Jacques Higelin (born Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin on 18 October 1940 in B… Read Full Bio ↴Jacques Higelin (born Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin on 18 October 1940 in Brou-sur-Chantereine, Seine-et-Marne, France; died 6 April 2018 in Paris) was a French pop singer who rose to prominence in the early 1970s. Early in his career, many of Higelin's songs were effectively blacklisted from French radio because of his controversial left wing political beliefs, and his association with socialist groups. He and his wife, Kuelan, are the parents of three children, including musician Arthur H. and actor Ken Higelin.

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.

Paris
Jacques Higelin Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Paris - New York, New York - Paris
Comme un pauvre con tout seul à Orly
J'attends ma p'tite Suzy
Qu'arrive par le Boeing de quinze heures trente-trois
Tout droit du Minnesota

Comme je peux pas rester en place
Et qu'Suzy a une plombe de r'tard

V'là que l'idée me prend
D'aller traîner mes godasses
Sur l'dépotoir de l'aérogare qu'est juste en face

Et là, vautré sur la banquette d'un Jumbo-Jet déglingué
Je rêve tout éveillé à Paris - New York, New York - Paris
Comme si vous y étiez
Comme si tu y es

Tour Montparnasse à Manhattan
Cinquième avenue, six heures du soir
Vise-moi ce connard
T'as pas cent balles pour un junkie
Héroïne, pressée, cocaïne, baby?
Papiers, New York, vitrines, you see what I mean?

Pompiers, trop tard, Madison Square
Struggle for life et business show
Salaud, lis ton journal, crise mondiale
Eddie Merckx a bouffé son vélo
Panne de lumière à Santiago
Cap'taine Némo crache sur la lune
Et je t'occis

Dans le couloir qui mène à ton dernier métro
Paris black-out, New York bravo, bravo
Lâchez le fauve avec son ticket troué à la main
Il a faim, il a faim

Paris - New York, New York - Paris
Dans dix ans comme là-bas, ici
Asphyxie, asphyxie, asphyxie
Asphyxie
Asphyxie
Asphyxie
Asphyxie
Asphyxie
Asphyxie
Asphyxie
Asphyxie

Asphyxie
Asphyxie

Overall Meaning

Jacques Higelin's song Paris-New York New York-Paris tells the story of a man waiting for his girlfriend Suzy at Orly airport in Paris. As Suzy's flight is delayed, he decides to take a walk on the junkyard facing the airport terminal. Lying on a bench in a rundown Jumbo-Jet, the man imagines the cities of Paris and New York, dreaming of Montparnasse Tower in Manhattan and Fifth Avenue. The lyrics depict the contrast between the two cities, with Suzy arriving from the American Midwest and the singer contemplating the urban chaos of New York City.

The second half of the song shifts its focus to the city of New York, emphasizing the social and economic issues that affect its inhabitants. The lyrics mention drug sellers, homeless people, newspaper readers, and even the retirement of the Belgian cyclist Eddie Merckx. The tension and violence of the city are portrayed in the reference to the fire brigade arriving too late to save a life and the metaphorical killing of someone. The juxtaposition of the city of lights and the city that never sleeps sees both experiencing blackouts: Paris in 2003 and New York in 1977.

Overall, the song conveys a sense of urban alienation, highlighting the beauty and ugliness of two of the world's most iconic metropolises through a lyrical and surreal perspective.

Line by Line Meaning

Comme un pauvre con tout seul à Orly
Feeling like a lonely fool sitting at Orly airport

J'attends ma p'tite Suzy
Waiting for my girlfriend Suzy

Qu'arrive par le Boeing de quinze heures trente-trois
Who is arriving by the 3:30 pm Boeing from Minnesota

Tout droit du Minnesota
Straight from Minnesota

Comme je peux pas rester en place
As I cannot sit still

Et qu'Suzy a une plombe de r'tard
And as Suzy is an hour late

V'là que l'idée me prend
I have an idea

D'aller traîner mes godasses
To go wander around

Sur l'dépotoir de l'aérogare qu'est juste en face
At the dump across from the airport

Et là, vautré sur la banquette d'un Jumbo-Jet déglingué
And then, sprawled out on a broken-down Jumbo Jet seat

Je rêve tout éveillé à Paris - New York, New York - Paris
I daydream about Paris - New York, New York - Paris

Comme si vous y étiez
As if you were there

Comme si tu y es
As if you are there

Tour Montparnasse à Manhattan
Montparnasse Tower in Manhattan

Cinquième avenue, six heures du soir
5th avenue, 6 PM

Vise-moi ce connard
Look at that jerk

T'as pas cent balles pour un junkie
Don't you have a hundred bucks for a junkie

Héroïne, pressée, cocaïne, baby?
Heroin, in a hurry, cocaine, baby?

Papiers, New York, vitrines, you see what I mean?
Documents, New York, windows, you understand what I'm saying?

Pompiers, trop tard, Madison Square
Firefighters, too late, Madison Square

Struggle for life et business show
Struggle for life and business show

Salaud, lis ton journal, crise mondiale
Bastard, read your newspaper, global crisis

Eddie Merckx a bouffé son vélo
Eddie Merckx ate his bike

Panne de lumière à Santiago
Power outage in Santiago

Cap'taine Némo crache sur la lune
Captain Nemo spits on the moon

Et je t'occis
And I kill you

Dans le couloir qui mène à ton dernier métro
In the hallway leading to your last subway train

Paris black-out, New York bravo, bravo
Paris black-out, New York cheering, cheering

Lâchez le fauve avec son ticket troué à la main
Release the beast with his torn ticket in hand

Il a faim, il a faim
He's hungry, he's hungry

Paris - New York, New York - Paris
Paris - New York, New York - Paris

Dans dix ans comme là-bas, ici
In ten years, here will be like over there

Asphyxie, asphyxie, asphyxie
Asphyxiation, asphyxiation, asphyxiation

Asphyxie
Asphyxiation

Lyrics © EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING FRANCE
Written by: Simon Boissezon, Jacques Higelin

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

@Blackand56

22w↑5

En 1978, je l'ai rejoint sur scène lors d'un concert à la Halle aux Grains à TOULOUSE pour chanter avec lui Paris New-York Paris, le service d'ordre a tenté de me dégager violemment, Jacques Higelin s'y est opposé, on s'est retrouvé à plus de 30 sur la scène, 😁