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
Série de 7 rêves en crash position
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fixés au Stabilo
Sur l'écran confetti
Des cauchemars-vidéo
Parfums d'ombres peyotl
Au fond des catacombes
Avec ces bruits de bottes
Qui marchent sur ma tombe
Quand le rêve est fini ?
L'ange exterminateur
Dans une vieille Mercury
Joue du ventilateur
Devant la nurserie
Emballages de MacDo
Boîtes de bière écrasées
Aux limites du ghetto
Sur le parking brûlé
Mais que devient le rêveur
Quand le rêve est fini ?
Clavier bien tempéré
Mais voppo taciturne
Couleur d'homme écorché
Sur les murs de sa turne
Yellow cake nauséeux
Reniflant le nabab
Aux carrefours charogneux
Où pourrissent les macchabées
Mais que devient le rêveur
Quand le rêve est fini ?
Les jambes des meufs qui montent
Jusqu'à l'extrême douleur
Des vestiges de la honte
Aux moisissures du coeur
Nostalgie suicidaire
De ceux qui n'ont plus l'âge
De mourir à l'envers
Sur un porte-bagages
Mais que devient le rêveur
Quand le rêve est fini ?
La fille du cosmonaute
Explore le terrain vague
Autour du Noah's boat
Avec un doggy bag
Son perfecto trop lourd
Sur sa robe de mariée
Dans le ronflement sourd
De l'air conditionné
Mais que devient le rêveur
Quand le rêve est fini ?
L'opéra cristallin
Du choeur des crânes rasés
Piloté par un chien
Aveugle et déjanté
Délatte au nunchaku
Mes gravures de Dürer
Pendant que je mets les bouts
Dans un cercueil à fleurs
Mais que devient le rêveur
Quand le rêve est fini ?
Amants numérotés
De 0 à 104
Coeurs polymérisés
En relief écarlate
Mycoses et staphylomes
Dans le barrelhouse
Où la danse du fantôme
Dégénère en partouze
Mais que devient le rêveur
Quand le rêve est fini ?
Les dandies androgynes
Les putains somptueuses
Les Vénus callipyges
Les chiennes voluptueuses
Les fleurs de Tijuana
Sur fonds d'oeil ecchymose
Et les secrétariats
D'état aux maisons closes
Mais que devient le rêveur
Quand le rêve est fini ?
The lyrics of "Série de 7 rêves en crash position" by Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine depict a surreal and dystopian world where nightmares and reality merge into one, blurring the lines between dreams and life. The opening lines describe crows fixed to a Stabilo, watching the confetti screen of video nightmares, as shadows of peyote incense linger in the catacombs. Meanwhile, the sound of marching boots on the singer's grave creates an eerie atmosphere as the lyrics ask the question, "But what becomes of the dreamer when the dream is over?"
The second verse introduces the "exterminating angel" who plays with a fan in front of a nursery in an old Mercury car. The scene changes to a burnt parking lot on the edge of the ghetto, littered with McDonald's wrappers and crushed beer cans. The lyrics continue to question what happens to the dreamer when the dream is over.
The third and following verses introduce a series of seemingly disconnected images that build a nightmarish landscape, including a yellow-cake sniffing nabob, the legs of women climbing to the point of extreme pain, the daughter of a cosmonaut exploring a wasteland with a doggy bag, and androgynous dandies and voluptuous prostitutes. Each verse punctuates the main theme, envisioning the end of the dream and the uncertain fate of the dreamer.
Line by Line Meaning
Corbeaux neuro-taxi
Crows symbolizing death and decay, occupying taxis driven by subconscious thoughts
Fixés au Stabilo
Fixed in place by the highlighting Stabilo marker, unable to move past negativity and fear
Sur l'écran confetti
Displayed on a screen of shattered dreams and mixed emotions
Des cauchemars-vidéo
Nightmares captured on video and replayed in the mind
Parfums d'ombres peyotl
The scent of peyote invoking visions and hallucinations of the unknown
Au fond des catacombes
Deep in the underground tunnels, where fear and death lurk
Avec ces bruits de bottes
Echoing sounds of boots signaling an approaching danger or threat
Qui marchent sur ma tombe
Symbolizing the end of life and possibility of afterlife, a reminder that death is always near
Mais que devient le rêveur
Questioning the fate of the dreamer once the dream has ended
Quand le rêve est fini ?
What happens to the dreamer when their dream has concluded?
L'ange exterminateur
The ruthless force of fate and destiny, taking away all that is dear
Dans une vieille Mercury
Driving towards doom in an old car with no future
Joue du ventilateur
Playing with fate, leaving one's future to chance
Devant la nurserie
In front of the newborns, where new lives are just beginning
Emballages de MacDo
Fast food packaging symbolizing the superficiality and emptiness of modern life
Boîtes de bière écrasées
Crushed beer cans indicating a life wasted and forgotten
Aux limites du ghetto
At the boundaries of poverty, where desperation exists
Sur le parking brûlé
On a burned-out and desolate parking lot
Clavier bien tempéré
A well-tuned keyboard, representing the need for balance
Mais voppo taciturne
But your voice is silent and withdrawn
Couleur d'homme écorché
The color of a man beaten and wounded, physically and emotionally
Sur les murs de sa turne
Written on the walls of the tower, indicating isolation and imprisonment
Yellow cake nauséeux
Sickly yellow coloring reminiscent of decay and corrosion
Reniflant le nabab
Sniffing out the wealthy and powerful
Aux carrefours charogneux
At the putrid and death-ridden crossroads
Où pourrissent les macchabées
Where the corpses rot and decay
Les jambes des meufs qui montent
The legs of women climbing higher, struggling and in pain
Jusqu'à l'extrême douleur
Until the pain is unbearable and overwhelming
Des vestiges de la honte
Remnants of shame and guilt from the past
Aux moisissures du coeur
Suffering from emotional decay and corrosion within
Nostalgie suicidaire
Suicidal yearning for a past that can never be again
De ceux qui n'ont plus l'âge
Those who are too old to start anew or find a way out
De mourir à l'envers
Reverse suicide, or the act of letting oneself die slowly every day
Sur un porte-bagages
On the luggage rack, representing a journey that never ends
La fille du cosmonaute
The daughter of a dreamer, exploring worlds beyond her imagination
Explore le terrain vague
Searching for meaning in uncharted and uncertain territories
Autour du Noah's boat
Around the vessel of hope and impending disaster
Avec un doggy bag
Carrying the remains of a meal, symbolizing the remnants of past experiences
Son perfecto trop lourd
Her leather jacket weighing heavily on her, symbolizing the burden of her past
Sur sa robe de mariée
On her wedding dress, signifying love, hope, and the future
Dans le ronflement sourd
In the dull rumbling of the world around her, drowning out her thoughts
De l'air conditionné
From the air conditioning, an artificial breeze to mask the harsh realities of life
L'opéra cristallin
The crystal opera, or the symphony of life and death
Du choeur des crânes rasés
The chorus of shaven heads, signifying unity in death
Piloté par un chien
Driven by fate, dictated by external forces beyond one's control
Aveugle et déjanté
Blind and crazy, symbolizing irrationality and madness of the world
Délatte au nunchaku
Destroying with precision and skill, like a martial artist with nunchucks
Mes gravures de Dürer
My engravings by Dürer, symbolizing art and beauty that is lost to time
Pendant que je mets les bouts
While I flee and run away from danger and the inevitable
Dans un cercueil à fleurs
In a coffin adorned with flowers, signifying the fleeting nature of beauty and life
Amants numérotés
Lovers numbered and reduced to mere statistics
De 0 à 104
From zero to one hundred and four, people treated as mere data points
Coeurs polymérisés
Hearts hardened and merged together, losing their individuality
En relief écarlate
In vivid and vibrant color, standing out amongst the drabness of life
Mycoses et staphylomes
Fungal infections reaching deep into the body, symbolizing the decay and ruin of life
Dans le barrelhouse
In the smoky and dingy bar, where people come to forget their troubles
Où la danse du fantôme
Where the ghostly dance of life and death takes place
Dégénère en partouze
Devolves into an orgy of bodily pleasures and carnal desires
Les dandies androgynes
The gender-neutral dandies, signifying rebellion and individuality
Les putains somptueuses
The glamorous whores, symbolizing the allure and temptation of the flesh
Les Vénus callipyges
The statuesque and seductive Venuses, representing beauty and passion
Les chiennes voluptueuses
The voluptuous bitches, signifying the power and control of the body
Les fleurs de Tijuana
The flowers of Tijuana, symbolizing the ephemeral and fragile nature of life
Sur fonds d'oeil ecchymose
Against a backdrop of bruised and battered eyes, revealing the pain and suffering in the world
Et les secrétariats
And the government offices, where power and corruption emerge
D'état aux maisons closes
From state bureaucracies to the brothels of the world, where politics and pleasure entwine
Contributed by Daniel N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.