Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine is a cult French pop-rock singer and songwriter, bor… Read Full Bio ↴Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine is a cult French pop-rock singer and songwriter, born July 21, 1948 in the town of Dole in the Jura département.

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

Fin de Partie
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Débris distordus de Skylab
Fossilisés sur ta moquette
Fines fleurs calcées de baobab
Violacées au bout de tes gamètes
Comme dans un rébus
Tu déchibres tes nuits
Ce n'est qu'un début
Juste une fin de partie

Juste une fin de partie
Juste une fin de partie

Vieille odeur de foutre moisi
Dans les brumes du vestiaire
Où t'échanges ta mélancolie
Contre un canon scié Winchester
Baiser gluant de James Joyce
Sous le rasoir effilé de tes chromes
Whisky-rock and Rolls Royce
Vodka mercurochrome
Juste une fin de partie
Juste une fin de partie
Juste une fin de partie
Où est la sortie ?

Chien errant à minuit
Devant l'asile fermé des petites soeurs éphémères
Tu n'entends plus le cri
Tu n'entends plus le cri
Le cri
Le cri
Le cri de tes désirs
Le cri de tes désirs
Le cri de tes désirs déserts
Le cri de tes désirs déserts
Où est la sortie ?
Juste une fin de partie

Où est la sortie ?
Juste une fin de partie

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine's song "Fin de Partie" describe a dreary and desolate state of mind. The first stanza uses imagery of debris from the Skylab spacecraft and fossilized flowers to paint a bleak picture. The singer is in a state of confusion and trying to decipher the meaning of their own life. The second stanza dives further into despair using the image of a locker room that reeks of musty semen. The singer is trading their sadness for a shotgun and experiencing a drunken night of passion and chaos. The final stanza ends with an image of a stray dog in the night, representing the singer's loneliness and the absence of satisfaction. The repeated phrase "juste une fin de partie" (just an end of the game) could be interpreted as the singer accepting defeat and resigning to their fate.

Overall, "Fin de Partie" portrays a feeling of hopelessness and desolation. The singer is unable to find meaning and purpose in their life and is instead indulging in vices and meaningless pursuits. The repetition of the question "où est la sortie?" (where is the exit?) highlights the singer's desire to escape their current situation but the realization that there may not be a way out.

Line by Line Meaning

Débris distordus de Skylab
Twisted debris of Skylab

Fossilisés sur ta moquette
Fossilized on your carpet

Fines fleurs calcées de baobab
Fine flowers crushed from a baobab

Violacées au bout de tes gamètes
Violated at the tip of your gametes

Comme dans un rébus
Like in a riddle

Tu déchibres tes nuits
You tear apart your nights

Ce n'est qu'un début
It's only the beginning

Juste une fin de partie
Just the end of a game

Vieille odeur de foutre moisi
Old smell of moldy semen

Dans les brumes du vestiaire
In the mists of the locker room

Où t'échanges ta mélancolie
Where you exchange your melancholy