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.
Je ne respire plus Milos
Dominique A Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Elle n'est pas mal tombée et s'en est contentée
C'est depuis le début si elle m'abandonnait
Hop, un nouvel échec et elle me revenait
Quant au vu de ma chance elle ne m'a plus quittée
Tous les projets d'amour sont allés faire un tour
Mais enfin pour une fois qu'un d'entre eux se tenait
A y penser deux fois ce sont sûrement les autres
Qui s'éteignent et c'est moi qui l'emporte ici bas
Leur visage sous le nez je ne reconnais pas
Ce qu'ils sont, qu'ils étaient et je ne respire plus
Ah, je les sens perdus et même je vais leur dire
Leur absence à eux-mêmes, la pitié qu'elle inspire
Leur dire de but en blanc et leur faire ce procès
De s'enlaidir exprès alors que je m'éteins
Mur à la chaux, lit bas et veilleuse en sommeil
Je ne vois plus que ça et puis quelqu'un qui dort
Sans s'éveiller sur moi et déjà il ignore
Que c'est lui qui s'éteint et moi qui bouge encore
Jusqu'au bout on m'aura seriné pour avoir
La clé de quelques faits dont la seule mémoire
C'est la mienne qui n'a plus aucune obligation
Et ne veux plus me dire si je respire ou non
Si je respire ou non
Si je respire ou non, Milos
The lyrics of "Je ne respire plus Milos" by Dominique A are quite complex and can be interpreted in various ways. The song is about a person who is consumed by hate and who is now at the end of his life. He has lost all interest in love and is struggling to breathe. He says that his hate has chosen him and that he is content with it. If his hate abandoned him, he would encounter another failure and return to his hate again. He points out that despite his accomplishments, he is still struggling to breathe and that others seem to be losing the battle of life. He feels that he is winning, and they are losing. However, despite his obvious victories, he is consumed by hate and is unable to breathe.
The person is resentful and feels like the world owes him something. He thinks that the people around him should be feeling pity instead of him because they are the ones who are suffering. He's lying in a bed and looking around the room, noticing the things that he used to care about, but now it's all meaningless. He observes someone else sleeping and acknowledges that they are unaware of their fate while he is still moving on despite his breathing condition.
Overall, the song is about the fleeting nature of life and the grip of hate on a person who is near the end. The lyrics have a dark, introspective feel to them and are very contemplative.
Line by Line Meaning
Ma haine a fait son choix et sur moi s'est portée
My hatred has made a choice and fallen on me as its target
Elle n'est pas mal tombée et s'en est contentée
It hasn't chosen poorly and is satisfied with me as its object
C'est depuis le début si elle m'abandonnait
If it had left me from the beginning
Hop, un nouvel échec et elle me revenait
It would come back to me after any new failure
Quant au vu de ma chance elle ne m'a plus quittée
As for my luck, it hasn't left me
Tous les projets d'amour sont allés faire un tour
All of my romantic projects have gone by the wayside
Mais enfin pour une fois qu'un d'entre eux se tenait
But finally, just when one of them was coming true
Voilà que je m'éteins et je ne respire plus
I'm fading away and no longer breathing
A y penser deux fois ce sont sûrement les autres
Thinking twice, it's probably the others
Qui s'éteignent et c'est moi qui l'emporte ici bas
Who are fading away and I'm the one who's winning down here
Leur visage sous le nez je ne reconnais pas
Their faces are right in front of me and I don't recognize them
Ce qu'ils sont, qu'ils étaient et je ne respire plus
Who they are, who they were, and I no longer breathe
Ah, je les sens perdus et même je vais leur dire
Ah, I feel they're lost, and I'm even going to tell them
Leur absence à eux-mêmes, la pitié qu'elle inspire
About their own absence, the pity it inspires
Leur dire de but en blanc et leur faire ce procès
Tell them directly and bring them to trial
De s'enlaidir exprès alors que je m'éteins
For deliberately making themselves ugly while I'm fading away
Mur à la chaux, lit bas et veilleuse en sommeil
A lime wall, a low bed, and a sleeping nightlight
Je ne vois plus que ça et puis quelqu'un qui dort
I only see that and someone sleeping
Sans s'éveiller sur moi et déjà il ignore
Without waking up to me, and already he's unaware
Que c'est lui qui s'éteint et moi qui bouge encore
That he's the one fading away, and I'm the one still moving
Jusqu'au bout on m'aura seriné pour avoir
Until the end, I've been harped on to get
La clé de quelques faits dont la seule mémoire
The key to a few facts that only I remember
C'est la mienne qui n'a plus aucune obligation
It's my memory that no longer has any obligation
Et ne veux plus me dire si je respire ou non
And no longer wants to tell me whether I'm breathing or not
Si je respire ou non
Whether I'm breathing or not
Si je respire ou non, Milos
Whether I'm breathing or not, Milos
Contributed by Adam V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.