Si je dois endosser cette guérite étroite
If I have to take on this narrow box
Avec sa manche gauche, avec sa manche droite,
With its left sleeve, with its right sleeve
Ses pâles oraisons, ses hymnes cramoisis,
Its pale orisons, its crimson hymns
Sa passion du futur, sa chronique amnésie
Its passion for the future, its chronicle of amnesia.
C'est ainsi que parlait sans un mot ce jeune homme
This is how the young man spoke without a word
Entre le fleuve ancien et le fleuve nouveau
Between the ancient river and the new river
Où les hommes noyés nagent dans leurs autos.
Where drowned men swim in their cars.
Et moi, l'oiseau forcat, casseur d'amère croûte
And me, the jailed bird, breaker of bitter bread
Vers mon ciel du dedans j'ai replongé ma route,
Towards my inner sky I have plunged back into my path
Le long tunnel grondant sur le dos de ses murs,
The long tunnel rumbling on the back of its walls,
Aspiré tout au bout par un goulot d'azur
Drawn in at the very end by a throat of azure
Là bas brillent la paix, la rencontre des pôles
Over there shine peace, the meeting of the poles
Et l'épée du printemps qui sacre notre épaule
And the sword of spring that anoints our shoulder
Gazouillez les pinsons à soulever le jour
Chirp, finches, to lift the day
Et nous autres grincons, ponts-levis de l'amour
And we creaky ones, drawbridges of love
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, LES EDITIONS DU CHIFFRE NEUF
Written by: Eddy LOUISS, Claude NOUGARO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind