MacColl began her career in the late 1970s UK punk rock scene, singing backing vocals for Drug Addix. Her UK hits included the 1981 single "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis", a cover of Billy Bragg's "A New England" in 1985, a duet with Shane MacGowan of The Pogues on "Fairytale of New York" in 1987, and a cover of The Kinks' song "Days" in 1989. She was probably most recognizable in the United States as the writer of "They Don't Know" a hit in 1979.
After a break from the music industry for much of the 1990s, several trips to Cuba and Brazil restored MacColl's creative muse, and the world music-inspired (particularly Cuban and other Latin American forms) Tropical Brainstorm, often described as her finest work, was released in 2000.
On 18 December 2000, while swimming in a restricted diving area with her family on a holiday in Cozumel, she was killed in a collision with a powerboat while managing to drag her son out of its path. The boat was owned by Mexican supermarket millionaire Guillermo González Nova (owner of Comercial Mexicana), who was on board with several members of his family. A boathand, José Cen Yam, claimed to have been driving the boat and was found guilty of culpable homicide and, under Mexican law, allowed to pay a fine of 1034 pesos (about USD 90) in lieu of a prison sentence of that many days. However, eyewitnesses contradict Cen Yam's claim to have been driving and also González Nova's claim that the boat was travelling at a speed of only one knot. MacColl's family are campaigning for a judicial review into the events surrounding her death, including an application to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The BBC has featured on several of its channels a documentary by Olivia Lichtenstein, entitled Who Killed Kirsty MacColl?
In 2001, a bench was placed by the southern entrance to London's Soho Square as a memorial to her, after a lyric from one of her most poignant songs: "One day I'll be waiting there/ No empty bench inSoho Square.
La Foret De Mimosas
Kirsty MacColl Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dans le parking tous les amoureux
Ecoutez bien dans la Fôret de Mimosas
L'air deborde de cris du couer
Elle ne pensait pas quand il se sont recontres
Qu'elle commencait la une danse tres dangereuse
Elle a cru qu'ca s'rait bon pour un couer sensible
Il a concocte tout seul son idee
Elle est la plus belle qui'il connait
Mais il redoute que des mains etrangers
Touchant la femme qu'il a decidee sienne
Et chaque journee dans la Foret de Mimosas
Il l'attend avec une tete explosive
Elle va bientot dans la Foret de Mimosas
Une fete tragique attend la femme naive
Elle n'adore sa famille que trop
Elle n'est pas devouee comme il voudrant
Et chaque journee dans la Foret de Mimosas
Il arrive avec le coeur desepere
Il a attendu son mari chez lui
Mais il n'est jamais revenu
Alors il a pris la route pour le rendez-vous
Il faut qu'il tue quelqu'un, il a pris sa vie
Dans la Fôret de Mimosas
Et les enfants demandent quand est-ce qu'elle revient
Encore novices des films noirs et des passions d'hommes
Maman a disparu, il ne savent pas ou
Mais elle demeure maintenant dessous
Toujours, dans la Foret de Mimosas
Plus d'aventure, rien n's'y passera
Tout est tranquille dans la Fôret de Mimosas
Mistral est parti mais sa vie s'arrete la
The song "La Fôret de Mimosas" by Kirsty MacColl tells the tragic story of a woman who falls in love with a man who becomes possessive and violent towards her. The first stanza sets the scene of the "Fôret de Mimosas", a forest where lovers park their cars and where the air is filled with heartfelt cries. The woman initially believes that her love affair with the man will be good for a sensitive heart, but as the song progresses, it becomes clear that their relationship is far from idyllic.
The man becomes obsessed with the woman and concocts a plan to kill her husband so that he can have her all to himself. The woman, however, is not as devoted as he had hoped and is not willing to abandon her family for him. The man's desperation and jealousy leads to a tragic ending in the Fôret de Mimosas, where he ultimately kills the woman.
The lyrics are incredibly vivid and paint a picture of the forest as a place of both beauty and danger. The use of the French language and the inclusion of the Mistral wind give the song a sense of place and make it feel like a story of passion and tragedy that could only happen in a specific part of the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Chaque journee dans la Fôret de Mimosas
Every day in the Forest of Mimosas
Dans le parking tous les amoureux
In the parking lot all the lovers
Ecoutez bien dans la Fôret de Mimosas
Listen well in the Forest of Mimosas
L'air deborde de cris du couer
The air is overflowing with cries of the heart
Elle ne pensait pas quand il se sont recontres
She didn't think when they met
Qu'elle commencait la une danse tres dangereuse
That she was starting a very dangerous dance
Elle a cru qu'ca s'rait bon pour un couer sensible
She thought it would be good for a sensitive heart
D'avoir un reve un amour pas facile
To have a dream, a love that's not easy
Il a concocte tout seul son idee
He came up with the idea all by himself
Elle est la plus belle qui'il connait
She's the most beautiful he knows
Mais il redoute que des mains etrangers
But he fears that foreign hands
Touchant la femme qu'il a decidee sienne
Touching the woman he has decided is his
Et chaque journee dans la Foret de Mimosas
And every day in the Forest of Mimosas
Il l'attend avec une tete explosive
He waits for her with an explosive head
Elle va bientot dans la Foret de Mimosas
Soon she'll go to the Forest of Mimosas
Une fete tragique attend la femme naive
A tragic party awaits the naive woman
Elle n'adore sa famille que trop
She loves her family too much
Elle n'est pas devouee comme il voudrant
She's not devoted as he would like
Et chaque journee dans la Foret de Mimosas
And every day in the Forest of Mimosas
Il arrive avec le coeur desepere
He arrives with a despairing heart
Il a attendu son mari chez lui
He waited for her husband at home
Mais il n'est jamais revenu
But he never came back
Alors il a pris la route pour le rendez-vous
So he took the road to the meeting
Il faut qu'il tue quelqu'un, il a pris sa vie
He has to kill someone, he took his life
Dans la Fôret de Mimosas
In the Forest of Mimosas
Et les enfants demandent quand est-ce qu'elle revient
And the children ask when she's coming back
Encore novices des films noirs et des passions d'hommes
Still novices in black films and men's passions
Maman a disparu, il ne savent pas ou
Mom disappeared, they don't know where
Mais elle demeure maintenant dessous
But now she remains underneath
Toujours, dans la Foret de Mimosas
Always, in the Forest of Mimosas
Plus d'aventure, rien n's'y passera
No more adventure, nothing will happen
Tout est tranquille dans la Fôret de Mimosas
Everything is quiet in the Forest of Mimosas
Mistral est parti mais sa vie s'arrete la
Mistral is gone but his life ends there
Contributed by Caleb T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.