Very engaged in the civil society, he sang and personified the lust for life, the hopes and the doubts of his generation, often clashing with politicians, elites, and older generations. He is especially famous for a tense debate about the struggles, hopes and doubts of French youth with the then first secretary of the French Socialist party, François Mitterrand, who was later twice elected president of France. Later he also had problems in a misunderstood verbal clash about French veterans.
Daniel Balavoine loved Africa and this transpires in many of his songs. He dedicated himself to humanitarian projects and took part in the Paris-Dakar rallye two times. The third time he took part only for humanitarian reasons. On the 14th january 1986, around 8pm, his helicopter crashed between Mali and Burkina-Faso, killing all five passengers, putting an end to his career, and leaving behind his pregnant wife Corine and his son Jeremy.
Un Enfant Assis Attend La Pluie
Daniel Balavoine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Comme la fleur
Éblouie
Timidement sort de l'ortie
L'horizon se déplie
En ouvrant son toit
Le ciel enfante un soleil qui tire
La mémoire de l'oubli
Délivrés de la nuit
Je sais que quelque part
Un enfant assis
Attend la pluie
L'enfant séché sur le sol d’Érythrée
Les traits tirés
Tire un trait
Sur cette terre aride et ridée
Dont il a hérité
En refermant son toit
Le ciel enterre un soleil qui meurt
Mais la mémoire survit
Et les yeux grands ouverts
Prisonniers de la nuit
Il me reste l'image
De ce corps meurtri
Qui pousse un cri
Entend ce cri
Entend ce cri
Son lit de poussière a besoin de pluie
Fleuve de pierre
De ces yeux lunaires
Ses larmes sèches n'ont pas de prix
Tombe la pluie
The song “Un Enfant Assis Attend La Pluie” by Daniel Balavoine tells the story of a dry and arid land that is waiting for rain, and a child who hopes for rain to come. The first paragraph describes the hidden ember, which is alive like the flower that emerges shyly from the nettle. The horizon unfolds, opening up the sky to give birth to a sun that pulls the memory out of forgetfulness. With wide-open eyes, freed from the night, the artist knows that somewhere, a child sits and waits for the rain to come.
The second paragraph paints a picture of a child who is dried up by their surroundings in Eritrea. The child's face is strained, marked by the lines of his difficult life. His bed of dust is in need of rain, and the image of his battered body remains with the artist. The child draws a line over the dry and wrinkled land that he has inherited, as the sky closes its roof, burying a dying sun, and the memory of the rain endures. The child’s teardrops are dry, and he needs the rain to flow once again.
The song is a commentary on the struggles in Africa, particularly in Eritrea. It highlights the terrible conditions that many children live with, the poverty that they experience, and the longing they have for something as basic as water. The song's title "Un Enfant Assis Attend La Pluie" directly translates to 'A Child Sitting Waits for The Rain', adds effect to the pain, and declares the lack of power and poverty.
Line by Line Meaning
La braise cachée de cendre est en vie
The embers hidden under the ashes are still alive, waiting to be reignited.
Comme la fleur éblouie timidement sort de l'ortie
Like a blinding flower emerging shyly from a bed of nettles.
L'horizon se déplie en ouvrant son toit
The horizon unfolds and reveals its limitless expanse.
Le ciel enfante un soleil qui tire la mémoire de l'oubli
The sky brings forth a sun that awakens memories long forgotten.
Et les yeux grands ouverts délivrés de la nuit
And with wide open eyes liberated from the night,
Je sais que quelque part un enfant assis attend la pluie
I know that somewhere a child sits waiting for the rain to come.
L'enfant séché sur le sol d’Érythrée les traits tirés tire un trait
The child dried up on the ground of Eritrea draws a line with a weary face,
Sur cette terre aride et ridée dont il a hérité
On this dry and wrinkled land that he has inherited.
En refermant son toit le ciel enterre un soleil qui meurt
As the sky closes its doors, it buries a dying sun.
Mais la mémoire survit et les yeux grands ouverts prisonniers de la nuit
But memories live on and with eyes wide open, imprisoned in the darkness.
Il me reste l'image de ce corps meurtri qui pousse un cri
All that remains is the image of that wounded body screaming out in agony.
Entend ce cri, entend ce cri
Hear that scream, hear that scream.
Son lit de poussière a besoin de pluie, fleuve de pierre, de ces yeux lunaires
His bed of dust needs rain, a river of stone, under those lunar eyes.
Ses larmes sèches n'ont pas de prix, tombe la pluie
His dry tears are priceless, let the rain fall.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DANIEL XAVIER MARIE BALAVOINE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind