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
That Angry Man on the Pier
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Too much work to be somebody else
It's too much work and a lot of make up my dear
For that angry man standing on the pier
Don't you think it's hard enough
To be yourself
Too much work to be somebody else
Hard enough not to be anybody
To slay the beast, to kill the fear
For that man in his fifties
Staring at the sea
That angry man standing on the pier
Don't you think it's hard enough
To be yourself
Too much work to be somebody else
Vire cette pierre de ton coeur
Elle fait plus le poids
Faut parfois sortir de soi
...just an angry man standing on the pier
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine's song That Angry Man on the Pier is an introspective reflection on the difficulty of being oneself in a society that pressures people to conform and fit into narrow molds. The opening line of the song states, "Hard enough to be yourself, too much work to be somebody else." Thiéfaine asserts that living authentically is hard enough on its own, without the added burden of trying to become someone else. The image of an angry man standing on the pier serves as a metaphor for the internal struggle of trying to maintain one's individuality in a world that often values conformity over uniqueness.
The second verse emphasizes the difficulty of being nobody, of "saying the beast, killing the fear." This is one more challenge that people face when trying to be true to themselves: the fear of rejection or of not fitting in can be overwhelming. The man on the pier who is "staring at the sea" represents a person who is trying to find his place in the world and resist the pressure to conform.
The chorus repeats the opening lines, along with the French phrase "Vire cette pierre de ton coeur" ("Throw that stone from your heart"). This repeated refrain reinforces the message of the song: that being oneself is hard, but it is the only way to truly live. The song ends with the line, "...just an angry man standing on the pier," a reminder that even when we struggle to maintain our individuality, we are still ourselves at the end of the day.
Line by Line Meaning
Hard enough to be yourself
It's already difficult to just be true to yourself
Too much work to be somebody else
It requires too much effort to pretend to be someone else
It's too much work and a lot of make up my dear
It's not easy to disguise oneself with a façade, my dear
For that angry man standing on the pier
For that resentful man standing alone by the shore
Don't you think it's hard enough
Isn't it already difficult
Hard enough not to be anybody
It's already a challenge to not conform to anyone's expectations
To slay the beast, to kill the fear
To combat one's inner demons and conquer their fears
For that man in his fifties
For that man who is fifty years old
Staring at the sea
Gazing out at the vast body of water
That angry man standing on the pier
That same embittered man who remains standing on the shore
Vire cette pierre de ton coeur
Remove that stone from your heart
Elle fait plus le poids
It no longer carries any weight
Faut parfois sortir de soi
Sometimes, you need to step out of your own self
...just an angry man standing on the pier
...nothing but an irate man who is standing by the shore
Contributed by Alexander M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.