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).
Soeur Ame
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Amante religieuse
Je suis un noceur
Sois-moi miséricordieuse
Emousse mes noirceurs
Au bain de ta voix
Fais-moi prendre l'ascenseur
Ne me descends qu'au dernier étage des étoiles
Là où les murs sont mûrs pour hisser les voiles
Nous y vivrons tous deux
Ambrés de douceur
Sous la main de Dieu
Comme sous la main d'un masseur
Nous y vivrons tous deux
Scintillant de douceur
Sous la main de Dieu
Comme sous la main d'un masseur
Ma sœur âme
Ma sœur
The lyrics to Claude Nougaro's song "Soeur Ame" speak of a plea to a religious lover, a "sister soul." The singer admits to being a libertine or a "noceur" and asks for mercy and forgiveness from his virtuous counterpart. He asks her to dull his wickedness through the power of her voice, to lift him up one final time in the ascensor, or elevator, before bringing him back down to earth. However, he asks her to only bring him down to the last level of the stars, where the walls are ready to raise the sails, indicating that he wants to reach the peak of his desires before coming back down to reality.
The song evokes a sense of longing, of wanting to be cleansed and renewed by the pure, spiritual love of his sister soul. The imagery used creates a dichotomy between the singer's earthly desires and the sister soul's heavenly virtues. The final stanza speaks of a shared life of sweetness under the hand of God, or perhaps under the hand of a masseur, suggesting a need for touch and connection.
Overall, "Soeur Ame" is a complex meditation on the dichotomy between sensual pleasure and spiritual purity, using the metaphor of a religious lover as a means to explore these themes.
Line by Line Meaning
Ma sœur âme, ma sœur
Dear companion of my soul, my sister
Amante religieuse
Devotee to your faith
Je suis un noceur
I am a lover of the pleasures of life
Sois-moi miséricordieuse
Be merciful to me
Emousse mes noirceurs
Blunt my dark edges
Au bain de ta voix
In the bath of your voice
Fais-moi prendre l'ascenseur
Make me take the elevator
Une ultime fois
One last time
Ne me descends qu'au dernier étage des étoiles
Only take me down to the last floor of the stars
Là où les murs sont mûrs pour hisser les voiles
Where the walls are strong enough to hoist the sails
Nous y vivrons tous deux
We will live there together
Ambrés de douceur
Ambered with sweetness
Sous la main de Dieu
Under the hand of God
Comme sous la main d'un masseur
Like under the hand of a masseur
Nous y vivrons tous deux
We will live there together
Scintillant de douceur
Sparkling with sweetness
Sous la main de Dieu
Under the hand of God
Comme sous la main d'un masseur
Like under the hand of a masseur
Ma sœur âme
Dear companion of my soul, my sister
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Nougaro Claude, Hampton Locksley Welli Ngton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind