He was uncompromising when composing his songs. His tactical method of addressing issues was profound and often humorous, making him a unique and effective figure in the French community.
Brassens, born in 1921 in the small Mediterrenean port of Sete, wanted to be a poet. He realized very early however that poetry in the 20th century could hardly put bread on the table and instead set himself to become a singer.
He is much less famous internationally than contemporaries like Charles Aznavour, Edith Piaf and Yves Montand, as much of the impact of his songs came from the lyrics, which proved difficult to translate into other languages. He loved the Middle Ages and used a great deal of Old French vocabulary, as well as many classical - ie., Latin and Greek - references. Few people, even in France, possess the background to fully understand his songs.
Yet he was at the same time a hugely popular singer and many of his songs still carry a lot of appeal and relevance. In this sense, he can be compared to Boris Vian, to Jacques Brel, and to a lesser extent to Serge Gainsbourg.
He was very sophisticated, yet at the same time used profanity liberally. While he wasn't politically engaged, he was nevertheless unambiguously a leftist, many of his songs carrying blatant and buoyant anarchist overtones.
While his music was initially quite primitive, the 1950's St-Germain-des-Pres influence quickly made itself felt and while subdued and - in his mind - always secondary to the lyrics, it became increasingly sophisticated - to the point that many of his songs have been covered and reinterpretated by jazzmen (see for instance this UK site: www.projetbrassens.eclipse.co.uk)
He died in 1981, but up to this date (2006) there are few French people - including most of those born since - who can't sing along to his most famous song, Les Copains d'abord ("Friends foremost") or his "Bancs public" ("Public Benches").
For those interested, this site carries a number of (quite good) English tranlations of his songs: www.brassens.org
La Traitresse
Georges Brassens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Je n'tiens plus à la vie, je cherche un fossoyeur
Qu'aurait un' tombe à vendre à n'importe quel prix
J'ai surpris ma maîtresse au bras de son mari
Ma maîtresse, la traîtresse !
J'croyais tenir l'amour au bout de mon harpon
Mon p'tit drapeau flottait au cœur d'madam' Dupont
J'ai surpris ma maîtresse avec son mari, pouah
Ma maîtresse, la traîtresse !
Trouverais-je les noms, trouverais-je les mots
Pour noter d'infamie cet enfant de chameau
Qu'a choisi son époux pour tromper son amant
Qu'a conduit l'adultère à son point culminant
Ma maîtresse, la traîtresse !
Où donc avais-j'les yeux ? Quoi donc avais-j' dedans ?
Pour pas m'être aperçu depuis un certain temps
Que, quand ell' m'embrassait, ell' semblait moins goulue
Et faisait des enfants qui n'me ressemblaient plus
Ma maîtresse, la traîtresse !
Et pour bien m'enfoncer la corne dans le cœur
Par un raffinement satanique, moqueur
La perfide, à voix haute, a dit à mon endroit
" Le plus cornard des deux n'est point celui qu'on croit "
Ma maîtresse, la traîtresse !
J'ai surpris les Dupont, ce couple de marauds
En train d'recommencer leur hymen à zéro
J'ai surpris ma maîtresse équivoque, ambiguë
En train d'intervertir l'ordre de ses cocus
Ma maîtresse, la traîtresse !
In "La traîtresse," Georges Brassens sings about an experience of being betrayed by his mistress. The singer is so devastated that he considers appealing to death and even seeks out a gravedigger with a tomb to sell. The mistress is described as a "traîtresse" (traitor) for having cheated on the singer with her husband.
Through his lyrics, Brassens conveys the shock and disbelief of discovering infidelity in a relationship that he believed was secure. The singer had believed himself to be in love with his mistress and thought he had her loyalty. He laments that he didn't heed the signs that something was amiss - that her kisses were less passionate, and their children didn't bear his resemblance.
The song ends with the mistress taunting the singer by suggesting that he is the cuckold, not her husband. The pain of the betrayal is palpable in these lyrics, which speak to the common human experience of heartbreak and deception.
Line by Line Meaning
J'en appelle à la mort, je l'attends sans frayeur
I am calling out to death, waiting for it fearlessly
Je n'tiens plus à la vie, je cherche un fossoyeur
I am no longer interested in life, I'm looking for a grave digger
Qu'aurait un' tombe à vendre à n'importe quel prix
One who has a grave to sell at any price
J'ai surpris ma maîtresse au bras de son mari
I caught my mistress with her husband
Ma maîtresse, la traîtresse !
My mistress, the traitor!
J'croyais tenir l'amour au bout de mon harpon
I thought I had love at the end of my harpoon
Mon p'tit drapeau flottait au cœur d'madam' Dupont
My little flag was waving in the heart of Madame Dupont
Mais tout est consommé : hier soir, au coin d'un bois
But everything is done: last night, at the corner of a wood
J'ai surpris ma maîtresse avec son mari, pouah
I caught my mistress with her husband, yuck
Trouverais-je les noms, trouverais-je les mots
Would I find the names, would I find the words
Pour noter d'infamie cet enfant de chameau
To note the infamy of this camel's offspring
Qu'a choisi son époux pour tromper son amant
Who chose her husband to cheat on her lover
Qu'a conduit l'adultère à son point culminant
What led the adultery to its peak
Ma maîtresse, la traîtresse !
My mistress, the traitor!
Où donc avais-j'les yeux ? Quoi donc avais-j' dedans ?
Where were my eyes? What was going on inside me?
Pour pas m'être aperçu depuis un certain temps
For not having noticed for a certain time
Que, quand ell' m'embrassait, ell' semblait moins goulue
That when she kissed me, she seemed less greedy
Et faisait des enfants qui n'me ressemblaient plus
And had children who no longer looked like me
Ma maîtresse, la traîtresse !
My mistress, the traitor!
Et pour bien m'enfoncer la corne dans le cœur
And to plunge the horn deep into my heart
Par un raffinement satanique, moqueur
With a satanic and mocking refinement
La perfide, à voix haute, a dit à mon endroit
The perfidious one, loudly, said about me
"Le plus cornard des deux n'est point celui qu'on croit"
"The biggest cuckold of the two is not who you think"
Ma maîtresse, la traîtresse !
My mistress, the traitor!
J'ai surpris les Dupont, ce couple de marauds
I caught the Duponts, that couple of rogues
En train d'recommencer leur hymen à zéro
Starting their marriage again from scratch
J'ai surpris ma maîtresse équivoque, ambiguë
I caught my ambiguous, equivocal mistress
En train d'intervertir l'ordre de ses cocus
Interchanging the order of her cuckolded lovers
Ma maîtresse, la traîtresse !
My mistress, the traitor!
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: GEORGES CHARLES BRASSENS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind