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.
Quand On S'promène Au Bord De l'Au
Jean Gabin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pour gagner des radis,
Quand on a fait sans entrain
Son p'tit truc quotidien,
Subi le propriétaire,
L'percepteur, la boulangère,
Et trimballé sa vie d'chien,
Le dimanch' viv'ment
Alors brusquement
Tout paraît charmant! ...
{Refrain:}
Quand on s'promène au bord de l'eau,
Comm' tout est beau...
Quel renouveau ...
Paris au loin nous semble une prison,
On a le cœur plein de chansons.
L'odeur des fleurs
Nous met tout à l'envers
Et le bonheur
Nous saoule pour pas cher.
Chagrins et peines
De la semaine,
Tout est noyé dans le bleu, dans le vert ...
Un seul dimanche au bord de l'eau,
Aux trémolos
Des p'tits oiseaux,
Suffit pour que tous les jours semblent beaux
Quand on s'promène au bord de l'eau.
J'connais des gens cafardeux
Qui tout l'temps s'font des ch'veux
Et rêv'nt de filer ailleurs
Dans un monde meilleur.
Ils dépens'nt des tas d'oseille
Pour découvrir des merveilles.
Ben moi, ça m'fait mal au cœur ...
Car y a pas besoin
Pour trouver un coin
Où l'on se trouv' bien,
De chercher si loin...
{Refrain}
The lyrics of Jean Gabin's song "Quand On S'promène Au Bord De l'Au" describe how a walk by the water can transform even the most mundane of lives. The first verse talks about the daily grind of working to "earn radishes" (a French expression meaning to make ends meet) and dealing with the demands of landlords, tax collectors, and bakers. But on Sundays, people escape to Nogent, where suddenly everything appears charming and beautiful.
The refrain repeats the idea that everything seems beautiful when walking beside the water, with Paris in the distance looking like a prison. The smell of flowers and the happiness found are overwhelming and cheap, even drowning out the troubles of the week. This one day is enough to make every other day of the week seem beautiful.
In the second verse, Gabin talks about people who are always unhappy and dreaming of a better world, spending lots of money and searching for endless beauty. But he believes that they don't have to search far for moments of peace and joy- a simple walk by the water is enough to feel content.
In summary, the song reminds us to take the time to appreciate the simple pleasures in life, such as walking by the water, and to not get caught up in the daily grind and searching for perfection in far-off places.
Line by Line Meaning
Du lundi jusqu'au sam'di,
From Monday to Saturday
Pour gagner des radis,
To earn some money
Quand on a fait sans entrain
When we've done our daily routine without enthusiasm
Son p'tit truc quotidien,
Our little daily thing
Subi le propriétaire,
Suffered the landlord
L'percepteur, la boulangère,
The tax collector, the baker
Et trimballé sa vie d'chien,
And dragged our dog life
Le dimanch' viv'ment
On Sunday, lively
On file à Nogent,
We head to Nogent
Alors brusquement
Suddenly
Tout paraît charmant! ...
Everything seems charming
{Refrain:}
Chorus:
Quand on s'promène au bord de l'eau,
When we stroll along the water's edge
Comm' tout est beau...
How beautiful everything is...
Quel renouveau ...
What a renewal...
Paris au loin nous semble une prison,
Paris in the distance seems like a prison to us
On a le cœur plein de chansons.
Our hearts are full of songs.
L'odeur des fleurs
The smell of flowers
Nous met tout à l'envers
Turns everything upside down
Et le bonheur
And happiness
Nous saoule pour pas cher.
Gets us drunk for cheap.
Chagrins et peines
Griefs and sorrows
De la semaine,
Of the week
Tout est noyé dans le bleu, dans le vert ...
Everything is drowned in blue and green...
Un seul dimanche au bord de l'eau,
Just one Sunday by the water's edge
Aux trémolos
To the tremolos
Des p'tits oiseaux,
Of the little birds,
Suffit pour que tous les jours semblent beaux
Is enough to make every day seem beautiful.
Quand on s'promène au bord de l'eau.
When we stroll along the water's edge.
J'connais des gens cafardeux
I know some gloomy people
Qui tout l'temps s'font des ch'veux
Who are constantly making a fuss
Et rêv'nt de filer ailleurs
And dream of going elsewhere
Dans un monde meilleur.
In a better world.
Ils dépens'nt des tas d'oseille
They spend a lot of money
Pour découvrir des merveilles.
To discover wonders.
Ben moi, ça m'fait mal au cœur ...
Well, it breaks my heart...
Car y a pas besoin
Because there's no need
Pour trouver un coin
To find a place
Où l'on se trouv' bien,
Where we feel good,
De chercher si loin...
To look so far...
{Refrain}
Chorus
Contributed by Lillian O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.