Moustaki was born Yussef Mustacchi on the 3rd May 1934 in Alexandria, Egypt, of Sephardic Jewish parents who had moved there from Corfu, and who ran a bookshop in the city. The family spoke Italian at home, but Georges (then Yussef) spoke Arabic with his friends and attended a French school to which his Francophile parents sent him and his sisters. In 1951 he moved to Paris, where he was inspired by the young Georges Brassens, in honour of whom he changed his name to Georges Moustaki.
Moustaki wrote and sang in French, Italian, Greek, Spanish, English, Yiddish, and Arabic. Early influences included Edith Piaf, with whom Moustaki carried on a year-long romance. His pan-national approach to music made him a star in Europe in the late sixties and early seventies.
He died on the 23rd May 2013 in Nice, France.
L'Ambassadeur
Georges Moustaki Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mon pays c’est un peu toute la galaxie
Je ne suis pas d’ailleurs je ne suis pas d’ici
Je suis contemporain de chaque instant qui passe
Je viens de l’infini et de l’intemporel
Je hante les bas-fonds et fréquente les cours
Mes lettres de créance sont des mots d’amour
Dans toutes les langues de la Tour de Babel
J’ai les clefs du futur et de la nostalgie
Ma carte de visite est une mappemonde
Exilé de partout mes chemins vagabondent
À travers tous les signes de l’astrologie
Demain lorsque le vent effacera mes traces
Demain lorsque l’hiver étouffera ma voix
Demain lorsque la mort aura raison de moi
Lorsque viendra le temps de rejoindre l’espace
Le ciel d’Alexandrie sera mon dernier toit
Lorsque viendra le temps de rejoindre l’espace
Le ciel d’Alexandrie sera mon dernier toit
The lyrics of Georges Moustaki's song "L'Ambassadeur" speak of the singer’s identity as the ambassador of time and space. He professes to belong to everywhere and nowhere, and to be a contemporary of every moment that passes. He declares that his country is the entire galaxy, that he traverses every sign of the astrological chart, and that he carries the keys to the future and nostalgia. Moustaki describes himself as existing in the depths and in the upper echelons of society, with his letters of credentials being words of love spoken in different languages. He carries a world map as his business card and roams the earth as an exile with wandering paths.
The song ends with a tone of finality as Moustaki contemplates his mortality. He looks towards the future when the winds wipe away his tracks, and winter silences his voice. He knows that death is inevitable and that, in time, he will be forced to leave this earthly plane, but he is not afraid. He envisions that when the time comes, the sky of Alexandria will be his final resting place.
The song speaks to the human condition of longing for belonging and identity, but ultimately realizing that we exist in an impermanent world. Moustaki’s lyrics embodied a cosmic perspective, while also acknowledging our physical limitations as human beings.
Line by Line Meaning
Je suis l’ambassadeur du temps et de l’espace
I am the representative of time and space
Mon pays c’est un peu toute la galaxie
My country is the entire galaxy
Je ne suis pas d’ailleurs je ne suis pas d’ici
I am not from here, nor from there
Je suis contemporain de chaque instant qui passe
I am a contemporary of every passing moment
Je viens de l’infini et de l’intemporel
I come from the infinite and the timeless
Je hante les bas-fonds et fréquente les cours
I haunt the underworld and frequent the high society
Mes lettres de créance sont des mots d’amour
My letters of accreditation are words of love
Dans toutes les langues de la Tour de Babel
In all the languages of the Tower of Babel
J’ai les clefs du futur et de la nostalgie
I have the keys to the future and nostalgia
Ma carte de visite est une mappemonde
My calling card is a world map
Exilé de partout mes chemins vagabondent
Exiled from everywhere, my paths wander
À travers tous les signes de l’astrologie
Through all the signs of astrology
Demain lorsque le vent effacera mes traces
Tomorrow when the wind erases my tracks
Demain lorsque l’hiver étouffera ma voix
Tomorrow when winter silences my voice
Demain lorsque la mort aura raison de moi
Tomorrow when death takes me
Lorsque viendra le temps de rejoindre l’espace
When the time comes to join space
Le ciel d’Alexandrie sera mon dernier toit
The sky of Alexandria will be my final home
Lorsque viendra le temps de rejoindre l’espace
When the time comes to join space
Le ciel d’Alexandrie sera mon dernier toit
The sky of Alexandria will be my final home
Contributed by Josiah B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Manou Manouchka
¸Quelle chanson formidable. Il était magicien des mots malgré que le français n'était pas sa langue maternelle. C'est assez impressionnant ......oui il était vraiment extraordinaire .................xoxo
bénichou nicole
Moustaki,un homme rare, masculin et féminin, beau dehors et beau dedans , de la tendresse, de la profondeur, de l'humilité ...éternellement ! ses mots et sa musique ,pur enchantement.
rachel saunders
tous ces commentaires sont tellement vrais. Je l'adore
Daniela Sauerwein
C est trop beau❤