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.
Le détour
Dominique A Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De cette fille qui attendait, n'attendait
Que nous
Souviens-toi de ce que tu veux mais
Non, ne dis pas que ce détour n'était
Rien pour nous
Rappelle-toi de ce détour, tu connais
Tu l'as fait seul un jour
Au bout elle était là, attendait
Elle n'a pas demandé où j'étais
Je sais
Souviens-toi de ce que tu peux mais
Non, ne dis pas que ce détour n'était
Rien pour nous
Tous les autres détours qu'on a faits
Ne nous ont pas donné tant de regrets
The opening lines of the song, "Souviens-toi de ce détour qu'on faisait / De cette fille qui attendait, n'attendait / Que nous" translate to "Remember that detour we used to take / To meet that girl who was waiting for us / Just us." The singer is urging someone to remember a past memory of a detour they used to take to meet a girl. The girl was waiting specifically for the singer and the person the singer is addressing. The singer then says, "Souviens-toi de ce que tu veux mais / Non, ne dis pas que ce détour n'était / Rien pour nous," which roughly means "Remember what you want but don't say that the detour was nothing for us." The singer is holding onto the belief that the detour held some importance or value for the two of them.
The second verse starts with "Rappelle-toi de ce détour, tu connais / Ce chemin bien mieux que moi / Tu l'as fait seul un jour / Au bout elle était là, attendait / Elle n'a pas demandé où j'étais / Je sais." These lyrics translate to "Remember the detour, you know it / You know this path better than me / You once took it alone / At the end she was there, waiting / She didn't ask where I was / I know." The singer recalls the other person taking the detour alone, and the girl still waiting for them at the end, without question. The singer is urging the other person to remember the importance of that detour, and not to downplay its significance. The final lines of the song, "Tous les autres détours qu'on a faits / Ne nous ont pas donné tant de regrets" means "All the other detours we took haven't given us as many regrets." The singer is comparing all the other detours to the one they used to take to meet the girl, and implying that the others didn't hold as much significance as this particular detour.
Line by Line Meaning
Souviens-toi de ce détour qu'on faisait
Remember this detour we used to take
De cette fille qui attendait, n'attendait Que nous
To see this girl who was waiting for us only
Souviens-toi de ce que tu veux mais
Remember what you want but
Non, ne dis pas que ce détour n'était Rien pour nous
No, don't say that this detour meant nothing to us
Rappelle-toi de ce détour, tu connais
Recall this detour that you know so well
Ce chemin bien mieux que moi Tu l'as fait seul un jour
This road that you know better than me, you took it alone one day
Au bout elle était là, attendait Elle n'a pas demandé où j'étais Je sais
At the end of it, she was there waiting. She didn't ask where I was. I know.
Souviens-toi de ce que tu peux mais
Remember what you can but
Non, ne dis pas que ce détour n'était Rien pour nous
No, don't say that this detour meant nothing to us
Tous les autres détours qu'on a faits Ne nous ont pas donné tant de regrets
All the other detours we took didn't give us as much regret
Contributed by Savannah V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.