Elli Medeiros was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. Her mother, Mirtha Medeiros,… Read Full Bio ↴Elli Medeiros was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. Her mother, Mirtha Medeiros, decided to become an actress after Elli was born, & when she was admitted into Uruguay's Escuela National, had to take her along, so Elli attended drama school & classes by Spanish teacher Pepe Struch before kindergarden. Mirtha graduated and quickly became a very busy actress and Elli was regularly hired each time a child was needed in a play or a TV show. Her first part, at age 4, was Mme Butterfly's son, in the production of Puccini's opera at the Montevideo Opera. This was Orson Welles' first role, at the same age. Elli's father, José Luis Medeiros, vanished from her life when she was five.

Elli attended the Uruguyan American School, and when her mother remarried & moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, she attended the Instituto Bayard, a British school. When she was fourteen, her mother & step father moved to Paris, and she had to learn French in a couple of months so she could attend high school. She tried several schools, including an art schoot, l'Ecole des Arts Appliquées, but dropped out before getting a "baccalauréat" to start her first band, the Stinky Toys, the first French punk band, playing several London punk Festivals along with the Clash & the Sex Pistols.

Elli appeared on the cover of 'Melody Maker' & that convinced the until then extremely reluctant French record companies to sign them a deal. After two albums, the Stinky Toys split and Elli and Stinky Toy Jacno then released several albums as the techno pop duo 'Elli & Jacno'. Their last was Les nuits de la pleine lune (1984), the score to Eric Rohmer's movie. Elli then went solo, her music becoming more personal, more Latin and had several hits in France, including Toi mon Toit, mega hit of 1986, now a standard.

After a break, Elli decided to go back to acting & school, & worked with 'Andreas Voutsinas', who was Lee Strasberg's assistant for twenty years and created the Paris "Actor's Studio", le Théatre des Cinquante. She also took classes with Madeleine Barchevska and Bob Mc Andrew.

Altar
Elli Medeiros Lyrics

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Tu cuerpo es el altar donde vengo a rezar
_Ton corps est l'autel
Tu cuerpo es el altar donde vengo a rezar
Où je viens prier
Je ne serai jamais trop belle
Tu ne sera jamais assez cruel pour me déplaire
Je ne serai jamais la même
Tu ne sauras jamais jusqu'où je peux aller pour te plaire

Tu cuerpo es el altar donde vengo a rezar
_Ton corps est l'autel
Tu cuerpo es el altar donde vengo a rezar
Où je viens prier
Etre ton esclave et ta maîtresse
Personne ne sait comme moi tout du plaisir qui blesse
Le front en sang, tu plies le genou
Personne ne sait comme toi saigner avec délicatesse
Tu cuerpo es el altar donde vengo a rezar
_Ton corps est l'autel
Tu cuerpo es el altar donde vengo a rezar
Où je viens prier
Je ne serai jamais trop belle
Rien de ce que l'on fait ne pourrait jamais me déplaire

Je veux mon plaisir et ma peine
Etre l'air que tu respires et la vie qui coule dans tes veines

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Elli Medeiros's song "Altar" talk about a person's body being a place of worship for the singer. The opening line "Tu cuerpo es el altar donde vengo a rezar" translates to "Your body is the altar where I come to pray." The singer seems to be obsessed with this person's body and references the fact that they will never be too cruel or unappealing for her. However, she also states that she will never be the same and that the person will never know how far she is willing to go to please them.

The singer refers to wanting to be both a slave and a mistress, highlighting a complex and potentially toxic relationship. She talks about knowing everything about the pleasure that hurts and even references the idea of drawing blood while the person kneels before her. Despite this intensity, the singer seems to revel in both pleasure and pain, stating that nothing they do would ever displease her as long as she gets what she wants.

The lyrics of "Altar" suggest a complicated and potentially unhealthy obsession with a person's body. The singer seems to find religious significance in this person, referring to their body as an altar and herself as a worshipper. The song's themes of pleasure and pain continue to emphasize the singer's intense relationship with this person.

Line by Line Meaning

Tu cuerpo es el altar donde vengo a rezar
Your body is the altar where I come to pray

Ton corps est l'autel
Your body is the altar

Où je viens prier
Where I come to pray

Je ne serai jamais trop belle
I will never be too beautiful

Tu ne sera jamais assez cruel pour me déplaire
You will never be cruel enough to displease me

Je ne serai jamais la même
I will never be the same

Tu ne sauras jamais jusqu'où je peux aller pour te plaire
You will never know how far I can go to please you

Etre ton esclave et ta maîtresse
To be your slave and mistress

Personne ne sait comme moi tout du plaisir qui blesse
No one knows like me all about the pleasure that hurts

Le front en sang, tu plies le genou
With a bleeding forehead, you bend your knee

Personne ne sait comme toi saigner avec délicatesse
No one knows like you how to bleed with delicacy