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.
Tant D'amour
Julien Clerc Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oщ ell' se faisait prendre
Avec son air d'attendre
Un autre paysage
La moitiй du visage
Comme а l'ombre d'ell' mкme
L'autr' ne laissant paraоtre
... Lа le jardin d'hiver
Oщ j'aimais qu'elle danse
Sans musique, au contraire
Son corps dans le silence
Lа c'йtait la terrasse
Et lа... c'йtait la chambre
Oщ un soir de septembre
Ell' me quitte а voix basse...
Tant d'amour
Tant d'amour
Un jour le cњur se casse
Et c'est en un instant
Lа le jardin superbe
Oщ je l'entendais rire
Et lа les hautes herbes
Oщ je la vois courir
Lа-bas, c'йtait son arbre
Le jeune et beau qui tremble
Mais la premiиre alarme
C'est ailleurs, il me semble
... On prenait ce couloir
Voyageurs dans le noir
Quand sa petite main
Habitait dans ma main
Et lа c'йtait ce lit
Oщ se levait le jour
Ici elle faisait
Et dйfaisait l'amour...
Tant d'amour
Tant d'amour
Un jour le cњur se casse
Et c'est en un instant
Nos pas perdent leurs traces
Les miroirs se glacent
Tant d'amour
Et dйjа
... Cette couleur d'ivoire
Que le temps donne au temps.
The song "Tant D'amour" by Julien Clerc is a poignant and nostalgic meditation on lost love and the memories that remain. The lyrics paint a series of vivid images of different places where the singer and his former lover shared moments of tenderness and passion: a window where she would look out at new horizons, a garden where she would dance alone, a terrace and a bedroom where they said their final goodbyes. Many of these memories are bittersweet, tinged with regret and longing.
The chorus, with its repeated phrase "Tant d'amour" ("So much love") underscores the depth of feeling that the singer had for his lost love, and highlights the pain of having that love abruptly come to an end. The final lines of the song speak to the finality of loss and the inevitability of time: "Our footsteps lose their traces / The mirrors become glazed / So much love / And already... / This color of ivory / That time gives to time."
Line by Line Meaning
Lа, c'йtait la fenкtre
There was the window where she was caught, her look full of expectation for a different scenery.
Oщ ell' se faisait prendre
Where she was caught.
Avec son air d'attendre
Full of expectation.
Un autre paysage
A different scenery.
La moitiй du visage
Half of her face.
Comme а l'ombre d'ell' mкme
As if in the shadow of herself.
L'autr' ne laissant paraоtre
The other half barely showing.
Qu'une pвleur extrкm
Just an extreme pale color.
La le jardin d'hiver
There was the winter garden.
Oщ j'aimais qu'elle danse
Where I loved to watch her dance.
Sans musique, au contraire
Without music, but instead her body moved in silence.
Son corps dans le silence
Her body moving in silence.
La c'йtait la terrasse
There was the terrace.
Et lа... c'йtait la chambre
And there... was the bedroom.
Oщ un soir de septembre
Where one September evening.
Ell' me quitte а voix basse...
She left me in a quiet voice.
Tant d'amour
Tant d'amour
Un jour le cњur se casse
Et c'est en un instant
So much love, so much love, and one day the heart breaks, in just an instant.
Lа le jardin superbe
There was the superb garden.
Oщ je l'entendais rire
Where I could hear her laugh.
Et lа les hautes herbes
And there the tall grass.
Oщ je la vois courir
Where I saw her running.
Lа-bas, c'йtait son arbre
Over there was her tree.
Le jeune et beau qui tremble
The young and beautiful that trembles.
Mais la premiиre alarme
But the first cry for help.
C'est ailleurs, il me semble
Is somewhere else, it seems to me.
On prenait ce couloir
We would take this hallway.
Voyageurs dans le noir
Travelers in the dark.
Quand sa petite main
When her small hand.
Habitait dans ma main
Lived inside my own.
Et lа c'йtait ce lit
And there was that bed.
Oщ se levait le jour
Where the day would rise.
Ici elle faisait
Et dйfaisait l'amour...
Here she would make and unmake love.
Nos pas perdent leurs traces
Our footsteps lose their traces.
Les miroirs se glacent
The mirrors become frosted.
Tant d'amour
Et dйjа
... Cette couleur d'ivoire
Que le temps donne au temps.
So much love, and already... this ivory color that time gives to time.
Contributed by Mason H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.