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.
Il ne faut pas souhaiter la mort des gens
Dominique A Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Même à celui qui ment
Il ne faut pas souhaiter la mort des gens
Il y a bien des cas où
Mais même dans ces cas où
Il ne faut pas souhaiter la mort des gens
Ce n'est jamais assez mechant
Tout le fiel impeccable s'abstient de tout effort
Pour parler comme il parle
Pour se faire fort d'avoir tort
Même au proprietaire
A la vieille à l'affut
Il ne faut pas souhaiter la mort des gens
Il y a bien des fois où
mais même pour ces fois où
Il ne faut pas souhaiter la mort des gens
Ca les fait vivre plus longtemps
Celui que l'on hait bien
Il s'accroche, il s'accroche
On rêve de le faire boire
Dans la joie l'épuiser
Et quant à ceux qui meurent
Qui s'en vont pour de bon
Dont on ne peut plus souhaiter la mort
C'est l'heure de pardonner
L'amour en bon dernier
Déballe sans y croire des trésors
Puis se fait passer sur le corps
Et le temps de se faire oublier est bien long
Tant que d'autres ont encore de quoi vous dénigrer
Au bavard patenté
A la femme furibarde
Avec tout le temps qu'on leur prend
Pour nous haïr c'est indécent
De souhaiter la mort de ces gens
Au bavard patenté
A la femme furibarde
Avec tout le temps qu'on leur prend
Pour nous haïr c'est indécent
De souhaiter la mort de ces gens
The lyrics of Dominique A's song "Il ne faut pas souhaiter la mort des gens" is a reminder to not wish for the death of people, even those who betray or lie. The song starts off with the statement, "Même à celle qui trahit/Même à celui qui ment/Il ne faut pas souhaiter la mort des gens" which translates to "Even to the one who betrays/Even to the one who lies/One should not wish for the death of people." The song emphasizes that it is never appropriate to wish death upon someone, no matter the circumstance. The bitterness and hatred that people carry towards others is never justified and should be overcome by love.
Dominique A, in the second stanza, admits that there might be instances where people feel justified in wishing death upon someone, but it is never enough to make it right. It only prolongs the life of the person one hates. The singer then highlights how people try to speak in demeaning and derogatory ways about others and feel proud that they are wrong. The song discourages such behavior, urging people to instead forgive and find genuine happiness.
The final stanza suggests that forgiving and forgetting is never easy. Even after forgiving, people may still resent others for what they have done, and it takes time to heal completely. The song reminds us that the hatred and bitterness we carry inside us can weigh us down and we are only hurting ourselves in the process of hating others.
Line by Line Meaning
Même à celle qui trahit
Even to the one who betrays
Même à celui qui ment
Even to the one who lies
Il ne faut pas souhaiter la mort des gens
One should not wish for the death of people
Il y a bien des cas où
There are many cases where
Mais même dans ces cas où
But even in those cases where
Il ne faut pas souhaiter la mort des gens
One should not wish for the death of people
Ce n'est jamais assez mechant
It is never mean enough
Tout le fiel impeccable s'abstient de tout effort
All impeccable bile refrains from any effort
Pour parler comme il parle
To speak like he speaks
Pour se faire fort d'avoir tort
To boast of being wrong
Même au proprietaire
Even to the owner
A la vieille à l'affut
To the old one on the lookout
Il ne faut pas souhaiter la mort des gens
One should not wish for the death of people
Il y a bien des fois où
There are many times when
Mais même pour ces fois où
But even in those times when
Il ne faut pas souhaiter la mort des gens
One should not wish for the death of people
Ca les fait vivre plus longtemps
It makes them live longer
Celui que l'on hait bien
The one we hate well
Il s'accroche, il s'accroche
He clings, he clings
On rêve de le faire boire
We dream of making him drink
Dans la joie l'épuiser
To exhaust him in joy
Et quant à ceux qui meurent
And as for those who die
Qui s'en vont pour de bon
Who are leaving for good
Dont on ne peut plus souhaiter la mort
Whom we can no longer wish for death
C'est l'heure de pardonner
It's time to forgive
L'amour en bon dernier
Love comes last
Déballe sans y croire des trésors
Unpack treasures without believing in them
Puis se fait passer sur le corps
Then gets stepped on
Et le temps de se faire oublier est bien long
And the time to be forgotten is very long
Tant que d'autres ont encore de quoi vous dénigrer
As long as others still have something to denigrate you
Au bavard patenté
To the seasoned talker
A la femme furibarde
To the furious woman
Avec tout le temps qu'on leur prend
With all the time we take from them
Pour nous haïr c'est indécent
It's indecent to hate us
De souhaiter la mort de ces gens
To wish for the death of these people
Au bavard patenté
To the seasoned talker
A la femme furibarde
To the furious woman
Avec tout le temps qu'on leur prend
With all the time we take from them
Pour nous haïr c'est indécent
It's indecent to hate us
De souhaiter la mort de ces gens
To wish for the death of these people
Contributed by Carter K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Maya Peps
ça fait 15 ans que j'l'écoute CE "bonhomme" et c'est un pur bonheur !!! je kiffe toujours autant ;) <3
j'ai découvert Dominique A avec l'album "Ma mémoire neuve" ...!
Romalou Lou
souvenirs souvenirs merci pour le post :)
Leo H
le pire c'est qu' il a raison les mauvais ils s'accroche s'accroche et les bonnes personnes nous quitte trop tôt! a mon Ami R.André. R a bientôt la haut REP
AbdelKader Benamer
clip d'une malice filmique très bien sentie : esthétique baroque
MirageRafaleX15
" Gainsbourg sors de ce corps! ;-) " je pensais la même chose car je croyais que c'était de Gainsbourg a la base :D
suzinetteable
la classe. Un conseil à suivre !
BABETH CAUVIN
Gainsbourg sort de ce corp! ;-)
Maya Peps
JE SUIS FAN !!!
777djin
une ode à l' âme hors 777
Manuel Dolhet
2:47 Librairie-papeterie La Semeuse ;-)