Life and career
Gabin was born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, the son of Madeleine Petit and Ferdinand Moncorgé, a cafe entertainer whose stage name was Gabin. He grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise (now Val-d'Oise) département, about 22 mi (35 km) north of Paris. The son of cabaret entertainers, he attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly. Leaving school early, he worked as a laborer until the age of 19 when he entered show business with a bit part in a Folies Bergères production. He continued performing in a variety of minor roles before going into the military.
After completing his military service, Gabin returned to the entertainment business, working under the stage name of Jean Gabin at whatever was offered in the Parisian music halls and operettas, imitating the singing style of Maurice Chevalier, which was the rage at the time. He was part of a troupe that toured South America, and upon returning to France found work at the Moulin Rouge. His performances started getting noticed, and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two silent films in 1928.
Two years later, he easily made the transition to talkies in a 1930 Pathé Frères production titled Chacun sa Chance. Playing secondary roles, Gabin made more than a dozen films over the next four years, including films directed by Maurice and Jacques Tourneur. However, he only gained real recognition for his performance in Maria Chapdelaine, a 1934 production directed by Julien Duvivier. Cast as a romantic hero in a 1936 war drama titled La Bandera, this second Duvivier-directed film established Gabin as a major star. The following year, he teamed up with Duvivier again, this time in the highly successful Pépé le Moko; its popularity brought Gabin international recognition. That same year, he starred in the Jean Renoir film La Grande Illusion, an anti-war film that ran at a New York City theatre for an unprecedented six months. This was followed by another one of Renoir's major works: La Bête Humaine (The Human Beast), a film noir tragedy based on the novel by Émile Zola and starring Gabin and Simone Simon, as well as Le Quai Des Brumes (Port of Shadows), one of director Marcel Carné's classics of poetic realism.
Flooded with offers from Hollywood, for a time Gabin turned them all down until the outbreak of World War II. Following the German occupation of France, he joined Jean Renoir and Julien Duvivier in the United States. Divorced from his second wife in 1939, during his time in Hollywood, Gabin began a torrid romance with actress Marlene Dietrich. However, his films in America - Moontide (1942) and The Impostor (1944), the later reuniting him with Duvivier) - were not successful.
A difficult personality, he did serious damage to his Hollywood career while working for RKO Pictures. Scheduled to star in an RKO film, at the last minute he demanded Dietrich be given the co-starring role. The studio refused. After Gabin remained steadfast in his demand, he was fired, and the film project was shelved.
Undaunted, Jean Gabin joined General Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces and earned the Médaille militaire and a Croix de guerre for his wartime valor fighting with the Allies in North Africa. Following D-Day, Gabin was part of the military contingent that entered a liberated Paris.
In 1946, Gabin was hired by Marcel Carné to star in the film, Les Portes de la Nuit, but his conduct got him fired again. He then found a French producer and director willing to cast him and Marlene Dietrich together, but their film Martin Roumagnac was not a success and their personal relationship soon ended. Following another box office failure in 1947, Gabin returned to the stage, but there too, the production was another financial disaster. Nevertheless, he was cast in the lead role of the 1949 René Clément film Au-Delà Des Grilles that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Despite this recognition, the film did not do well at the French box office, and the next five years brought little more than repeated box office failures.
Gabin and Jacques Prévert in 1961.
Gabin's career seemed headed for oblivion. However, he made a comeback in the 1954 film, Touchez pas au grisbi (Don't Touch the Loot). Directed by Jacques Becker, his performance earned him critical acclaim, and the film was a very profitable international success. Later, he worked once again with Jean Renoir in French Cancan, with María Félix and Françoise Arnoul. Over the next twenty years, Gabin made close to 50 more films, most of them very successful commercially and critically, including many for Gafer Films, his production partnership with fellow actor Fernandel.
His co-stars included leading figures of post-war cinema such as Brigitte Bardot (En cas de malheur), Alain Delon (Le Clan des Siciliens, Mélodie en sous-sol and Deux hommes dans la ville), Jean-Paul Belmondo (Un singe en hiver) and Louis de Funès (Le Tatoué).
Gabin died of leukaemia at the American Hospital of Paris, in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. His body was cremated and with full military honours, his ashes were dispersed into the sea from a military ship.
Considered one of the great stars of French cinema, he was made a member of the Légion d'honneur. The Musée Jean Gabin in his native town, Mériel, contains his story and features, his war and film memorabilia.
Avec ma petite gueule
Jean Gabin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sur la même cour, au même étage
À dix ans, on avait
Déjà les mêmes goûts en partage
À quinze ans, on rêvait
D′amitié et même davantage
Aussi, c'est sûrement
Le même sentiment
Quand au même printemps
On a eu vingt ans
Avec ma p'tite gueule
C′est le même baiser
Qui nous a grisés
Avec ma p′tite gueule
Et dans une même étreinte
Nous marquant d'une même empreinte
On s′est pour toujours
Pris d'un même amour
Avec ma p′tite gueule
Et dès lors, sans dételer
Nous armant d'un même courage
Afin de nous meubler
On s′est mis tous deux à l'ouvrage
Mais à peine installés
On s'est aperçu qu′à l′usage
Il manquerait encore
Qué'qu′ chose dans l' décor
Aussi, d′un commun accord
On s'est aussitôt
Remis au boulot
Avec ma p′tite gueule
Et neuf mois après
Comme un fait exprès
Avec ma p'tite gueule
Je devenais l'heureux père
D′un p′tit môme qu'était d′ sa mère
Le vivant portrait
Mais qui souriait
Avec ma p'tite gueule
Quand, plus tard, nous s′rons vieux
Alors, sans regrets, sans tristesse
Le soir, au coin du feu
Unis d'une même tendresse
Nous revivrons tous deux
Nos beaux souvenirs de jeunesse
Et quand viendra l′ jour
De faire à not' tour
Le grand voyage sans retour
De même qu'on est v′nus
Au monde inconnus
Avec ma p′tite gueule
C'est d′ la même façon
Qu' nous en r′partirons
Avec ma p'tite gueule
Et pourvu qu′on nous enterre
Dans le même petit coin d' terre
Qué'qu′ part, n′importe où
Bah! On s'ra bien partout
Avec ma p′tite gueule!
The lyrics of "Avec ma petite gueule" by Jean Gabin tell a love story between two people who have known each other since they were children. The song highlights the growth of their relationship, from childhood to adulthood, as they both discover love and build a life together.
The first verse talks about how they grew up together and shared similar interests, which eventually led to a romantic connection. The second verse describes their first kiss, which left them both feeling intoxicated with love. They are so in love that they decide to start a family soon after, and work hard to build a life together.
The third verse looks into the future, picturing them as old grandparents who have relived their youth by sharing their memories together. It ends with a beautiful sentiment that they hope to be buried together, wherever they may end up. It's a bittersweet song that captures the essence of love, growth, and the passage of time.
Overall, "Avec ma petite gueule" is a beautiful love song that celebrates love and relationships that have withstood the test of time. The song's imagery takes us on a journey that encompasses the entirety of a romantic relationship, from youthful attraction to lifelong companionship.
Line by Line Meaning
À cinq ans, on vivait
At five years old, we lived
Sur la même cour, au même étage
On the same courtyard, on the same floor
À dix ans, on avait
At ten years old, we had
Déjà les mêmes goûts en partage
Already shared the same tastes
À quinze ans, on rêvait
At fifteen years old, we dreamed
D′amitié et même davantage
Of friendship, and even more
Aussi, c'est sûrement
Also, it's surely
Le même sentiment
The same feeling
Qu′a fait qu' tout naturellement
That made it all natural
Quand au même printemps
When in the same spring
On a eu vingt ans
We turned twenty
Avec ma p'tite gueule
With my little face
C′est le même baiser
It was the same kiss
Qui nous a grisés
That made us giddy
Et dans une même étreinte
And in the same embrace
Nous marquant d'une même empreinte
Marking us with the same imprint
On s′est pour toujours
We committed forever
Pris d'un même amour
To the same love
Et dès lors, sans dételer
And since then, without stopping
Nous armant d'un même courage
Equipping ourselves with the same courage
Afin de nous meubler
To furnish ourselves
On s′est mis tous deux à l'ouvrage
We both got to work
Mais à peine installés
But barely installed
On s'est aperçu qu′à l′usage
We realized that in use
Il manquerait encore
Something was still missing
Qué'qu′ chose dans l'décor
Something in the decor
Aussi, d′un commun accord
So, by mutual agreement
On s'est aussitôt
We immediately
Remis au boulot
Got back to work
Et neuf mois après
And nine months later
Comme un fait exprès
As if it were meant to be
Avec ma p'tite gueule
With my little face
Je devenais l'heureux père
I became a happy father
D′un p′tit môme qu'était d′sa mère
Of a little one who looked like his mother
Le vivant portrait
A living portrait
Mais qui souriait
But who smiled
Quand, plus tard, nous s′rons vieux
When we're old later on
Alors, sans regrets, sans tristesse
Then, without regrets, without sadness
Le soir, au coin du feu
In the evening, by the fire
Unis d'une même tendresse
Joined by the same tenderness
Nous revivrons tous deux
We will both relive
Nos beaux souvenirs de jeunesse
Our beautiful memories of youth
Et quand viendra l′jour
And when the day comes
De faire à not' tour
To take our turn
Le grand voyage sans retour
The great journey of no return
De même qu'on est v'nus
Just as we came
Au monde inconnus
Unknown to the world
Avec ma p′tite gueule
With my little face
C'est d' la même façon
It will be the same way
Qu' nous en r'partirons
That we will depart
Avec ma p'tite gueule
With my little face
Et pourvu qu'on nous enterre
And as long as we are buried
Dans le même petit coin d'terre
In the same little corner of land
Qué'qu′ part, n'importe où
Somewhere, anywhere
Bah! On s'ra bien partout
Well! We will be good anywhere
Avec ma p′tite gueule!
With my little face!
Writer(s): Van Parys, M. Gleize
Contributed by Hannah T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Ivar Legrand
Génial ça c'était du chanteur