The foursome recorded around 45 sombre and tormented songs while gaving a number of concerts in the area around Nantes. Later, with the singer Katerine, Dominique Ané recorded a number of songs in a more upbeat and livelier style.
Beginning of a career
At the beginning of the 1990s Dominique Ané recorded songs that were both minimalist and rock in style. He wanted to break with the traditional chanson, which he considered to be more literary than musical[1]. His first CD, released by the Nantes label, Lithium, met with critical acclaim by the alternative magazine, Les Inrockuptibles, and by Bernard Lenoir, the 'John Peel' of France. Furthermore, his song, Le Courage des oiseaux, (the Courage of the Birds), was an underground hit.
From 1992 onwards, he started to produce more and more live shows, either with a backing band or solo. His commercial success grew in 1995 with Le twenty-two bar, a single off the album, La Mémoire Neuve, but this success left a bitter taste in Dominique's mouth because he considered the song to be particularly badly written[1].
In 2000, he composed the score for Antoine Desrosières' black comedy film Banqueroute.
Le Détour and beyond (2002-)
Dominique's discovery of Alain Bashung's dark 2002 album, L'Imprudence shocked him to the point that it put his music into question and he decided to explore different ways of working. He decided to compile what he considered to be the first part of a musical time capsule, a longbox entitled Le Détour. He asked his fans to write about their relationship with his music, and some of their letters were published in the booklet accompanying Le Détour.
For his subsequent album, he wanted to experiment and, consequently, for the first time, he gave control over the album to a third party, the team who produced L'Imprudence. The end result would be Tout sera comme avant (Everything will be like it was before), which was released in 2004. Unfortunately, many fans had difficulty obtaining a copy. At the same time, Dominique gave many live performances variously using a big band, minimalistic backing, or all alone (where he would experiment with oversampling).
In March 2006, L'Horizon came out, a new work that he produced alongside Dominique Brusson, with whom he had made the early album, Remué. It was the first time that Dominique A returned to work with a producer. He was backed by his old collaborators, Sacha Toorop and Olivier Mellano, as well as the musicians with whom he produced Tout sera comme avant. Dominique A had recently quit his record label, Labels, due to his desire for more creative freedom; consequently, it is no surprise that he describes L'Horizon as his most experimental work to date.
Collaboration and influence
Dominique A collaborates regularly with other artists and on other projects. He has been one of the shaping forces of Françoiz Breut's career, writing many of her songs since her début in 1997. He has also composed several songs for Jeanne Balibar's second album, Slalom Dale and wrote Où est la ville ? for Jane Birkin's 2006 album, Fictions. He also sang Veruca Salt et Frank Black in trio with Keren Ann and Vincent Delerm on the latter's second album, Kensington Square.
Dominique A has inspired and influenced many artists. Among them were Yann Tiersen and the Norwegian electro band, Oslo Telescopic, who named one of their albums The Dominique O Project. Lyrically, Dominique's movement away from the constraints of chanson moved many other French-speaking artists, including Miossec, Holden and Arman Méliès.
Douanes
Dominique A Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Les poches retournées
On nous dévisageait
A la douane on cherchait
A ne oas avoir l'air
Ni fier ni trop aimable
L'air de ce qu'on était
Comme nous, stationnait le ciel
Et chcun repensait
A ceux qui l'attendait
Aux promesses de retour
Que tous on avait fait
Tandis qu'on nous jaugeait
Qu'on nous regardait bien
On se concentrait pour
Ne ressembler à rien
De fro,tières en frontières
Et de Douanes en douanes
Certains ont tout passé déjà
Ils ont fait le grand tour
Sans s'en être aperçu
Repassant dans des villes
Qui ont changé de nom
Qu'ils n'ont pas reconnues
Surveillés par un chien
Les poches retournées
Presque méconnaissables
Tant nos visages
A force d'être dévisagés
Ne savent plus se reprendre
Tant nos cartes
A force d'être manipulées
Tendent à s'éffacer
(Merci à loic pour cettes paroles)
The lyrics of Dominique A's song Douanes describe the experience of crossing borders and going through customs. The singer describes being scrutinized by the customs officers, with their pockets turned inside out and their faces under the watchful eye of a dog. They try to maintain a neutral demeanor, not too proud or too friendly, as they wait for something to happen, possibly a storm. The experience makes them think about the people they are leaving behind, the promises they have made to return, and the effort they are putting in to not show any emotions.
The second part of the song talks about people who have already crossed many borders and gone through many customs, almost unrecognizable due to the constant scrutiny. They have travelled so much that they have come full circle, passing through cities that have changed their names and that they no longer recognize. The experience has left them with faces that can't quite hold themselves together and cards that are starting to fade.
Overall, the lyrics of Douanes depict the feeling of vulnerability, disorientation, and anonymity that can come with crossing borders and going through customs. The act of escaping from one place to another, leaving behind people and promises, and trying to maintain a neutral front, all while being scrutinized, makes for a complex and emotional experience.
Line by Line Meaning
Reniflés par un chien
Being sniffed by a dog
Les poches retournées
Pockets turned inside out
On nous dévisageait
We were being scrutinized
A la douane on cherchait
At customs we were searching
A ne pas avoir l'air
Trying not to look
Ni fier ni trop aimable
Neither proud nor too friendly
L'air de ce qu'on était
The air of what we were
Comme nous, stationnait le ciel
Like us, the sky was still
On attendait quelque chose, un orage
We were waiting for something, a storm
Et chacun repensait
And everyone was thinking back
A ceux qui l'attendaient
Of those who were waiting
Aux promesses de retour
To the promises of return
Que tous on avait fait
That we all had made
Tandis qu'on nous jaugeait
While we were being measured
Qu'on nous regardait bien
And watched us closely
On se concentrait pour
We focused on
Ne ressembler à rien
Not looking like anything
De frontières en frontières
From border to border
Et de Douanes en douanes
And from customs to customs
Certains ont tout passé déjà
Some already passed it all
Ils ont fait le grand tour
They have gone around
Sans s'en être aperçu
Without realizing it
Repassant dans des villes
Passing again in cities
Qui ont changé de nom
That changed their name
Qu'ils n'ont pas reconnues
That they did not recognize
Surveillés par un chien
Being watched by a dog
Les poches retournées
Pockets turned inside out
Presque méconnaissables
Almost unrecognizable
Tant nos visages
So much our faces
A force d'être dévisagés
Having been scrutinized so much
Ne savent plus se reprendre
Can no longer recover
Tant nos cartes
So much our maps
A force d'être manipulées
Having been manipulated so much
Tendent à s'éffacer
Tend to fade
Contributed by Taylor B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.