Higelin's entertainment career began at age 14, when he left school to work as a stunt double. While playing a number of small roles in various motion pictures, Higelin was taught to play the guitar by Henri Crolla, an Italian film composer. By the early sixties, Higelin was attending the René Simon drama school, where he won the François Perier award.
For two years starting in 1961, Higelin served in the French military. Upon returning to France, he resumed his cinematic career, but increasingly began to focus on music over film. By the end of the decade, he was also very active in the artistic underground in Paris, and he began to channel his music towards radical militancy. He began attracting popular attention through his live concerts, typically held in smaller venues, and released his first solo album, in 1971. By the middle of the 1970s, Higelin had become one of France's most successful musicians, and he continued to be influential.
La Courneuve
Jacques Higelin Lyrics
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La Courneuve
Paroles: Allain Leprest. Musique: Jacques Higelin, Georges Augier de Moussac 1998
Le monde se noyait place de La Courneuve
L'espoir faisait la fête, il fallait bien qu'il pleuve
Tu mangeais un loukoum et des rêves à papa
Je t'avais reconnue, on se connaissait pas
J'ai entendu tes pas qui cherchaient une ville
La douleur de la peau de ton état-civil
Une vague battait les plages de tes joues
Un son, un goût, un peu de nacre et d'acajou
Un feu de pomme à pin allumait ton profil.
Entre la mer d'ici et des grappes d'agrumes
Des épluchures bleues, un fol écho d'écume
J'ai suivi tes talons qui cousaient le trottoir
Cent cageots de citrons racontaient ton histoire
Des gouttes d'incendie perlaient sur le comptoir.
Un torrent vertical hachait nos silhouettes
J'ai bu ta main c'était l'automne et sur nos têtes
Le ciel a renversé son arrosoir de plomb
J'ai rejoint ta pupille encerclée de néons
J'ai croqué l'arc-en-ciel qui poussait sur ton front.
Sous les stands éventrés qui crachaient le cortège
Le premier bouche à bouche au creux du dernier siège
Tous les lampions prenaient des airs de lamparos
Alors on s'est jeté dans le lit du métro
Aucun de nous n'a dit la promesse de trop
Aucun de nous n'a dit la promesse de trop.
The lyrics in Jacques Higelin's song "La Courneuve" written by Allain Leprest, illustrate a meeting between two strangers on a rainy day in La Courneuve. The world is drowning, the hope is celebrating and the rain is pouring on their dreams. The singer had not known the woman he sees in front of himbefore, but he had recognized her. She seems lost and disoriented, wandering the streets looking for a place to belong. He describes her pain in her skin, being a result of her past, a life she has lived before, with waves of emotions that can be observed on her face.
The singer then walks beside her, seeing her high heels on the pavement they unite, a perfect example of their two worlds colliding. They talk, and the woman tells him stories of her previous life. As the rain intensifies, they both seek shelter together, a promise is kept between them, a promise that is not voiced aloud.
Overall, the lyrics display a beautiful story of chance meetings, hope, love and promises that are shared unspoken. It is no doubt that the song has significant emotional depth, with its melancholy tune and poetic lyrics that carry a message of hope within them.
Line by Line Meaning
Le monde se noyait place de La Courneuve
The world was drowning in the La Courneuve square
L'espoir faisait la fête, il fallait bien qu'il pleuve
Hope was celebrating, it had to rain
Tu mangeais un loukoum et des rêves à papa
You were eating Turkish delight and dreaming of your father
Je t'avais reconnue, on se connaissait pas
I recognized you, although we didn't know each other
Tu flottais sans radeau sur le poumon du fleuve.
You were floating without a raft on the lungs of the river
J'ai entendu tes pas qui cherchaient une ville
I heard your footsteps searching for a city
La douleur de la peau de ton état-civil
The pain of your identity
Une vague battait les plages de tes joues
A wave was crashing on the beaches of your cheeks
Un son, un goût, un peu de nacre et d'acajou
A sound, a taste, a little bit of mother-of-pearl and mahogany
Un feu de pomme à pin allumait ton profil.
A fire of apple and pine lit up your profile
Entre la mer d'ici et des grappes d'agrumes
Between the sea here and bunches of citrus fruits
Des épluchures bleues, un fol écho d'écume
Blue peelings, a wild echo of foam
J'ai suivi tes talons qui cousaient le trottoir
I followed your heels that were sewing the sidewalk
Cent cageots de citrons racontaient ton histoire
A hundred crates of lemons were recounting your story
Des gouttes d'incendie perlaient sur le comptoir.
Drops of fire were beading on the counter
Un torrent vertical hachait nos silhouettes
A vertical torrent was chopping our silhouettes
J'ai bu ta main c'était l'automne et sur nos têtes
I drank your hand, it was autumn and over our heads
Le ciel a renversé son arrosoir de plomb
The sky spilled its lead watering can
J'ai rejoint ta pupille encerclée de néons
I joined your pupil surrounded by neon signs
J'ai croqué l'arc-en-ciel qui poussait sur ton front.
I bit into the rainbow that was growing on your forehead
Sous les stands éventrés qui crachaient le cortège
Under the gutted stands that were spitting out the procession
Le premier bouche à bouche au creux du dernier siège
The first mouth-to-mouth in the back of the last seat
Tous les lampions prenaient des airs de lamparos
All the lanterns were taking on the appearance of lamps
Alors on s'est jeté dans le lit du métro
So we threw ourselves onto the bed of the metro
Aucun de nous n'a dit la promesse de trop
Neither of us said the promise was too much
Aucun de nous n'a dit la promesse de trop.
Neither of us said the promise was too much.
Writer(s): Allain Jean Charles Leprest, Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin, de Moussac Georges Augier
Contributed by Molly S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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