The son of a composer, with brothers and sisters who had successful careers of their own in musical entertainment, Jean Sablon studied piano at the Lyceé Charlemagne in Paris. He left before graduating to enroll at the Paris Conservatoire in order to concentrate on a vocal career. He started in the cabarets of Paris at the age of 17, and was subsequently accompanied on his first album by the pianist/composer Mireille, whose song Couchés dans le foin became a great success. Later, he partnered the wildly popular Mistinguett at the Casino de Paris and boosted his career considerably. He was the first cabaret singer to use a microphone in his stage act. In the 1920s he spent time in Brazil where his recordings remain extremely popular today.
In 1937 he won the Grand Prix du Disque for the song "Vous qui passez sans me voir," written for him by Charles Trenet and Johnny Hess. That same year, he went to the United States, where he sang on live radio broadcasts for CBS and made several records in the English language. On Broadway, he worked with luminaries such as Cole Porter and George Gershwin. He returned to Paris but with the German occupation of France in World War II, he went back to America for the duration.
Jean Sablon became one of the most widely acclaimed male French singers, considered second only in overall lifetime popularity to Maurice Chevalier. His records sold in the millions around the world and he is frequently referred to as the French equivalent of America's Bing Crosby. During his career, he recorded with some of the world's top musicians, including Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. Sablon is credited with arranging Reinhardt's debut in a fashionable cabaret in 1933. He is also recognized for his talents as a lyricist and a composer. Sablon appeared in a number of motion pictures and television films performing as a vocalist or pianist, his last coming in 1984 when he sang "April in Paris" in Mistral's Daughter, the popular American TV miniseries filmed in France.
Jean Sablon died in 1994 and was interred in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.
Clopin-Clopant
Jean Sablon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Et des fossettes au creux des joues
J'ai perdu mes joues et mes langes
Et j'ai cassé tous mes joujoux.
Je m'suis regardé dans un' glace
Et j'ai vu que j'avais rêvé
Je m'suis dit : faudra bien qu'j'm'y fasse...
Tout finira par arriver...
{Refrain:}
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant
Dans le soleil et dans le vent,
De temps en temps le cœur chancelle...
Y a des souv'nirs qui s'amoncellent...
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant
En promenant mon cœur d'enfant...
Comme s'envole une hirondelle...
La vie s'enfuit à tire-d'aile...
Ça fait si mal au cœur d'enfant
Qui s'en va seul, clopin-clopant...
Tout l'amour que l'on a vu naître...
Tes lèvres douces, parfum de miel...
Nos deux fronts contre la fenêtre...
Nos regards perdus dans le ciel...
Le train noir hurlant dans la gare...
Le monstrueux désert des rues...
Tes mots d'adieu, tes mots bizarres...
Depuis dix mois, tu n'écris plus...
{Refrain}
In Jean Sablon's song "Clopin-Clopant," the singer reflects on his childhood and the passing of time. He begins by describing himself as being born with angelic eyes and dimples in his cheeks, but eventually losing these features and breaking his toys. Upon looking in the mirror, he realizes that he has been dreaming and accepts that everything will eventually come to an end. He then repeats the chorus, which has a melancholic tone and describes him walking limpingly in the sun and wind with memories accumulating inside him. He compares himself to a child with a heart walking alone, with memories of love and separation still fresh in his mind.
In the second verse of the song, Sablon sings about love, memories and separation. He mentions the sweetness of his lover's lips and the memories of looking out a window together. However, he also mentions the pain of her leaving and not writing to him for ten months. The song is a reflection on the passing of time, memories and the pain of growing up.
Line by Line Meaning
Je suis né avec des yeux d'ange
I was born with innocent and pure eyes
Et des fossettes au creux des joues
And with dimples on my cheeks
J'ai perdu mes joues et mes langes
I lost my baby fat and my swaddling clothes
Et j'ai cassé tous mes joujoux.
And I broke all of my toys
Je m'suis regardé dans un' glace
I looked at myself in a mirror
Et j'ai vu que j'avais rêvé
And I realized that I had been dreaming
Je m'suis dit : faudra bien qu'j'm'y fasse...
I told myself: I'll have to accept it...
Tout finira par arriver...
Everything will eventually come to pass...
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant
And I'm off hobbling along
Dans le soleil et dans le vent,
In the sun and in the wind
De temps en temps le cœur chancelle...
At times my heart falters...
Y a des souv'nirs qui s'amoncellent...
Memories start to pile up...
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant
And I'm off hobbling along
En promenant mon cœur d'enfant...
While taking my child-like heart for a walk...
Comme s'envole une hirondelle...
Like a swallow taking flight...
La vie s'enfuit à tire-d'aile...
Life flies by quickly...
Ça fait si mal au cœur d'enfant
It hurts so much for a child's heart
Qui s'en va seul, clopin-clopant...
To go alone, hobbling along...
Tout l'amour que l'on a vu naître...
All the love that we saw born...
Tes lèvres douces, parfum de miel...
Your sweet lips, honey-scented...
Nos deux fronts contre la fenêtre...
Our foreheads against the window...
Nos regards perdus dans le ciel...
Our gazes lost in the sky...
Le train noir hurlant dans la gare...
The black train screeching into the station...
Le monstrueux désert des rues...
The monstrous deserted streets...
Tes mots d'adieu, tes mots bizarres...
Your farewell words, your strange words...
Depuis dix mois, tu n'écris plus...
For ten months now, you haven't written...
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Contributed by Alexander R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.