Françoise Hardy signed her first contract with the record label Vogue in November 1961. In April 1962, shortly after finishing school, her first record Oh Oh Chéri appeared, written by Johnny Hallyday's writing duo. Her own flip side of the record, "Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles" became a success, riding the wave of Yé-yé music in France, with two million sales.
Hardy sang in French, English, Italian, Spanish, and German. In 1963 she came fifth for Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest with "L'amour s'en va". In 1963, she was awarded the Grand Prix Du Disque of the Charles Cros Academy.
In 1981, she married her long-time companion Jacques Dutronc, with whom she had had a son, Thomas Dutronc, in 1973. In 1994, she collaborated with the British pop group Blur for their "La Comedie" version of To The End. In May 2000, she made a comeback with the album Clair Obscur. Her son played guitar and her husband sang the duet "Puisque Vous Partez En Voyage." Iggy Pop and Étienne Daho also took part. Hardy lives near Paris and Dutronc lives in Monticello, Corsica, although they remain a couple.[citation needed]
Cafard
Francoise Hardy Lyrics
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les yeux à demi-clos
j'aperçois le clair de lune
qui brille derrière mes carreaux
un peu de vin d'orange
me réchauffe le sang
me fait voir passer des anges
c'est une façon de tuer le temps
les idées noire
de tous les soirs
un ou deux somnifères
seront-ils souffisants
pour passer la nuit entière
à dormir en me foutant
de ne pas pouvoir
ne pas le voir
ni lui dire bonsoir
The opening line of Françoise Hardy's "Cafard" translates to "I stretch and smoke, my eyes half-closed" and sets the mood for the rest of the song. Hardy's melancholic delivery coupled with the emotive piano accompaniment creates an atmosphere of yearning and boredom. The lyrics about killing time to distract from the darkness and depression that surrounds the singer are poignant and relatable. The wine and sleeping pills mentioned in the song are used as a means to escape the unyielding monotony of day-to-day life, as well as to deal with the anxiety and despair that come along with it.
Hardy sings of passing time seeing angels and longing for restful slumber as she tries to kill the cockroaches that infest her mind. The reference to cockroaches in the title is a metaphor for the negativity and paranoia that plagues the singer's thoughts. The all-too-familiar feeling of coming home and feeling stuck and unable to escape the cycle of repetitive routines is further exemplified by the final lines of the song. "Will one or two sleeping pills be enough?" It implies that even an escape into sleep may not provide an escape from the mundane reality that consumes her.
"Cafard" is a beautiful and haunting song that speaks to the human condition of being trapped in one's own mind. Françoise Hardy manages to capture the emotions of listlessness and desperation with her captivating vocals and lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
je m'étire et je fume
I stretch out and smoke
les yeux à demi-clos
with half-closed eyes
j'aperçois le clair de lune
I catch sight of the moonlight
qui brille derrière mes carreaux
that shines behind my panes
un peu de vin d'orange
a little orange wine
me réchauffe le sang
warms my blood
me fait voir passer des anges
makes me see angels passing by
c'est une façon de tuer le temps
it's a way of killing time
de tuer le cafard
of killing the blues
les idées noire
the dark thoughts
de tous les soirs
every evening
un ou deux somnifères
one or two sleeping pills
seront-ils suffisants
will they be enough
pour passer la nuit entière
to spend the whole night
à dormir en me foutant
sleeping and not caring
de ne pas pouvoir
not being able to
ne pas le voir
not see it
ni lui dire bonsoir
nor say goodnight to it
Contributed by Sebastian A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.