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.
Les Bras de Mer
Dominique A Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On voit les bras de mer
Qui s'allongent puis renoncent
À mordre dans la terre
Dans le lit, tard, nous sommes là
Nous recommençons tout
J'ai du mal à y croire
Je vois des bras de mer
Qui s'allongent qui s'allongent
Je vois des bras de mer
Qui s'allongent qui s'allongent
Et qui mordent la terre
Et la séparent enfin
In Dominique A's song Les Bras de Mer, the singer describes the view from where he is standing of the "bras de mer," or tidal estuaries, as they extend and then recede, unwilling to bite into the earth. Later, the singer is in bed with his lover, starting over anew. He struggles to believe what he sees, which are the tidal estuaries again. They are elongating and biting into the earth, finally separating it.
The lyrics can be interpreted in different ways but one possible interpretation is that the tidal estuaries are a metaphor for the singer and his lover's relationship. At first, their relationship was hesitant to fully engage, like the tide unwilling to bite into the earth. But now they have come together, fully committing to each other, and are like the tidal estuaries that finally bite into the earth, fulfilling their purpose. The singer's struggle to believe what he sees may indicate that the relationship is still new and he is unsure of its future.
Overall, the song explores themes of nature, change, relationships, and uncertainty. The repetitive nature of the lyrics reflects the eternal cycle of nature and the themes of starting over and renewal.
Line by Line Meaning
De l'endroit où je suis
From where I stand
On voit les bras de mer
You can see the arms of the sea
Qui s'allongent puis renoncent
That stretch out and then give up
À mordre dans la terre
Trying to bite into the ground
Dans le lit, tard, nous sommes là
In bed, late, we are there
Nous recommençons tout
We start all over again
J'ai du mal à y croire
I find it hard to believe
Je vois des bras de mer
I see the arms of the sea
Je vois des bras de mer
I see the arms of the sea
Qui s'allongent qui s'allongent
That stretch out and stretch out
Je vois des bras de mer
I see the arms of the sea
Qui s'allongent qui s'allongent
That stretch out and stretch out
Et qui mordent la terre
And bite into the land
Et la séparent enfin
And finally separate it
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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