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
Misogynie à part
Georges Brassens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Il y a les emmerdant's, on en trouve à foison
En foule elles se pressent
Il y a les emmerdeus's, un peu plus raffinées
Et puis, très nettement au-dessus du panier
Y a les emmerderesses
La mienne, à elle seul', sur tout's surenchérit
Véritable prodige
Emmerdante, emmerdeuse, emmerderesse itou
Elle passe, ell' dépasse, elle surpasse tout
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
Mon Dieu, pardonnez-moi ces propos bien amers
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmer-
de, elle abuse, elle attige
Ell' m'emmerde et j'regrett' mes bell's amours avec
La p'tite enfant d'Marie que m'a soufflée l'évêque
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, et m'oblige à me cu-
rer les ongles avant de confirmer son cul
Or, c'est pas callipyge
Et la charité seul' pouss' ma main résignée
Vers ce cul rabat-joie, conique, renfrogné
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, je le répète et quand
Ell' me tape sur le ventre, elle garde ses gants
Et ça me désoblige
Outre que ça dénote un grand manque de tact
Ça n'favorise pas tellement le contact
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde , quand je tombe à genoux
Pour cetain's dévotions qui sont bien de chez nous
Et qui donn'nt le vertige
Croyant l'heure venue de chanter le credo
Elle m'ouvre tout grand son missel sur le dos
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, à la fornication
Ell' s'emmerde, ell' s'emmerde avec ostentation
Ell' s'emmerde, vous dis-je
Au lieu de s'écrier: " Encor ! Hardi ! Hardi ! "
Ell' déclam' du Claudel, du Claudel, j'ai bien dit
Alors ça, ça me fige
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, j'admets que ce Claudel
Soit un homm' de génie, un poète immortel
J'reconnais son prestige
Mais qu'on aille chercher dedans son œuvre pie
Un aphrodisiaque, non, ça, c'est d'l'utopie
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
In the song "Misogynie à part," Georges Brassens talks about the different types of annoying people. He starts by acknowledging that there are plenty of difficult women (emmerdantes) out there, as well as more refined troublemakers (emmerdeuses). But, he says, there is one type that stands out among the rest: the ultimate, top-of-the-line, highest-quality "emmerderesse," or super-annoying woman - his own girlfriend.
Brassens then goes on to describe just how much she gets on his nerves. She combines all three categories of difficult women and exceeds them, making her a true prodigy of annoyance. She's so frustrating that he finds himself longing for the simpler days of his past romantic relationships, even the one that was taken from him by the bishop. She's not even particularly attractive, yet he still puts up with her just out of charity.
Throughout the song, Brassens employs a mix of crude and clever wordplay to emphasize just how grating his girlfriend is. He uses repetition to drive home just how much she "m'emmerde," or annoys him. Despite his exasperation, however, there's a sense that he still cares for her in some way, since he continues to put up with her antics.
Line by Line Meaning
Misogynie à part, le sage avait raison
Putting aside any prejudice against women, the wise man was right.
Il y a les emmerdant's, on en trouve à foison
There are those who are annoying, they are abundant.
En foule elles se pressent
They swarm around in crowds.
Il y a les emmerdeus's, un peu plus raffinées
There are those who are a little more refined in their annoying tactics.
Et puis, très nettement au-dessus du panier
And then, very clearly, above all the rest,
Y a les emmerderesses
There are the most annoying of all: the 'emmerderesses'.
La mienne, à elle seul', sur tout's surenchérit
Mine alone exceeds all of these categories.
Ell' relève à la fois des trois catégories
She belongs to all three categories at once.
Véritable prodige
A true prodigy.
Emmerdante, emmerdeuse, emmerderesse itou
Annoying, irksome, and pesky, all in one.
Elle passe, ell' dépasse, elle surpasse tout
She passes, surpasses, and stands out above everything.
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
She annoys me, I tell you.
Mon Dieu, pardonnez-moi ces propos bien amers
My God, forgive me for these bitter words.
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmer-
She annoys me, she annoys me, she annoys me,
de, elle abuse, elle attige
she overdoes it, she aggravates me.
Ell' m'emmerde et j'regrett' mes bell's amours avec
She annoys me, and I regret my past loves with
La p'tite enfant d'Marie que m'a soufflée l'évêque
The little girl from Mary whom the bishop stole from me.
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
She annoys me, I tell you.
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, et m'oblige à me cu-
She annoys me, she annoys me, and makes me
rer les ongles avant de confirmer son cul
gnaw at my nails before confirming her stubborn butt.
Or, c'est pas callipyge
But, it's not exactly curvy.
Et la charité seul' pouss' ma main résignée
Only charity guides my resigned hand
Vers ce cul rabat-joie, conique, renfrogné
Towards that grumpy, conical butt.
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
She annoys me, I tell you.
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, je le répète et quand
She annoys me, she annoys me, I repeat it and when
Ell' me tape sur le ventre, elle garde ses gants
She hits me in the stomach, and she keeps her gloves on.
Et ça me désoblige
And that's quite unpleasant for me.
Outre que ça dénote un grand manque de tact
On top of that, it shows a serious lack of tact.
Ça n'favorise pas tellement le contact
It doesn't really encourage contact.
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
She annoys me, I tell you.
Ell' m'emmerde , quand je tombe à genoux
She annoys me when I kneel down
Pour cetain's dévotions qui sont bien de chez nous
For some devotions that are very much a part of our culture.
Et qui donn'nt le vertige
And which make my head spin.
Croyant l'heure venue de chanter le credo
Believing the time has come to sing the creed,
Elle m'ouvre tout grand son missel sur le dos
She opens up her missal wide on her back.
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
She annoys me, I tell you.
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, à la fornication
She annoys me, she annoys me, during lovemaking.
Ell' s'emmerde, ell' s'emmerde avec ostentation
She bothers me, she bothers me, ostentatiously.
Ell' s'emmerde, vous dis-je
She bothers me, I tell you.
Au lieu de s'écrier: " Encor ! Hardi ! Hardi ! "
Instead of crying out, "Again! Bold! Bold!"
Ell' déclam' du Claudel, du Claudel, j'ai bien dit
She recites Claudel, yes Claudel, I said it.
Alors ça, ça me fige
Now that, that really freezes me.
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, j'admets que ce Claudel
She annoys me, she annoys me, but I admit that this Claudel
Soit un homm' de génie, un poète immortel
Is a man of genius, an immortal poet.
J'reconnais son prestige
I acknowledge his prestige.
Mais qu'on aille chercher dedans son œuvre pie
But to search for an aphrodisiac in his pious work
Un aphrodisiaque, non, ça, c'est d'l'utopie
Is pure folly, an unrealistic idea.
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je
She annoys me, I tell you.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: GEORGES CHARLES BRASSENS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Monsieur Manatane
"Chérie, tu connais un certain Georges Brassens?", "non pourquoi?" , "Et bien lui il semble bien te connaitre"
jeremy leroy
😂😂😂😂😂
pothin miryam
Belle chanson, toujours valable de nos jours
александр богданов
Спасибо! Merci!
Anne F
Mazette ! Elle l'emmerdait vraiment ! Ça oui !
александр богданов
@Anne F
Les femmes sont de D.ieu, et les hommes sont la moitié de sa création, cependant, comme les jeunes filles
Darlene A
Comme c’est beau, on dirait du Leodagan.
Rémi Galand
je pense que maitre Brassens à dû avoir l'idée de cette chanson en lisant un message de Leodagan par le biais un pigeon en retard destiné au roi Arthur.
Ceci Cela
Merci même si c'est pas lui respect 🙂
MB Janus
Même si c'est pas lui ? Pour le paraphraser, tout est bon chez lui, il y a rien à jeter..