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
Exil sur planète-fantôme
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Et nous habitions tous de sordides tripots
Avec des aiguillages pour nos petits matins,
Quand le beau macadam nous traitait de salauds,
Nous traitait de salaud.
Nous vivions nos vertiges dans des vibrations folles
Et gerbions nos enzymes en nous gueulant : moteur !
Nous n'avions pas le temps de décompter nos heures,
De décompter nos heures.
Nous étions les danseurs d'un monde à l'agonie,
En même temps que fantômes conscients d'être mort-nés.
Nous étions fossoyeurs d'un monde à l'agonie.
En ce temps-là, le rien s'appelait quotidien
Et nous allions pointer dans les jobs interdits.
Dans les musiques blêmes, dans les sombres parfums
Dans les dédales obscurs où plane la folie
Où plane la folie
Et nous avions des gueules à briser les miroirs,
À ne montrer nos yeux que dans le contre-jour,
Mais entre deux délires, entre deux idées noires,
Nous étions les plus beaux, nous vivions à rebours,
Nous vivions à rebours.
Nous étions les danseurs d'un monde à l'agonie,
En même temps que fantômes conscients d'être mort-nés.
Nous étions fossoyeurs d'un monde à l'agonie.
En ce temps-là, les gens s'appelaient citoyens.
Nous, nous étions mutants, nous étions androgynes.
Aujourd'hui, la tempête a lynché mes copains
Et je suis le dernier à rater mon suicide,
À rater mon suicide.
Mais je veux vivre encore plus ivre de cramer.
Je veux ronger le mal jusque dans ses recoins.
J'ai traîné mes vingt siècles d'inutilité.
Je n'ai plus rien à perdre, mais j'en veux pour ma fin,
J'en veux pour ma faim.
The lyrics of Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine's “Exil sur planète-fantôme” depict a somber world plagued by despair and uncertainty, where the characters are living in the moment without much concern for the future. The opening lines evoke a troubling image of flowers selling their meat to dogs, and the entire society is living in squalor and despair. The lyrics go on to describe a world that is wavering between life and death, where the characters have no time to count their hours, and they are stuck in jobs that are forbidden.
Despite the bleak outlook, the characters embrace their state of being, taking solace in the chaos and madness of their world. They are described as having faces that can break mirrors, living in the shadows and only revealing themselves in the light. However, they revel in their fleeting moments of beauty and defiance, and in their own unique way, they are the dancers of a world that is dying. In the end, the lyrics suggest that while life is full of uncertainty and pain, it is a gift to be cherished.
Overall, the lyrics of "Exil sur planète-fantôme" are a commentary on the struggles of life that we all face. The song portrays the world as a dark and unforgiving place, but through it all, we must persevere and find beauty in the moments of chaos and despair.
Line by Line Meaning
En ce temps-là, nos fleurs vendaient leur viande aux chiens
Back then, our beauties were being mistreated and disrespected by those who didn't appreciate their worth.
Et nous habitions tous de sordides tripots
We all lived in shady places with little to no hope of ever escaping our situations.
Avec des aiguillages pour nos petits matins,
We had no sense of direction, only ambiguity and uncertainty about what the future holds.
Quand le beau macadam nous traitait de salauds,
Even the streets had a way of treating us with contempt and disdain, as if we were unworthy of its beauty and grace.
Nous vivions nos vertiges dans des vibrations folles
We lived in a state of constant turmoil and chaos, where everything felt like it was spinning out of control.
Et gerbions nos enzymes en nous gueulant : moteur !
We tried to numb our pain and pretend everything was okay by getting drunk and high, but it only made things worse in the long run.
Mais entre deux voyages, entre deux verres d'alcool,
In between our temporary escapes, we were forced to face the harsh reality of our lives and the struggles we had to endure.
Nous n'avions pas le temps de décompter nos heures,
Time seemed to slip through our fingers as we barely had enough to survive, let alone think about the future.
Nous étions les danseurs d'un monde à l'agonie,
We were the ones who kept moving, kept dancing, kept fighting, even as the world around us crumbled and decayed.
En même temps que fantômes conscients d'être mort-nés.
At the same time, we were haunted by the knowledge that we were never really alive to begin with, that we were doomed from the start.
Nous étions fossoyeurs d'un monde à l'agonie.
We were the ones who buried the past, who tried to move forward, even if it meant leaving everything we knew and loved behind.
En ce temps-là, le rien s'appelait quotidien
Days were filled with nothingness, with monotony, with routine, yet somehow it was enough to keep us going.
Et nous allions pointer dans les jobs interdits.
We worked in places where we weren't wanted, where we were disposable, where we were nothing but tools for those in power.
Dans les musiques blêmes, dans les sombres parfums
We found solace in the things that others overlooked, in the beauty and art that could be found in the darkest of places.
Dans les dédales obscurs où plane la folie
We found ourselves lost in a maze of madness and confusion, where the only way out was to keep moving forward, no matter the cost.
Et nous avions des gueules à briser les miroirs,
We were the ones who didn't fit in, who stood out, who were too different, too unique, too dangerous for society to accept.
À ne montrer nos yeux que dans le contre-jour,
We hid our true selves behind a veil of darkness, afraid of what might happen if we were ever exposed to the light of day.
Mais entre deux délires, entre deux idées noires,
In between our moments of madness and darkness, we had moments of clarity and hope, where we could see a glimmer of light in the distance.
Nous étions les plus beaux, nous vivions à rebours,
In those moments, we were at our most beautiful, our most alive, living life on our own terms, in our own way.
Nous, nous étions mutants, nous étions androgynes.
We were the rebels, the outcasts, the ones who refused to conform to society's expectations of gender, race, and sexuality.
Aujourd'hui, la tempête a lynché mes copains
Today, the storm has taken everything from me, including my friends, my family, my home. I am left alone, adrift in a sea of chaos and destruction.
Et je suis le dernier à rater mon suicide,
I am the only one left, the only survivor, the only one who has failed to end my own life, but somehow still manages to hold on.
Je veux vivre encore plus ivre de cramer.
But I refuse to give up, I refuse to let the world win. I want to live, to burn brighter, to be consumed by passion and desire.
Je veux ronger le mal jusque dans ses recoins.
I want to fight back against the darkness, to take a stand against all that is wrong and corrupt in the world, to expose the lies and deceit that have held us down for too long.
J'ai traîné mes vingt siècles d'inutilité.
I have lived for far too long in a state of uselessness, of despair, of hopelessness. But now I am ready to shed the past and embrace the future.
Je n'ai plus rien à perdre, mais j'en veux pour ma fin,
I have nothing left to lose, but I still want to go out with a bang, to make my last moments count, to leave a mark on the world that cannot be erased.
J'en veux pour ma faim.
I want to satisfy my hunger, my thirst for life, for love, for everything that has been denied to me for far too long.
Contributed by Alaina M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.