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.
Votre fille
Georges Moustaki Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Que le temps passe vite
Madame, hier encore elle était si petite
Et ses premiers tourments sont
Vos premières rides
Madame, et vos premiers soucis
Chacun de ses vingt ans pour
Vous connaissiez déjà tout
Ce qu'elle découvre
Vous avez oublié les choses qui la troublent
Madame, et vous troublaient aussi
On la trouvait jolie et
Voici qu'elle est belle
Pour un individu presque aussi jeune qu'elle
Un garçon qui ressemble à celui pour lequel
Madame, vous aviez embelli
Ils se font un jardin d'un
Coin de mauvaise herbe
Nouant la fleur de l'âge
En un bouquet superbe
Il y a bien longtemps qu'on
Vous a mise en gerbes
Madame, le printemps vous oublie
Chaque nuit qui vous semble
À chaque nuit semblable
Pendant que vous rêvez vos rêves raisonnables
De plaisir et d'amour ils
Se rendent coupables
Madame, au creux du même lit
Mais coupables jamais n'ont
Eu tant d'innocence
Aussi peu de regrets et tant d'insouciance
Qu'ils ne demandent même pas votre indulgence
Madame, pour leurs tendres délit's
Jusqu'au jour où peut-être à
La première larme
A la première peine d'amour et de femme
Il ne tiendra qu'à vous de sourire Madame
Madame, pour qu'elle vous sourie
The lyrics of Georges Moustaki's song "Votre fille" depict the journey of a mother watching her daughter grow up. The first stanza begins with the mother realizing that her daughter has turned twenty and how quickly time has passed. The mother reflects on how recently her daughter was just a small child, and now she is facing her own challenges and worries. The lyrics highlight the connection between the daughter's growth and the visible signs of aging on the mother's face.
In the second stanza, the lyrics explain how each of the daughter's twenty years feels like a double for the mother. The mother is portrayed as having experienced and understood everything that her daughter is now discovering. However, she has also forgotten the specific troubles and uncertainties that her daughter is currently going through. The lyrics suggest that the mother and daughter share similar experiences and emotions, despite the generation gap.
The third stanza introduces a young man who is attracted to the daughter. The lyrics imply that he resembles someone from the mother's past who brought her happiness and made her feel beautiful. The mother's memories and experiences are mirrored in her daughter's relationship, symbolizing a passing of time and a continuation of emotional connections.
In the fourth stanza, the lyrics describe how the daughter and her boyfriend create their own little paradise despite the imperfections and challenges they face. The metaphor of "nouant la fleur de l'âge en un bouquet superbe" (tying the flower of youth into a beautiful bouquet) suggests that they are embracing the joys and potential of their youth. Meanwhile, the mother is left feeling forgotten by spring, symbolizing the passing of her own season of youth and new beginnings.
The final stanza brings a bittersweet realization for the mother. As she dreams her "reasonable dreams of pleasure and love," her daughter and her boyfriend explore their own passions and love for each other. The lyrics suggest that the daughter and her boyfriend are innocent in their actions, lacking regret or concern for the mother's approval. However, at the same time, the lyrics convey the possibility that the mother still holds influence over her daughter's emotions. The final lines suggest that it is up to the mother to decide whether to smile and accept her daughter's choices, ultimately hoping for her daughter's smile in return.
Line by Line Meaning
Votre fille a vingt ans
Your daughter is twenty years old
Que le temps passe vite
How time flies
Madame, hier encore elle était si petite
Madam, just yesterday she was so little
Et ses premiers tourments sont
And her first torments are
Vos premières rides
Your first wrinkles
Madame, et vos premiers soucis
Madam, and your first worries
Chacun de ses vingt ans pour
Each of her twenty years for
Vous a compté double
Counted double for you
Vous connaissiez déjà tout
You already knew everything
Ce qu'elle découvre
What she discovers
Vous avez oublié les choses qui la troublent
You forgot the things that trouble her
Madame, et vous troublaient aussi
Madam, and troubled you too
On la trouvait jolie et
They found her pretty and
Voici qu'elle est belle
Now she is beautiful
Pour un individu presque aussi jeune qu'elle
For an individual almost as young as her
Un garçon qui ressemble à celui pour lequel
A boy who resembles the one for whom
Madame, vous aviez embelli
Madam, you had beautified
Ils se font un jardin d'un
They create a garden from a
Coin de mauvaise herbe
Corner of weeds
Nouant la fleur de l'âge
Binding the flower of youth
En un bouquet superbe
Into a superb bouquet
Il y a bien longtemps qu'on
It's been a long time since
Vous a mise en gerbes
You were put in garlands
Madame, le printemps vous oublie
Madam, spring forgets you
Chaque nuit qui vous semble
Every night that seems to you
À chaque nuit semblable
Every similar night
Pendant que vous rêvez vos rêves raisonnables
While you dream your reasonable dreams
De plaisir et d'amour ils
Of pleasure and love they
Se rendent coupables
Become guilty
Madame, au creux du même lit
Madam, in the same bed
Mais coupables jamais n'ont
But guilty have never
Eu tant d'innocence
Had so much innocence
Aussi peu de regrets et tant d'insouciance
So few regrets and so much carefreeness
Qu'ils ne demandent même pas votre indulgence
That they don't even ask for your indulgence
Madame, pour leurs tendres délit's
Madam, for their tender offenses
Jusqu'au jour où peut-être à
Until the day when maybe to
La première larme
The first tear
A la première peine d'amour et de femme
At the first pain of love and womanhood
Il ne tiendra qu'à vous de sourire Madame
It will be up to you to smile, Madam
Madame, pour qu'elle vous sourie
Madam, for her to smile at you
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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