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.
Le Maraudeur
Georges Moustaki Lyrics
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Pardonnez-moi d'être venu
Faire pousser la mauvaise herbe
Dans vos jardins entretenus
D'avoir cueilli dans vos vergers
Les tendres fruit's effarouchés
Qu'à un joli jeune homme imberbe
Vous destiniez dans vos projets
Si j'ai braconné votre cœur
Comm' le dernier des maraudeurs
Et si j'ai froissé quelques roses
Vos dix huit ans en sont la cause
Pardonne-moi aussi, veux tu
Désertant les sentiers battus
D'avoir piétiné les plates bandes
Où vivait la fleur de vertu
Mademoiselle de bon aloi
Quand c'est 1'amour qui fait la loi
J'ai la bouche bien trop gourmande
Pour baiser le bout de vos doigts
Si j'ai braconné votre cœur
Comm' le dernier des maraudeurs
Et si j'ai froissé quelques roses
Vos dix huit ans en sont la cause
Mademoiselle de bonne tenue
Demain quand je ne serai plus
Qu'une ombre que le vent disperse
Un lointain amour défendu
Je demanderai au Bon Dieu
Que le soleil quitte les cieux
Et que la pluie tombe en averse
Sur le jardin des jours heureux
Quand je braconnais votre cœur
Comm' le dernier des maraudeurs
J'y ai laissé un chrysanthème
Porter le deuil de mes "Je t'aime"
The lyrics of Georges Moustaki's song "Le Maraudeur" speak of a man who acknowledges his transgressions and asks for forgiveness from a respectable woman. He compares himself to a marauder, someone who trespasses on forbidden territory, perhaps metaphorically referring to his actions trespassing on her heart. He confesses to "growing weeds" in her well-maintained gardens and picking the innocent fruits from her orchards, which were meant for a young and clean-shaven lover she had in mind. He admits that his actions may have caused some damage, comparing it to trampling on the flower beds where virtue resides.
The singer continues to apologize for his audacity and for deviating from the beaten path. He regrets having carelessly stepped on the flower beds of morality, where the flower of virtue lived. He suggests that when love is the law, he is too insatiable to only kiss the tips of her fingers. He then repeats his earlier confession of being a marauder and admits that the cause of his misconduct is her youthfulness and innocence.
In the final verse, the singer muses on a future when he is no longer present, comparing himself to a dispersed shadow carried away by the wind. He wishes that when that time comes, the sun would leave the sky and it would rain heavily on the garden of their happy days. This melancholic wish implies that he wishes for all traces of their relationship to be washed away and, as a final tribute, he mentions leaving a chrysanthemum behind to mourn his "I love you's".
Line by Line Meaning
Mademoiselle de bonne tenue
Well-mannered young lady
Pardonnez-moi d'être venu
Forgive me for coming
Faire pousser la mauvaise herbe
To grow the weeds
Dans vos jardins entretenus
In your well-kept gardens
D'avoir cueilli dans vos vergers
To have picked from your orchards
Les tendres fruit's effarouchés
The tender frightened fruits
Qu'à un joli jeune homme imberbe
That to a handsome young beardless man
Vous destiniez dans vos projets
You destined in your plans
Si j'ai braconné votre cœur
If I poached your heart
Comm' le dernier des maraudeurs
Like the last of the marauders
Et si j'ai froissé quelques roses
And if I have crumpled some roses
Vos dix huit ans en sont la cause
Your eighteen years are the cause
Pardonne-moi aussi, veux tu
Forgive me too, do you want
Désertant les sentiers battus
Deserting the beaten paths
D'avoir piétiné les plates bandes
To have trampled the flower beds
Où vivait la fleur de vertu
Where the flower of virtue lived
Mademoiselle de bon aloi
Lady of good quality
Quand c'est l'amour qui fait la loi
When love is the law
J'ai la bouche bien trop gourmande
I have a mouth that is too greedy
Pour baiser le bout de vos doigts
To kiss the tip of your fingers
Si j'ai braconné votre cœur
If I poached your heart
Comm' le dernier des maraudeurs
Like the last of the marauders
Et si j'ai froissé quelques roses
And if I have crumpled some roses
Vos dix huit ans en sont la cause
Your eighteen years are the cause
Mademoiselle de bonne tenue
Well-mannered young lady
Demain quand je ne serai plus
Tomorrow when I will no longer be
Qu'une ombre que le vent disperse
Just a shadow dispersed by the wind
Un lointain amour défendu
A forbidden distant love
Je demanderai au Bon Dieu
I will ask God
Que le soleil quitte les cieux
That the sun leaves the skies
Et que la pluie tombe en averse
And that the rain falls in a downpour
Sur le jardin des jours heureux
On the garden of happy days
Quand je braconnais votre cœur
When I poached your heart
Comm' le dernier des maraudeurs
Like the last of the marauders
J'y ai laissé un chrysanthème
I left a chrysanthemum there
Porter le deuil de mes 'Je t'aime'
To mourn my 'I love you'
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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