Biography
The young François Feldman spent his adolescence listening soul music, including songs by Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and James Brown, among other artists. His father gave him his first guitar at fourteen years of age, and François won first prize several times in the radio contests he entered. He created his first group at the age of 14 and appeared in a few clubs. In 1980, Feldman recorded his first song, "You Want Every Night", then "Ma Petite Vidéo" in 1982, "Folle sur les bords" in 1983 summer, "Wally boule noire" and "Obsession" in 1984, and finally "Amour de corridor" in 1985, but all these singles remained unsuccessful.
In 1986, he became famous with his song "Rien que pour toi" which reached number 12 on the SNEP Singles Chart and sold 200,000 units. Thereafter, Feldman had many hits in France, becoming a well established star in France. He has sold very well over his 25-year career, selling about ten million albums in several countries, including Belgium, Italy, Canada and Japan.
Released in 1989, his second studio album entitled Une Présence was more successful and contains several hit singles, such as "Joue pas", recorded as a duet with Joniece Jamison, "Les Valses de Vienne", "Petit Frank" and "C'est toi qui m'as fait" which were all top-2 hits in France. The same year, he wrote the hit single "J'aurais voulu te dire" for Caroline Legrand. This album was followed by Magic Boul'vard, released in 1991, and provided to Feldman a third number one hit in France, "Joy", a song dedicated to the singer's daughter.
Since 1993, and his album Indigo, Feldman has been less successful and unable to repeat his previous feats on the charts. Despite releasing four albums, he has been almost absent from the media and his sales have become more restricted. He currently continues his artistic career giving popular concerts throughout France.
In 2007, "Rien que pour toi" was covered by Tatiana Laurens who took part in the French TV reality show Secret Story.
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Magic' Boul'Vard
François Feldman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cent fois les memes
Les memes crimes
Et les memes scenes
Elle travaille seule
Elle place des gens
Dernier fauteuil
Les phrases d'amour
Sur grand ecran
La nuit le jour
Ca lui fait du vent
Elle vit comme ca
L‘amour des autres
Mais quelque fois
Y‘a l'image qui saute.
Elle vit sa vie dans le noire, bizarre
Pour toujours elle maquille son desespoir
Au Magic Boulevard
Elle laisse tranquille
Les amoureux
Qui rate le film
En fermant les yeux
Elle vend ses glaces
Avec ses reves
Un sourire passe
Au bord de ses levres
Elle vit sa vie dans le noire, bizarre
Pour toujours elle maquille son desespoir
Au Magic Boulevard
La demoiselle
A lampe de poche
Se voudrait belle
Pour faire du cinoche
Parfois quelle chance
La salle est vide
Pour une seance
Elle devient Ingrid
Elle vit sa vie dans le noire, bizarre
Pour toujours elle maquille son desespoir
Au Magic Boulevard
Elle voit passer
Des gens connus
Des gens glaces
Qui ne parlent plus
Jamais la foule
Ne prend sa main
Ses larmes coulent
Avec le mot fin.
The song "Magic' Boul'Vard" by François Feldman talks about a woman who lives a lonely life working in a cinema, either selling ice creams or assigning seating arrangements. She watches the same films over and over, and experiences the same crimes and scenes. It seems that her only escape is living vicariously through the love stories on the big screen, both day and night. The phrase "ca lui fait du vent" suggests that it brings her some sort of relief or comfort.
The woman in the song is living her life in the dark, strange and always covering her despair at the Magic Boulevard cinema. Even the couples who come into the cinema, perhaps hoping to escape together, do not distract her from her solitude. She sells ice creams and dreams with a smile on her face, but still feels lonely. Sometimes the song mentions the joy she experiences when the cinema is empty, and she can pretend to be someone else, like Ingrid. The song ends with her watching famous people pass by her, but no one stops to take her hand, and her tears flow at the end of each film.
Line by Line Meaning
Elle voit des films
She watches movies
Cent fois les memes
A hundred times the same ones
Les memes crimes
The same crimes
Et les memes scenes
And the same scenes
Elle travaille seule
She works alone
Elle place des gens
She seats people
Dernier fauteuil
Last row
Ou premier rang
Or front row
Les phrases d'amour
Love phrases
Sur grand ecran
On the big screen
La nuit le jour
Night and day
Ca lui fait du vent
It's all empty to her
Elle vit comme ca
This is how she lives
L‘amour des autres
Other people's love
Mais quelque fois
But sometimes
Y‘a l'image qui saute
The image jumps
Elle vit sa vie dans le noire, bizarre
She lives her life in the dark, strange
Pour toujours elle maquille son desespoir
She always hides her despair
Au Magic Boulevard
At the Magic Boulevard
Elle laisse tranquille
She leaves alone
Les amoureux
The lovers
Qui rate le film
Who miss the movie
En fermant les yeux
By closing their eyes
Elle vend ses glaces
She sells her ice creams
Avec ses reves
With her dreams
Un sourire passe
A smile passes
Au bord de ses levres
On her lips
La demoiselle
The young lady
A lampe de poche
With a flashlight
Se voudrait belle
She wants to be beautiful
Pour faire du cinoche
To make it to the movies
Parfois quelle chance
Sometimes what luck
La salle est vide
The room is empty
Pour une seance
For a session
Elle devient Ingrid
She becomes Ingrid
Des gens connus
Famous people
Des gens glaces
Cold people
Qui ne parlent plus
Who don't speak anymore
Jamais la foule
The crowd never
Ne prend sa main
Takes her hand
Ses larmes coulent
Her tears flow
Avec le mot fin
With the end
Contributed by Jason W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.