Michel Sanchez came up with the idea of mixing Baka Pygmy chants with modern music after hearing on-site recordings of these tribes. Along with Eric Mouquet they created the project Deep Forest. Their first self-titled album (nominated for a Grammy) was released in 1992, with Sweet Lullaby being the smash single which would put Deep Forest on the musical map (UK Top 10 hit). The song "Sweet Lullaby" is adapted from a traditional song from the Solomon Islands. The album Deep Forest was dance-driven and the samples were heavily digitised and edited. It was re-released as a limited edition in 1994 under the name World Mix.
For their second album Boheme, Eric and Michel left behind the sounds of the forest and ventured into Eastern Europe bringing tender, lonesome Hungarian and Gypsy chants with upbeat, yet sad, music. The chants were no longer brief, instead extended phrases had been sampled from Hungarian, Russian and Transylvanian sample CDs. Marta Sebestyen performed on this album.
The duo also performed and produced the remixes for the Youssou N'Dour single "Undecided" in 1994, with guest vocals by Neneh Cherry (who featured on n'Dour's break-through single "Seven Seconds"). That same year Deep Forest made remixes for Jon Anderson's "Deseo", Apollo 440's "Liquid Cool" and Cesária Évora's "My Fatigue is Endless". In 1996 Deep Forest collaborated with Peter Gabriel on the song While the Earth Sleeps, which was written for the film Strange Days.
The follow-up third album, Comparsa, contained sounds and chants from Madagascar and Cuba. The music is often upbeat and celebratory. The last song from the album Media Luna, which was also released as a single, features a duet of Syrian and Spanish singers Abed Azrei and Ana Torroja from Spanish band Mecano. The duo collaborated with Joe Zawinul during the recording of the album. A recording of their live concert in Japan was also released on a CD called Made in Japan. Although all the songs featured in the show are from the previous three albums, they have new often-longer arrangements and all the chants are performed and reinterpreted by live performers.
In 1999 Deep Forest worked with Cheb Mami and Catherine Lara on the song "L'Enfant Fleur" which had been composed for Sol En Si (a French charity which helps HIV families).
In 2000, Deep Forest released a music for the movie Le Prince du Pacifique, Pacifique. It mixes pacific and island beats with electronic music. Music Detected was the title of their fifth much-anticipated official Deep Forest album which saw the duo turn its attention to the Far East and the Orient for inspiration. It also signalled a change in musical style for Deep Forest, from dance to a more rock-influence.
In 2008 Eric Mouquet released Deep Brasil, this album is a collaboration with Brazilian artist Flavio Dell Isola Amazonia.
In 2009, 2010 Eric Mouquet went on tour and prepared the upcoming album Deep Africa.
This album should be released in summer 2011 and will feature lot of African artists, Lokua Kanza, Blick Bassy, Oliza, Wasis Diop, Zama Magudulela, and Wes's brother, Dany Dikoume.
"Deep forest"
Deep Forest Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Deep in the jungle,
Are living some little men and women,
They are our past,
And maybe,
Maybe they are our future
The lyrics to Deep Forest's self-titled song "Deep Forest" are poetically vague but evoke powerful images of the mystical wonder and ancient past of the rainforest. The opening lines "Somewhere, Deep in the jungle" convey the sense of unknowingness about the lush and dense ecosystem that has been unchanged for thousands of years. The second line, "Are living some little men and women", suggests that the forest is home to a community of people who are connected to the land in a deeply spiritual and ancient way, which contrasts with the commercial and industrialized society outside of the jungle. The lyrics then suggest that this community of indigenous people holds secrets about humanity's past.
The final line, "Maybe they are our future" is a nod to the idea that the indigenous people of the rainforest have the potential to teach us vital lessons about sustainable living and how to interact with the natural world. The song title itself becomes a symbol for the mystery and the beauty of the unknown, and the lyrics conjure a vision of a paradise that exists just out of reach.
Line by Line Meaning
Somewhere,
In a mysterious and unknown location,
Deep in the jungle,
Far within the dense forestry,
Are living some little men and women,
Exist the small-sized people of both genders,
They are our past,
They are our ancestral history,
And maybe,
It is possible that,
Maybe they are our future
Perhaps they hold the key to our forthcoming destiny,
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ERIC MOUQUET, MICHEL SANCHEZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@pranavng
Imagine my Shock😱, when after 20-25 years I find that one of my favorite title track of Indian movie - "Gupt" has been shamelessly picked from this great track.
@shrikantpanpaliya
Ha ha... Same here..
@EagleOverTheSea
Listen to more songs by Deep Forest and you will find that this isn't the only one that "inspired" Bollywood. 😄
@MOHAMMEDYOUSUFOFFICIAL
you are right.
@iamanup.singh01
Why shamelessly?
@Eiramaman121
I m addict to Deep forest album from last 25 years.... Specially used to listen on long drives😍😍😍
@BartJanvanRees
I finally found it !!! It took 8 years to find, after my uncle played it in his car. I've tried to find it on YouTube for a million times but couldn't find it. Today I watched Porsches ad about the 993 and they were playing sort of same music (from this album) so I looked up the artists who made this and then finally came across this song!
@juliabohemian
+van Rees the place I worked back in 1995 used to play this CD and I went crazy trying to remember who did this song. it's great to find lost music.
@bernieliu2422
+van Rees The same, the last time I heard was 9 year ago, what a world!
@SuperChloroplast
+van Rees poor you! I knew this music sine I have been 14 and still enjoy same much. Despite living in small village without MTV I was lucky to come across it. Deep Forest was a very important part of my life.