Mostly shunned by television and radio, he has built through word of mouth and frequent touring a considerable following over the years, which allowed him to fill the 17,000-seater Palais Omnisport de Bercy for an anniversary concert in 1998. In recent years he has been increasingly name-dropped as an influence by the latest generation of performers in France, and was the subject of a tribute album of covers in 2002. He has been performing since the late 1960s and releasing records since 1978.
His parents sent him to a catholic boarding school. He spent few years there, where being singled out by his schoolmates started to be interested in great poets (such as Rimbaud) and writers. The catholic education he received will leave its mark on him. He became nonconformist; he wrote blasphemous lyrics, such as "Au nom du Pere, au nom du vice, au nom des rades et des mégots" (In the name of the Father, in the name of vice, in the name of the cafés and the (cigarette) butts), made biblical and latin references in "Femme de Loth" and many others. Musically, H-FT draws mostly from classic rock, with rare nods to the latest musical trends, and generally leaves the arranging to a collaborator. But his songs are most notable for instantly recognisable lyrics, with their trademarks streams of consciousness, surreal and often extreme or dark imagery, often tinged with comedy, cynicism, literary references, neologisms and liberal use of scientific, long or foreign words. The lyrical mayhem sometimes spreads into comically long song titles, such as Enfermé dans les cabinets (avec la fille mineure des 80 chasseurs), or Exercice de simple provocation avec 33 fois le mot « coupable ».
His avowed influences include Léo Ferré, Lou Reed, and many French, Anglo-saxon and German novelists and poets, with a preference for romantic litterature.
Discography
* 1978 - Tout corps vivant branché sur le secteur étant appelé à s'émouvoir
* 1979 - Autorisation de délirer
* 1980 - De l'amour, de l'art ou du cochon
* 1981 - Dernières balises (avant mutation)
* 1982 - Soleil cherche futur
* 1983 - En concert - live (double album)
* 1984 - Alambic/sortie-sud
* 1986 - En concert vol.2 - live
* 1986 - Météo für nada
* 1988 - Eros über alles
* 1988 - 1978-1983 - compilation
* 1988 - Routes 88 - live
* 1989 - 1984-1988 - compilation
* 1990 - Chroniques bluesymentales
* 1993 - Fragments d'hébétude
* 1995 - Paris-Zénith - live (double album)
* 1996 - La tentation du bonheur
* 1998 - Le bonheur de la tentation
* 1998 - 1978-1998 - compilation
* 1999 - En Concert A Bercy - live (double album)
* 2001 - Défloration 13
* 2002 - Au Bataclan - live
* 2005 - Scandale mélancolique
Amants Destroy
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bouche cramoisie, jupe retroussée
Scratchée sur la banquette arrière
D'un cabriolet Roadmaster
Transfert d'orage, émeute sexuelle
Sous la rumeur des immortels
Quand ses lèvres arrachent un par un
Détruire, détruire, toujours dit-elle
Saboter l'oeil universel
Détruire, détruire, toujours dit-elle
Faire payer ses grotesques erreurs
Au boss cannibale supérieur
Travail de nuit, petit matin
Jouissance, violence entre ses seins
Visage éclaboussé de nacre
Amour, bagatelle et massacre
Sur les fusibles du hasard
Entre les quarks et les quasars
Elle détruira son teddy boy
Cunnibilingue et lousy toy
Détruire, détruire, toujours dit-elle
Saboter l'oeil universel
Détruire, détruire, toujours dit-elle
Faire payer ses grotesques erreurs
Au boss cannibale supérieur
In "Amants Destroy," Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine paints a vivid picture of a wild and rebellious woman with acid-tongued wit and an insatiable desire to destroy. The lyrics describe her in detail, from her cramoisie lips and retroussée skirt to her presence in the back seat of a cabriolet Roadmaster. There is an electrifying sexual tension between the woman and Thiéfaine, with hints of an imminent storm and an immortal frenzy building around them.
As they become intimate, the woman urges Thiéfaine to destroy, sabotage, and exact revenge for her "grotesque errors" on the cannibalistic boss who rules over them all. The woman seems to embody a spirit of chaos, working through the night to achieve both pleasure and violence. She is a lover, a destroyer, and a force of nature all at once, and Thiéfaine is entranced by her even as he feels the danger of her power.
Overall, "Amants Destroy" captures the heady feeling of being swept up in a moment of rebellion and passion, with Thiéfaine and the woman tearing down the walls of convention to embrace their wilder, more primal selves.
Line by Line Meaning
Fille-fleur sauvage acidulée
A wild and acidic flower girl
Bouche cramoisie, jupe retroussée
With crimson lips and a raised skirt
Scratchée sur la banquette arrière
Scratched on the backseat
D'un cabriolet Roadmaster
Of a Roadmaster convertible
Transfert d'orage, émeute sexuelle
Stormy transfer, sexual riot
Sous la rumeur des immortels
Amidst the murmurs of the immortals
Quand ses lèvres arrachent un par un
When her lips pluck one by one
Les boutons de mon 501
The buttons of my 501 jeans
Détruire, détruire, toujours dit-elle
Destroy, destroy, she always says
Saboter l'oeil universel
Sabotage the universal eye
Faire payer ses grotesques erreurs
Make her grotesque mistakes pay
Au boss cannibale supérieur
To the superior cannibal boss
Travail de nuit, petit matin
Night work, early morning
Jouissance, violence entre ses seins
Pleasure, violence between her breasts
Visage éclaboussé de nacre
Face splattered with mother-of-pearl
Amour, bagatelle et massacre
Love, trifle, and massacre
Sur les fusibles du hasard
On the fuses of chance
Entre les quarks et les quasars
Between quarks and quasars
Elle détruira son teddy boy
She will destroy her teddy boy
Cunnibilingue et lousy toy
Cunnilingual and lousy toy
Contributed by Elliot J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.