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).
Un Ete
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Où je venais d'atteindre mes quatorze ans
J'avais donné rendez-vous à une enfant
Une petite Espagnole du quartier
Un été
Par la fenêtre ouverte de la villa
Je guettais l'arrivée de ma Paquita
Et puis quand à la grille du jardinet
Je me suis soudain jeté à plat ventre
La joue clouée au plancher de ma chambre
Tremblant, roulant des yeux épouvantés
Oh non, non
J'entendis ma grand-mère crier mon nom
Et j'attendis dans une terreur sans nom
Qu'on me mît en présence de l'été
Et l'été
L'était là, debout, au milieu de ma chambre
Sous la jupette jaune brunissait l'or des jambes
Et le blanc de ses yeux brillait comme du lait
Il fait chaud cet été
L'été était muet, alors on est sortis
Et nous avons marché sur la route rôtie
Brûlants comme des rails, parallèles, on allait
Un été
Nous marchions côte à côte, sans nous parler
Les maisons avaient fermé tous leurs volets
Et parfois l'un de nos doigts se frôlait
Un été
Mes tempes battaient dans le ciel d'incendie
Et je me disais: "Qu'est-ce que je lui dis?"
Je ne trouvais rien qu'à me trouver mal
Et quand nous fûmes au canal
Devant le pont où passe une eau malade
J'ai touché la main à ma camarade
Et lui tournant le dos, j'ai galopé
Galopé
Loin de la jupe jaune et du visage d'ambre
J'ai couru comme un forcené vers ma chambre
Le cœur craquant des cendres de l'été
The lyrics of Claude Nougaro's "Un Été" tell the story of a boy's crush on a Spanish girl named Paquita during the summer when he turned fourteen. He arranged to meet her but was overwhelmed by nerves when he heard the doorbell. He panicked and lay face-down on his bedroom floor until his grandmother interrupted and brought him to meet the summer in person. The lyrics describe summer as a mute figure with the golden legs peeking out from its yellow skirt and its eyes shining like milk. They then walk on a hot road without talking, occasionally grazing fingers as they go. The singer, unsure of what to do, escapes from the situation and runs back home, pondering the cinders of the summer that had left him with a broken heart.
The song's rather simple narration creates a vivid scene of the adolescent protagonist's inner romantic turmoil. The lyrics describe his nervousness and the magical but also overwhelming feeling of attraction towards Paquita. He is afraid of what might happen next between them and runs away, displaying the vulnerability of a young boy in his first encounter with love. The description of summer as a mute character personifies the season as an entity that is present but indifferent to his feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
Un été
A summer
Où je venais d'atteindre mes quatorze ans
Where I had just turned fourteen
J'avais donné rendez-vous à une enfant
I had made a date with a girl
Une petite Espagnole du quartier
A little Spanish girl from the neighborhood
Par la fenêtre ouverte de la villa
Through the open window of the villa
Je guettais l'arrivée de ma Paquita
I was waiting for my Paquita to arrive
Et puis quand à la grille du jardinet
And then when at the gate of the garden
La cloche a carillonné
The bell rang
Je me suis soudain jeté à plat ventre
I suddenly threw myself flat on my stomach
La joue clouée au plancher de ma chambre
Cheek nailed to the floor of my room
Tremblant, roulant des yeux épouvantés
Trembling, rolling my terrified eyes
Oh non, non
Oh no, no
J'entendis ma grand-mère crier mon nom
I heard my grandmother calling my name
Et j'attendis dans une terreur sans nom
And I waited in a nameless terror
Qu'on me mît en présence de l'été
To be introduced to the summer
Et l'été
And the summer
L'était là, debout, au milieu de ma chambre
Was there, standing in the middle of my room
Sous la jupette jaune brunissait l'or des jambes
The gold of her legs was browning under the yellow skirt
Et le blanc de ses yeux brillait comme du lait
And the white of her eyes shone like milk
Il fait chaud cet été
It's hot this summer
L'été était muet, alors on est sortis
The summer was silent, so we went out
Et nous avons marché sur la route rôtie
And we walked on the roasted road
Brûlants comme des rails, parallèles, on allait
Burning like parallel rails, we went
Nous marchions côte à côte, sans nous parler
We walked side by side, not talking
Les maisons avaient fermé tous leurs volets
The houses had closed all their shutters
Et parfois l'un de nos doigts se frôlait
And sometimes our fingers would touch
Mes tempes battaient dans le ciel d'incendie
My temples were beating in the fiery sky
Et je me disais: "Qu'est-ce que je lui dis?"
And I said to myself: "What do I say to her?"
Je ne trouvais rien qu'à me trouver mal
I couldn't find anything but feeling bad
Et quand nous fûmes au canal
And when we got to the canal
Devant le pont où passe une eau malade
In front of the bridge where sick water flows
J'ai touché la main à ma camarade
I touched my friend's hand
Et lui tournant le dos, j'ai galopé
And turning my back to her, I ran
Loin de la jupe jaune et du visage d'ambre
Far from the yellow skirt and amber face
J'ai couru comme un forcené vers ma chambre
I ran like a madman to my room
Le cœur craquant des cendres de l'été
My heart cracking with the ashes of summer
Lyrics © DistroKid, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Bruno Martino, Bruno Brighetti
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind