Hardy signed her first contract with the record label Vogue in November 1961. In April 1962, shortly after finishing school, her first album, "Oh oh Chéri", appeared, with the title song written by Johnny Hallyday's writing duo. The flip side of the record, "Tous les garçons et les filles" became a huge success, which sold 2 million copies. She had long hair and usually wore jeans with a leather jacket, while accompanying her songs on the guitar.
She sang in English, Spanish, and German occasionally. In 1963, she represented Monaco in the Grand Prix d'Eurovision de la Chanson with "L'amour s'en va" and emerged in fifth place. In 1968, she received the Grand Prix du Disque Académie Charles Cros.
In 1981, she married her long-time companion Jacques Dutronc, with whom she had already had a son (Thomas Dutronc) in 1973. In May 2000, she had a comeback with the album "Clair Obscur". Her son played the guitar, and her husband sang the duet "Puisque vous partez en voyage". Iggy Pop and Etienne Daho participated, as well. She currently lives near Paris.
In 2006 she released a new duets album entitled "Parenthèses" which included a song with her son Thomas.
In 2021, Hardy announced that her health had worsened and that she would not be able to sing again owing to the effects of cancer therapy.
Comment te dire adieu
Françoise Hardy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Avoir de réflexes malheureux
Il faut que tu m'expliques un peu mieux
Comment te dire adieu
Mon cœur de silex vite prend feu
Ton cœur de pyrex résiste au feu
Je suis bien perplexe, je ne veux
Me résoudre aux adieux
Je sais bien qu'un ex amour n'a pas de chance
Ou si peu
Mais pour moi une explication vaudrait mieux
Sous aucun prétexte je ne veux
Devant toi surexposer mes yeux
Derrière un kleenex je saurai mieux
Comment te dire adieu
Comment te dire adieu
Tu as mis a l'index nos nuits blanches
Nos matins gris-bleu
Mais pour moi une explication vaudrait mieux
Sous aucun prétexte je ne veux
Devant toi surexposer mes yeux
Derrière un kleenex je saurai mieux
Comment te dire adieu
Comment te dire adieu
Comment te dire adieu
The lyrics of Comment te dire adieu by Françoise Hardy revolve around the difficulty of saying goodbye to a past love. The singer is hesitant to have any negative emotional reactions in the face of the situation, as evident by the line "Sous aucun prétexte je ne veux/Avoir de réflexes malheureux" (Under no circumstances do I want to have unhappy reflexes." The use of "je" (I) throughout the song implies that the singer is the one who has been left behind or is doing the leaving.
The singer, however, is in need of an explanation or closure, as the line "Je suis bien perplexe, je ne veux/Me résoudre aux adieux" (I am quite perplexed, I do not want to resign to farewells) illustrates. The use of contrasting imagery to describe the hearts of the singer and the past lover also adds depth to the lyrics. The line "Mon cœur de silex vite prend feu/Ton cœur de pyrex résiste au feu" (My heart of flint quickly catches fire/Your heart of pyrex resists the fire) implies that the singer is more emotionally vulnerable in the situation compared to their past lover.
Overall, the lyrics of Comment te dire adieu highlight the difficulty and emotional complexity of saying goodbye to a past love.
Line by Line Meaning
Sous aucun prétexte je ne veux
I absolutely do not want to
Avoir de réflexes malheureux
have any unfortunate reactions
Il faut que tu m'expliques un peu mieux
You need to explain a little better
Comment te dire adieu
How to say goodbye to you
Mon cœur de silex vite prend feu
My heart of flint quickly catches fire
Ton cœur de pyrex résiste au feu
Your heart of Pyrex resists the fire
Je suis bien perplexe, je ne veux
I am quite perplexed, I do not want
Me résoudre aux adieux
to resign myself to goodbyes
Je sais bien qu'un ex amour n'a pas de chance
I know very well that a former love has no chance
Ou si peu
or very little
Mais pour moi une explication vaudrait mieux
But for me, an explanation would be better
Devant toi surexposer mes yeux
Exposing my eyes too much in front of you
Derrière un kleenex je saurai mieux
I will know better behind a Kleenex
Tu as mis a l'index nos nuits blanches
You have put our sleepless nights on the index
Nos matins gris-bleu
Our gray-blue mornings
Comment te dire adieu
How to say goodbye to you
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Arnold Goland, Jack Gold, Serge Gainsbourg
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind