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).
Vie Violence
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Les deux se balancent paradis enfer
Vie violence chair contre chair
Dansent les cadences d'un tango pervers
Allez viens qu'on s'y frotte
Ma colombe, ma cocotte
Si la vallée sanglote
Vie violence ça va de pair
Amour et souffrance jouent au bras de fer
La terre et l'eau l'air et le feu
Forment un complot ça saute aux yeux
Sadomasos faits pour la pelle
Les anges là-haut tu t'en rappelles
Et les enfants en tourbillon
Dans un ballet de papillons
La vraie vie, la belle
Allez viens qu'on s'y frotte
Ma colombe, ma cocotte
Tes vallées ont des charmes
Valant des larmes
Vie violence ça va de pair
Les deux se balancent paradis enfer
Vie vie oh lance lance-moi ton feu
Brûle-moi d'innocence
Je suis bon, nom de Dieu !
In Claude Nougaro's song "Vie Violence," the lyrics describe the inextricable link between life and violence. The two are constantly intertwined, and the song suggests that they are impossible to separate. The first verse describes the way that life and violence are balanced, like two sides of a scale. The second verse goes on to describe the pain that can come with love, suggesting that love is just another form of suffering, and that it too is inseparable from violence. The third verse suggests that even the elements are conspiring to create a violent world, and that the only thing that can counteract this is innocence.
The chorus reiterates the idea that life and violence are two sides of the same coin. The lines "Vie violence ça va de pair, Les deux se balancent paradis enfer" (Life violence goes hand in hand, Both balance paradise and hell) emphasize the idea that life cannot exist without violence. The lines "Allez viens qu'on s'y frotte, Ma colombe, ma cocotte, Si la vallée sanglote, Buvons des larmes" (Come on, let's rub it, My dove, my darling, If the valley sobs, Let's drink tears) suggest that violence can be celebrated and even turned into something beautiful.
Overall, the song portrays violence as an unavoidable, essential part of human existence, and suggests that to try to separate it from life would be futile.
Line by Line Meaning
Vie violence ça va de pair
Life and violence go hand in hand.
Les deux se balancent paradis enfer
Both are balanced, between heaven and hell.
Vie violence chair contre chair
Life and violence, flesh against flesh.
Dansent les cadences d'un tango pervers
Dancing to the rhythm of a perverse tango.
Allez viens qu'on s'y frotte
Come on, let's rub against each other.
Ma colombe, ma cocotte
My dove, my mistress.
Si la vallée sanglote
If the valley weeps.
Buvons des larmes
Let's drink the tears.
Amour et souffrance jouent au bras de fer
Love and suffering are playing tug of war.
La terre et l'eau l'air et le feu
Earth and water, air and fire.
Forment un complot ça saute aux yeux
Form a conspiracy, it's plain to see.
Sadomasos faits pour la pelle
Sadomasochists made for the shovel.
Les anges là-haut tu t'en rappelles
The angels up there, do you remember them?
Et les enfants en tourbillon
And the children swirling.
Dans un ballet de papillons
In a butterfly ballet.
La vraie vie, la belle
The true life, the beautiful.
Tes vallées ont des charmes
Your valleys have charms.
Valant des larmes
Worth tears.
Vie vie oh lance lance-moi ton feu
Life life, oh throw me your fire.
Brûle-moi d'innocence
Burn me with innocence.
Je suis bon, nom de Dieu !
I'm good, damn it!
Lyrics © LES EDITIONS DU CHIFFRE NEUF
Written by: Richard GALLIANO, Claude NOUGARO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Fabrice PERRON
Inoubliable Claude Nougaro, à jamais dans nos coeurs !!
Pr. Portion
Quand une voix puissante se marie à merveille avec les rhytmes endiablés... Merci Claude pour ces quelques moments de pure transe!
Mathieu Zajdela
Nougaro, quel artiste! Les poils de mes bras se dressent à l'écouter. Claude, là-haut, tu nous entends, hein?
Creg Lek
Avec Richard Galliano à la composition, Nougaro au Micro, il ne pouvait pas en être autrement !
Patrick dumas
Dans ce style alliant magistralement notes et paroles je n'en connais qu'un !
Irremplaçable...Claude.
C. C/J
Une chanson digne du grand Léo 👍👍👍
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Je ne m'en lasse pas, quelle puissance!
kotoal
La plus belle des versions d'une des plus belles chansons de tous les temps ❤
Bruno Coutal
Un vrai poète qui nous manque!!
Catherine Roland
A JAMAIS RESPECT ! On ne fera pas mieux que ce parolier qui nous fabriquait à chaque fois un chef-d’œuvre d'harmonisation et de mots et puis s'en repartait dans sa création avec simplicité et complicité, avec aussi un grand respect pour son public. Expert dans tous les styles musicaux : le seul !