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.
La rue du Babouin
Françoise Hardy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Vous étiez la grâce en personne
Mais nos champs de bataille nous laissaient sur ma faim
Pourquoi moi ? Que faisiez-vous à Rome ?
Vous parliez pour le monde d'un éminent éclat
Je buvais, muette, vos paroles qui brisaient le silence
Autant que mon destin et m'enivraient beaucoup mieux que l'alcool
Vous viviez autrefois dans la rue du Babouin
Pourquoi moi ?
Et pourquoi pas !
Que faisions-nous à Rome ?
Vous disiez que l'amour n'est pas l'heure sans fin
Une sorte d'auberge espagnole
Autour de nous flottaient des senteurs de jasmin
Où êtes-vous ?
Où sont nos années folles ?
Fascinée, j'admirais dans les glaces sans tain
La beauté du son de la sorgue
Qui épinglait les coeurs sans un geste un à un
En ce temps-là vous n'aimiez pas les hommes
Vous disiez que l'amour est alors sans fin
Où êtes-vous ?
Où sont nos années folles ?
Je vivais autrefois dans la rue du Babouin
Et pourquoi moi ?
Et pourquoi pas !
Que faisions-nous à Rome ?
The lyrics of Françoise Hardy's song La rue du Babouin paint a picture of two people who used to live in the same street, the Rue du Babouin, but seem to have led quite different lives since then. The singer addresses the person she used to know, who she describes as "grace personified," and wonders what brought them to Rome. They seem to have had different experiences in life, as the singer longs for something more fulfilling than the battlefields she has experienced while the other seems to have had a prominent voice in the world.
The mood of the song is one of nostalgia, with the singer reminiscing about their youthful days and the scent of jasmine that surrounded them. She was fascinated by the sound of the sorgue and admired it in mirrors that reflected without showing the faces of the people. The other person talks about how love is not endless and is like a Spanish inn, but the singer wonders where they are now and where their wild years have gone.
The lyrics of the song seem to be about the melancholic longing for youth and for connections lost through time. They evoke a sense of longing and regret for a simpler time and for the people that were once a part of that time.
Line by Line Meaning
Nous vivions autrefois dans la rue du Babouin
We used to live in Rue du Babouin
Vous étiez la grâce en personne
You were personified grace
Mais nos champs de bataille nous laissaient sur ma faim
But our battlefields left us hungry
Pourquoi moi ? Que faisiez-vous à Rome ?
Why me? What were you doing in Rome?
Vous parliez pour le monde d'un éminent éclat
You spoke with a remarkable brilliance for the world
Je buvais, muette, vos paroles qui brisaient le silence
I drank in silence, your words which broke the silence
Autant que mon destin et m'enivraient beaucoup mieux que l'alcool
As much as my fate, and intoxicated me much better than alcohol
Vous viviez autrefois dans la rue du Babouin
You used to live in Rue du Babouin
Pourquoi moi ? Et pourquoi pas ! Que faisions-nous à Rome ?
Why me? And why not! What were we doing in Rome?
Vous disiez que l'amour n'est pas l'heure sans fin
You said that love is not an endless hour
Une sorte d'auberge espagnole
A kind of Spanish inn
Autour de nous flottaient des senteurs de jasmin
Around us floated scents of jasmine
Où êtes-vous ? Où sont nos années folles ?
Where are you? Where are our crazy years?
Fascinée, j'admirais dans les glaces sans tain
Fascinated, I admired in the two-way mirrors
La beauté du son de la sorgue
The beauty of the sound of the sorgue
Qui épinglait les cœurs sans un geste un à un
Which pinned hearts down one by one without a gesture
En ce temps-là vous n'aimiez pas les hommes
In those times you didn't like men
Vous disiez que l'amour est alors sans fin
You said that love was endless then
Où êtes-vous ? Où sont nos années folles ?
Where are you? Where are our crazy years?
Je vivais autrefois dans la rue du Babouin
I used to live in Rue du Babouin
Et pourquoi moi? Et pourquoi pas! Que faisions-nous à Rome ?
And why me? And why not! What were we doing in Rome?
Contributed by Amelia G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.