Léo Ferré (1916-1993) was a Monégasque poet, composer, and, musician.
Read Full Bio ↴Léo Ferré (1916-1993) was a Monégasque poet, composer, and, musician.

Born on the 24th August 1916 in Monaco, Ferré mixed lyricism with slang; love with anarchy. He took a central place in the world of French song. He was involved in anarchism, and worked with Radio Libertaire, an anarchist free-radio broadcasting in Paris and around France. He died on the 14th July 1993.

La chanson triste
Léo Ferré Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Quand la peine bat sur ta porte close
Donne-lui du feu pour l'amour de Dieu
Si ta flamme est morte et que tout repose
Elle s'en ira je n'ai pas fait mieux

Les fleurs de ma vie étaient roses blanches
Je les données à tous mes amis
Pour les effeuiller entre quatre planches

J'aurais bien mieux fait d'en fleurir ma vie

J'avais des habits taillés aux nuages
J'avais des cheveux comme des drapeaux
Et flottait au vent ma crinière sage
Lors j'ai tout perdu restait que la peau

Je m'en suis allé sous dix pieds d'argile
Coincé nez à nez par un ciel de bois
Et disant mes vers à mes vers dociles
Qui m'auront rimé autrement que moi

Quand la peine bat sur ta porte close
Donne-lui du feu pour l'amour de Dieu
Et s'embrasera la dernière rose
Que j'irai cueillir en guise d'adieu

Et s'envolera la dernière rose
Que j'irai cueillir en guise d'adieu

Overall Meaning

In "La chanson triste", Leo Ferre reflects upon his life and the mistakes he has made. The song begins with the line "Quand la peine bat sur ta porte close" which translates to "When sorrow knocks on your closed door". Ferre advises the listener to give it some fire for the love of God, which can be interpreted as a suggestion to confront sorrow head-on and try to find a way to deal with it. He then describes how he was not able to do this himself, as he lost his flame along the way and everything came to a standstill.

Ferre then looks back at his life and wonders if giving away the flowers of his life to his friends was the right thing to do. He feels that instead of wasting his time and energy on others, he should have invested in himself and made his own life blossom. He then talks about how he had everything going for him, with clothes tailored to the clouds, and hair that was like flags waving in the wind. However, he lost everything in the end and was left with nothing but his skin.

In the final stanza, Ferre talks about how he has gone six feet under, but his poetry lives on. He advises the listener to give sorrow some fire one last time before he goes and pick the last rose, which can be taken as a metaphor for his final goodbye. Overall, "La chanson triste" is a reflective song that encourages the listener to confront sorrow, make the most of life, and appreciate the poetry of their existence.

Line by Line Meaning

Quand la peine bat sur ta porte close
When sorrow knocks on your closed door

Donne-lui du feu pour l'amour de Dieu
Give it some fire for the love of God

Si ta flamme est morte et que tout repose
If your flame is dead and everything is still

Elle s'en ira je n'ai pas fait mieux
It will leave, I haven't done any better

Les fleurs de ma vie étaient roses blanches
The flowers of my life were white roses

Je les données à tous mes amis
I gave them to all my friends

Pour les effeuiller entre quatre planches
To have them plucked between four planks

J'aurais bien mieux fait d'en fleurir ma vie
I should have bloomed my own life with them

J'avais des habits taillés aux nuages
I had clothes tailored to the clouds

J'avais des cheveux comme des drapeaux
I had hair like flags

Et flottait au vent ma crinière sage
And my wise mane floated in the wind