His father was a UNESCO employee and his mother is from Guadeloupe. Many of the chansons he sings were written by Étienne Roda-Gil, a long time collaborator. His brother, Gérard Leclerc, is a political commentator on France 2.
For a time he was involved with French actress Miou-Miou, who in 1978 bore him a daughter, Jeanne Herry. Like her father, Jeanne has pursued a career in show business, albeit as an actress and comedian rather than as a singer.
Julien Clerc owes his fame in France to his leading role in the 1969 French language adaptation of the musical Hair. Since then he has sung a great many popular songs, and is generally considered one of the greatest francophone musicians of his generation. In 2003, he was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees after transferring the rights to his hugely popular song, Partir, to the UN.
Les Menhirs
Julien Clerc Lyrics
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A l'ombre fraîche des menhirs
La lande restera la même
Avec fougères et bruyères
La côte gardera sa rage
Et le froid crachin son rire
Pour des souvenirs amers
Quand je passe
Et je t'oublie
Ton amour sera silence
Tes instants seront des jours d'ennui
Et de temps trop lourd
Pour une vie de grande absence
Tu retrouveras les plages
Où mers et rochers s'aiment
Les tristes blockhaus y rêvent
Il y fait froid
Et je t'oublie
Et je t'oublie
D'entendre sonner le tocsin
Quand les femmes attendent pour rien
Quand le phare se jette au temps
Tu apprendras le goût du vent
Pour oublier
Pour oublier
Tu compteras chaque seconde
Tu t'inventeras des forces
Tu t'achèteras des amours
Puis tu t'habitueras aux autres
A la certitude de tes nuits
T'abandonnant au sommeil
Et quand chaque jour se lève
Te dire encore
Que je t'oublie
Que je t'oublie
D'entendre sonner le tocsin
Quand les femmes attendent pour rien
Quand le phare se jette au temps
Tu apprendras le goût du vent
Pour oublier
Pour oublier
Ne m'attends pas trop longtemps
A l'ombre fraîche des menhirs
La lande restera la même
Avec fougères et bruyères
La côte gardera sa rage
Et le froid crachin son rire
Pour des souvenirs amers
Quand je passe
Et je t'oublie
Et je t'oublie
The lyrics of Julien Clerc's song Les Menhirs portray ending a relationship and moving on. The singer tells their partner not to wait too long for them under the shade of the menhirs, or standing stones, in the cool shadows of the moors. The natural landscape will remain the same with ferns and heather, and the coast will keep its anger and cold mist, producing bitter memories when they pass and forget about their past love. The partner's love will become silence and their moments will be filled with boredom, with time seeming to weigh heavily for their life of great absence. They will return to the beaches where the sea and rocks love each other, while the sad blockhouses dream there shivering in the cold. The singer repeats that they forget their former flame.
The song talks about the pain of breaking up with someone and moving away, with the landscape as a metaphor for the changes in the relationship. The menhirs and the moors remain unchanged, but the people's lives will never be the same again. The singer tells their partner that they have to move on and find new love as it will be impossible for the partner to wait forever for them. The song is melancholic but it is also about the hope that comes with forgetting the past and turning over a new page for the future.
Line by Line Meaning
Ne m'attends pas trop longtemps
Don't wait for me for too long
A l'ombre fraîche des menhirs
In the cool shade of the standing stones
La lande restera la même
The heathland will stay the same
Avec fougères et bruyères
With ferns and heathers
La côte gardera sa rage
The coast will keep its fury
Et le froid crachin son rire
And the cold drizzle its laugh
Pour des souvenirs amers
For bitter memories
Quand je passe
When I pass by
Et je t'oublie
And I forget about you
Ton amour sera silence
Your love will be silence
Tes instants seront des jours d'ennui
Your moments will be days of boredom
Et de temps trop lourd
And of time too heavy
Pour une vie de grande absence
For a life of great absence
Tu retrouveras les plages
You will find again the beaches
Où mers et rochers s'aiment
Where seas and rocks love each other
Les tristes blockhaus y rêvent
The sad bunkers dream there
Il y fait froid
It's cold there
D'entendre sonner le tocsin
To hear the alarm bell ringing
Quand les femmes attendent pour rien
When women wait in vain
Quand le phare se jette au temps
When the lighthouse throws itself into time
Tu apprendras le goût du vent
You will learn the taste of the wind
Pour oublier
To forget
Tu compteras chaque seconde
You will count each second
Tu t'inventeras des forces
You will invent some strengths
Tu t'achèteras des amours
You will buy some loves
Puis tu t'habitueras aux autres
And then you will get used to others
A la certitude de tes nuits
To the certainty of your nights
T'abandonnant au sommeil
Surrendering yourself to sleep
Et quand chaque jour se lève
And when each day rises
Te dire encore
To tell you once again
Que je t'oublie
That I forget about you
Contributed by Zoe B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.