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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Une Présence
François Feldman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Avec rien dedans
Que le jour humide
Sur quatre murs blancs,
On se lève, on fait semblant,
Le silence paraît trop grand,
Debout sur le sol
Encore étourdi
Des bouts de la vie
Des histoires jamais finies
On se soûle à l'eau de pluie
Tout ce qu'on veut, c'est une présence
Pour exister,
Une présence
A respirer,
Simplement une présence
Pour pas couler,
Une présence
Alors certains jours
On parle tout seul,
On parle même d'amour
Avec un fauteuil,
On s'allume quelques bougies,
On est seul à la folie
Tout ce qu'on veut, c'est une présence
Pour exister,
Une présence
A respirer,
Simplement une présence
Pour pas couler,
Une présence
C'est sûr qu'il y a des gens comme ça ici et là,
C'est sûr qu'on vit chacun pour soi,
Il faudrait pas
Tout ce qu'on veut, c'est une présence
Pour exister,
Une présence
A respirer,
Simplement une présence
Pour pas couler,
Une présence
Encore un ciel vide
Avec rien dedans.
The song "Une Présence" by Francois Feldman is a melancholic reflection on the feeling of loneliness and the need for human connection. The lyrics paint a picture of a desolate environment with an empty sky, where everything around is colorless and dull. The singer wakes up after a night of restless sleep, feeling a sense of emptiness and confusion. They try to distract themselves from the silence and the loneliness that surrounds them, but everything seems to remind them of their solitude.
The singer longs for someone to share their life with, someone to provide them with a sense of purpose and meaning. They seek a presence, simply someone to be there with them, to breathe in the same air and share the same space. They are not looking for grand gestures of love or commitment, but rather a simple companionship that can make them feel a little less alone in this world.
However, despite this longing, the singer also acknowledges the difficulty of finding genuine connection in a world where everyone seems to live for themselves. They feel the weight of the isolation and the indifference that surrounds them, and they cannot help but wonder if they will ever find the presence that they so desperately crave.
Line by Line Meaning
Encore un ciel vide
Another empty sky
Avec rien dedans
With nothing inside
Que le jour humide
Only a wet day
Sur quatre murs blancs,
Inside four white walls
On se lève, on fait semblant,
We get up, we pretend
Le silence paraît trop grand,
The silence seems too big
Debout sur le sol
Standing on the ground
Encore étourdi
Still dizzy
D'une larme on récolte
We collect bits of life in a tear
Des bouts de la vie
Pieces of life
Des histoires jamais finies
Unfinished stories
On se soûle à l'eau de pluie
We get drunk on rainwater
Tout ce qu'on veut, c'est une présence
All we want is a presence
Pour exister,
To exist
Une présence
A presence
A respirer,
To breathe
Simplement une présence
Simply a presence
Pour pas couler,
To not drown
Une présence
A presence
Alors certains jours
So some days
On parle tout seul,
We talk to ourselves
On parle même d'amour
We even talk about love
Avec un fauteuil,
With a chair
On s'allume quelques bougies,
We light a few candles
On est seul à la folie
We are crazy alone
C'est sûr qu'il y a des gens comme ça ici et là,
It's true that there are people like that here and there
C'est sûr qu'on vit chacun pour soi,
It's true that we live for ourselves
Il faudrait pas
We shouldn't
Encore un ciel vide
Another empty sky
Avec rien dedans.
With nothing inside.
Writer(s): Francois Feldman, Jean-marie Moreau
Contributed by Alex V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.