In 1961 he married Christine Sèvres. During his carrer, Ferrat has had some difficulty with the authorities owing to his humanist perpective and links with communism.
His most famous songs are: Que serais-je sans toi, Heureux celui qui meurt d'aimer, Potemkine, La montagne, Les feux de Paris, L'amour est cerise and many others.
His lyrics are very much influenced by french poet Aragon.
Les Derniers Tziganes
Jean Ferrat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nous ne verrons plus
De l'Andalousie
Les gitans venus
La chemise ouverte
Sur leur peau brûlée
Les roulottes vertes
Au milieu des blés
Pavot arraché
Les grands calicots
Place du marché
Le ciel se fait lourd, les roses se fanent
Nous vivons le temps des derniers tziganes
Disparus l'enfant
Voleur de cerceaux
Les chevaux piaffants
De tous leurs naseaux
Disparus les ânes
Avec leurs paniers
Les belles gitanes
Sous les marronniers
En ce temps qui va
Qui va dévorant
On n'a plus le droit
D'être différent
Le ciel se fait lourd, les roses se fanent
Nous vivons le temps des derniers tziganes
Plus de feux de camp
Près des HLM
Révolu le temps
Des anciens bohèmes
Finis l'esplanade
Et les tambourins
Les derniers nomades
Claquent dans leurs mains
Et la liberté
Femme de gitan
Tombe poignardée
Sous l'effet du temps
Le ciel se fait lourd, les roses se fanent
Nous vivons le temps des derniers tziganes
The lyrics of Jean Ferrat's song Les Derniers Tziganes speak of the disappearing gypsy culture in France. The song highlights the vanishing gypsy lifestyle and the socio-economic pressures that have caused it. The first paragraph talks about the absence of gypsies in Andalusia, their dress style, green carts, and red poppies, and how all these have faded away. The second paragraph talks about missing elements like the children who played with hoops, horses that neighed, and the beautiful gypsy women near chestnut trees. The song evokes an image of nostalgia and expresses the loss felt by the singer and others like him, who had witnessed the drift.
The melancholic lyrics of the song reflect the decline in the popularity of gypsy culture that was once a central part of French history. Jean Ferrat highlights the disappearance of their traditional lifestyles due to the modern-day view of a uniform society. The song’s overall message is that society should embrace diversity and appreciate the value that different cultures bring to society.
Line by Line Meaning
C'en est bien fini
It is all over
Nous ne verrons plus
We won't see them anymore
De l'Andalousie
From Andalusia
Les gitans venus
The gypsies who came
La chemise ouverte
Shirts unbuttoned
Sur leur peau brûlée
On their sunburnt skin
Les roulottes vertes
Green caravans
Au milieu des blés
Amongst the wheat fields
Et coquelicot
And poppies
Pavot arraché
Poppies plucked
Les grands calicots
The big banners
Place du marché
In the market square
Le ciel se fait lourd, les roses se fanent
The sky grows heavy, roses fade
Nous vivons le temps des derniers tziganes
We live in the times of the last gypsies
Disparus l'enfant
The child has disappeared
Voleur de cerceaux
Thief of hoops
Les chevaux piaffants
The pawing horses
De tous leurs naseaux
With all their nostrils
Disparus les ânes
Gone are the donkeys
Avec leurs paniers
With their baskets
Les belles gitanes
The beautiful gypsy women
Sous les marronniers
Under the chestnut trees
En ce temps qui va
In these times that pass
Qui va dévorant
That devours
On n'a plus le droit
We no longer have the right
D'être différent
To be different
Plus de feux de camp
No more campfires
Près des HLM
Near public housing
Révolu le temps
The time has passed
Des anciens bohèmes
Of the old bohemians
Finis l'esplanade
The esplanade is finished
Et les tambourins
And the tambourines
Les derniers nomades
The last nomads
Claquent dans leurs mains
Clap their hands
Et la liberté
And freedom
Femme de gitan
Gypsy woman
Tombe poignardée
Falls, stabbed
Sous l'effet du temps
Under the effects of time
Contributed by Jordan H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.