Born on the 6 October 1968 in Provins, France, Dominique Ané is the only ch… Read Full Bio ↴Born on the 6 October 1968 in Provins, France, Dominique Ané is the only child of a teacher and a homemaker. A loner throughout his teenage years, he was passionate about literature and music from a young age. He was interested in punk but, at the age of 14, at the beginning of the 1980s, he started to appreciate the dark romanticism of the New Wave movement. After completing high school he studied humanities for a year while holding a range of odd jobs, including a spell as a utility man for an FM radio station in Nantes, where his family lived. At around the age of 16 he started up a band, John Merrick, named after the hero of the film, The Elephant Man.

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.

Encore
Dominique A Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Encore
Refais ça
Encore
Fous-moi
Donc dehors
Avec
Ces yeux-là
Encore

Encore

Tu quoque fili
Vas-y
Et même
Celui-là
Allez
Pourquoi pas ?
Encore
Encore
Encore

Jetez-moi dehors
Avec
Ces yeux-là
Et puis
Puis ramassez-moi
Faites de
Votre mieux
Faites ça

Pour moi
Encore...

Overall Meaning

The song "Encore" by Dominique A is a call for repetition, a plea for more, a demand to be pushed to the limits. The repetition of the word "Encore" throughout the song reinforces the message that the singer is insatiable, that he is not content with what he has already experienced, seen or felt. In the opening line, the singer wants someone to repeat what they have done and begs for them to keep going with the phrase "Refais ça". As the song progresses, the singer urges the person to throw him out with "Ces yeux-là" (translation: "Those eyes") and then pick him up again, demanding that they give their best effort, and do it all over again.

Furthermore, the Latin phrase “Tu quoque fili” means “You too, my son” and is most famously used by Julius Caesar as he recognized Brutus among the assassins who stabbed him. By using this phrase in the song, Dominique A insinuates that the person he is addressing is a traitor, or that he feels betrayed in some way, and wants them to take responsibility for what they have done. The phrase "Et même celui-là" (translation: "And even that one") suggests that the singer wants everyone to participate in whatever it is that he is asking for, and he doesn't want anyone to be left out.

Overall, the song "Encore" is a call to action, a demand for more, and a desire to keep going. It’s about the singer's insatiability in life, and his desire to push himself to the limit. It's about wanting to experience everything, to see everything, and to feel everything. The repetition of the word "Encore" throughout the song reinforces this message, showing the listener that the singer won't stop until he gets what he wants.

Line by Line Meaning

Encore
Repeat it, do it again

Refais ça
Do it again, redo that thing

Encore
Again, one more time

Fous-moi
Drive me crazy, amaze me

Donc dehors
So, outside

Avec
With

Ces yeux-là
Those eyes

Encore
Once more

Encore
Again

Tu quoque fili
You too, my child

Vas-y
Go ahead, do it