Three years after the release of her first album, which went gold and platinum, she released her second album, Carpe Diem, which launched the career of this singer-songwriter in French-speaking countries, especially in Quebec. Within three weeks, the album went gold. She then took her music on tour, performing to over 150,000 admirers, while her album went three times platinum. She was especially appreciated by the Canadian public and music industry. In 1995, she was awarded two Félix awards by Quebec's association of recording artists (ADISQ), namely Best Female Vocalist of the year (by popular vote), and Best Live Performance of the year.
Then, things began to pick up!
In 1996, Walt Disney Studios immortalized Lara's voice. In addition to incarnating Esmeralda, the heroine of the animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame, she sang the theme song ("Que Dieu aide les exclus") on the film's soundtrack.
In October, her third album "Pure" went platinum in less than two weeks. Thanks to this album, she won the 1997 Félix for Album of the Year. The same year, "Pure" was launched in France where over two million albums were sold within two years. Thanks to this resounding success, which eloquently expressed the affection of her loving and faithful fans, Lara was awarded the prize for New Artist of the Year at the prestigious French gala Les Victoires de la Musique. This was in February 1998, a few months before the concert tour in several French cities that led to the recording of an album (Lara Fabian Live) in March 1999 which went platinum a few months later. Lara Fabian was praised by music lovers and critics alike...
In addition to receiving the Félix for Quebec Artist Having the Most Impact Outside Quebec, she was voted Personality of the Year by the magazine Paris Match, which featured her on its front cover. While her fame grew, she was honored at the World Music Awards for Best Selling Artist for "Pure". Between appearances in Europe, Lara often returned to New York City and San Francisco to record her first album in English. She wrote or co-wrote most of the songs, working with Rick Allison and producers Walter Afanasieff (Mariah Carey), Pat Leonard (Madonna), Sam Watters (ex-Color Me Badd) and Brian Rawling (Cher's "I Believe").
Produced by Sony Records, the self-titled album was launched in May 2000 on America's most popular morning television show, NBC's Today Show. Invitations poured in, and Lara Fabian appeared on The Tonight Show, The View, Access Hollywood, Craig Kilborn, Entertainment Tonight...
The album's first excerpt, I will Love Again, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Music charts and settled in for 58 weeks! Thanks to this resounding success, she received the Félix for Quebec Artist Having the Most Impact in a Language other than French. The songs on the album thrilled audiences worldwide.
In February 2001, Love By Grace became the theme song of the lead couple in the Brazilian soap opera Laços de Familia, broadcast by TV Globo for millions of viewers in Brazil and Portugal. For several weeks, the song was number 1 on most Brazilian and Portuguese radio stations. Love by Grace generated an incredible frenzy around the artist… You just don't top the billboards of Portuguese speaking countries everyday!
After From Lara with Love, her first American TV special broadcast by PBS, the singer-songwriter participated in the very popular WTKU New York radio special, Miracle on 34th Street, where many popular artists appeared, including Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin and Toni Braxton.
Shortly after, when her self-titled English-language album was released in Asia, Lara scored a number one hit on the Taiwanese top ten, a great moment for the artist. Many were particularly impressed with the song Light of my Life (found only on the Asian edition of the album), which she interpreted with Lee-Hom, Asia's top male Chinese-speaking vocalist. This song was included in the movie feature China Strike Force, starring newcomer Lee-Horn along with Aaron Kwok, a box-office idol throughout Asia.
Eagerly awaited in several cities throughout the world, Lara has brilliantly dealt with her growing popularity by frequently appearing abroad. The artist has performed in several European and American capitals, and has enjoyed every minute of her travels. Solid gold in Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Norway, Lara Fabian went platinum in Belgium, Brazil and France and triple platinum in Portugal. She enjoyed the longest number 1 run on Billboard's Heatseeker Chart in 2000.
Last May, Lara was awarded yet another prize at the World Music Awards in Monaco, where she sang Adagio. She also returned to New York and Los Angeles to lend her voice to the original soundtracks of two long-awaited international super productions in July 2001: She interpreted the song The Dreams Within, featured in the movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, as well as For Always, the vocal version of the title song of A.I., Steven Spielberg's latest feature.
In addition to a new French-language album in September 2001, Lara Fabian launched the first single on her new album in May, "J'y crois encore", which can be heard on radio stations in Quebec and Europe.
From France to Brazil, in Italy, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Japan and the United States, Lara Fabian has established her reputation as a determined singer-songwriter. Barely 10 years after the release of her first album, Lara has conquered the hearts of millions of fans throughout the world, whose fervor is equaled only by their affection for this talented and authentic artist. Eight million records sold worldwide to this day testify to her achievement.
Her best-selling European DVD and CD, En Toute Intimité, released in October 2003, was an intimate, acoustic piano-based collection showcasing Ms. Fabian performing songs in English, Italian and French.
After En Toute Intimité Lara Fabian released her 2nd English language album called "A wonderful life". Lara Fabian's latest release is an album in the French language with the title "Toutes Les Femmes en Moi", released in May 2009.
2010: "Tour Les Femmes Font Leur Show", Mademoiselle Zhivago
Throughout the first half of 2010, Fabian embarked on a European tour of concerts, throughout France, Switzerland, and Belgium, incorporating the main repertoire of her last album "Toutes Les Femmes En Moi" along with some classic and fan favorites. She also performed again in Eastern Europe, with a more acoustic set (piano-voice), and included English recordings from the album Every Woman in Me. In September 2010, she finally released her 2009 album "Toutes Les Femmes En Moi" in Québec. She also recorded the album "Nuit Magique" with Canadian singer Coral Egan.
Later in 2010, Fabian released a concept album in Russia and Ukraine called Mademoiselle Zhivago which has sold over 800.000 copies in Russia. It features 11 songs in different languages by Russian composer Igor Krutoy. It features stories about a woman who experiences several lives over the years and centuries. Eleven music videos, one each song, were combined to create a full-length film, produced and directed by Ukrainian film producer Alan Badoev. The album itself, containing a CD and a DVD, was first released in Ukraine in October 2010 and in Russia in November.
2020–present: Lockdown Sessions
On December 16, 2020, Lara Fabian discreetly unveiled a collection of 12 experimental musical tracks, the fruit of her introspection and her isolation during confinement. Lockdown Sessions came out in a limited edition without a label, and offers a unique journey of the singer accompanied again by Moh Denebi.
Fabian is a full lyric soprano with a vocal range that spans three octaves from C3 to G5 in live performances.
She is multilingual, she speaks Italian, French, Spanish, Sicilian, English and some Flemish.[citation needed] She has also sung in Azerbaijani, German, Greek, Hebrew, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, and Turkish
Comme Ils Disent
Lara Fabian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dans un très vieil appartement rue Sarasate
J'ai pour me tenir compagnie
Une tortue deux canaris et une chatte.
Pour laisser maman reposer
Très souvent je fais le marché et la cuisine
Je range, je lave et j'essuie,
A l'occasion je pique aussi à la machine.
Je suis un peu décorateur un peu styliste
Mais mon vrai métier c'est la nuit.
Que je l'exerce travesti, je suis artiste.
Jai un numéro très spécial
Qui finit en nu intégral après strip-tease,
Et dans la salle je vois que
Les mâles n'en croient pas leurs yeux.
Je suis un homo comme ils disent.
Vers les trois heures du matin
On va manger entre copains de tous les sexes
Dans un quelconque bar-tabac
Et là on s'en donne à cœur joie et sans complexe
On déballe des vérités
Sur des gens qu'on a dans le nez, on les lapide.
Mais on le fait avec humour
Enrobés dans des calembours mouillés d'acide
On rencontre des attardés
Qui pour épater leurs tablées marchent et ondulent
Singeant ce qu'ils croient être nous
Et se couvrent, les pauvres fous, de ridicule
Ça gesticule et parle fort.
Ça joue les divas, les ténors de la bêtise.
Moi les lazzi, les quolibets
Me laissent froid puisque c'est vrai.
Je suis un homo comme ils disent.
A l'heure où naît un jour nouveau
Je rentre retrouver mon lot de solitude.
J'ôte mes cils et mes cheveux
Comme un pauvre clown malheureux de lassitude.
Je me couche mais je ne dors pas
Je pense à mes amours sans joie si dérisoires.
A ce garçon beau comme un Dieu
Qui sans rien faire a mis le feu à ma mémoire.
Ma bouche n'osera jamais
Lui avouer mon doux secret mon tendre drame
Car l'objet de tous mes tourments
Passe le plus clair de son temps au lit des femmes
Nul n'a le droit en vérité
De me blâmer de me juger et je précise
Que c'est bien la nature qui
Est seule responsable si
Je suis un "homme oh" comme ils disent.
The lyrics to Lara Fabian’s song Comme Ils Disent tell the story of a gay man who lives with his mother in a very old apartment in Sarasate Street. To keep him company, he has a turtle, two canaries, and a cat. He takes care of his mother by doing the grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, and sometimes even washing the clothes. The song goes on to explain that the singer’s true profession is that of an artist, and he performs a very special number at nightclubs that ends with a complete strip-tease. However, the twist is that he does the act as a transvestite. The male audience members are shocked at the end of the performance when they realize that the performer is a man, and the song reveals that the man is gay, as “Je suis un homo comme ils disent” translates to “I am a homo as they say.”
The lyrics continue to describe the man’s night-time activities, which include meeting with friends, both male and female, in bars and cafes. They discuss people they don’t like and ridicule them in a humorous way. Some of the people the singer and his friends encounter try to act like them, but they end up looking ridiculous. The singer doesn’t care about the ridicule he faces because he knows it’s true; he is gay, just as they say. The song ends with the singer thinking about his secret love, a man who is beautiful like a god but is straight and loves women. He knows that he can never reveal his feelings to him and that he is destined to be alone with his life of solitude.
Line by Line Meaning
J'habite seul avec maman
I live alone with my mom
Dans un très vieil appartement rue Sarasate
In a very old apartment on Sarasate street
J'ai pour me tenir compagnie
To keep me company
Une tortue deux canaris et une chatte.
I have a turtle, two canaries, and a cat
Pour laisser maman reposer
To let Mom rest
Très souvent je fais le marché et la cuisine
I often do the shopping and cooking
Je range, je lave et j'essuie,
I clean, I wash, and I wipe dry
A l'occasion je pique aussi à la machine.
Sometimes I also use the sewing machine
Le travail ne me fait pas peur
I'm not afraid of work
Je suis un peu décorateur un peu styliste
I'm a bit of a decorator, a bit of a stylist
Mais mon vrai métier c'est la nuit.
But my real job is at night
Que je l'exerce travesti, je suis artiste.
I am an artist and I perform disguised as a woman
Jai un numéro très spécial
I have a very special act
Qui finit en nu intégral après strip-tease,
Which ends up with me completely naked after a striptease
Et dans la salle je vois que
And in the audience I see that
Les mâles n'en croient pas leurs yeux.
The men can't believe their eyes
Je suis un homo comme ils disent.
I'm gay, as they say
Vers les trois heures du matin
Around three in the morning
On va manger entre copains de tous les sexes
We go eat together, friends of all genders
Dans un quelconque bar-tabac
In some bar/tobacco shop
Et là on s'en donne à cœur joie et sans complexe
And there we have fun without any complex
On déballe des vérités
We reveal truths
Sur des gens qu'on a dans le nez, on les lapide.
About people we don't really like, we criticize them
Mais on le fait avec humour
But we do it with humor
Enrobés dans des calembours mouillés d'acide
Coated with jokes laced with acid
On rencontre des attardés
We meet slow people
Qui pour épater leurs tablées marchent et ondulent
Who try to impress their friends by walking and waving
Singeant ce qu'ils croient être nous
Imitating what they think is like us
Et se couvrent, les pauvres fous, de ridicule
And they cover themselves, poor fools, in ridicule
Ça gesticule et parle fort.
They gesture and speak loudly
Ça joue les divas, les ténors de la bêtise.
They play the divas, the tenors of stupidity
Moi les lazzi, les quolibets
As for me, the jokes and jeers
Me laissent froid puisque c'est vrai.
Leave me cold because it's true
Je suis un homo comme ils disent.
I'm gay, as they say
A l'heure où naît un jour nouveau
At the hour when a new day is born
Je rentre retrouver mon lot de solitude.
I come back to my share of solitude
J'ôte mes cils et mes cheveux
I remove my false eyelashes and my wig
Comme un pauvre clown malheureux de lassitude.
Like a poor and unhappy clown tired of it all
Je me couche mais je ne dors pas
I go to bed, but I can't sleep
Je pense à mes amours sans joie si dérisoires.
I think of my love affairs, so joyless and futile
A ce garçon beau comme un Dieu
To this boy who's as handsome as a God
Qui sans rien faire a mis le feu à ma mémoire.
Who, without doing anything, has set my mind on fire
Ma bouche n'osera jamais
My mouth will never dare
Lui avouer mon doux secret mon tendre drame
To confess to him my sweet secret, my tender drama
Car l'objet de tous mes tourments
Because the cause of all my troubles
Passe le plus clair de son temps au lit des femmes
Spends most of his time in women's bed
Nul n'a le droit en vérité
No one really has the right
De me blâmer de me juger et je précise
To blame or judge me, and I emphasize
Que c'est bien la nature qui
That it's nature itself
Est seule responsable si
That is solely responsible if
Je suis un "homme oh" comme ils disent.
I'm a man who likes men, as they say
Contributed by Tyler A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Wadim Kramer
Памяти великого шансонье и человека:
"Сила этой песни как раз в том, что она написана от первого лица. Я не мог
позволить себе тыкать пальцем и петь "они". Все-таки я актер, и да, я
сыграл в этой песне гомосексуала..." - сказал Шарль Азнавур в интервью
журналу "MAXIМ". "...Тем более что их тогда вокруг меня было множество и
все очень, очень талантливые. Я рад, что сейчас, спустя сорок с лишним лет, жить им стало проще", - добавил музыкант. Летом 2014 года вскоре после принятия в России скандально известного "закона Мизулиной" Шарль Азнавур поддержал российских ЛГБТ-людей. "Позиция Путина ошибочна,- нельзя осуждать целую группу населения..." Артист пообещал исполнить композицию Comme Ils Disent на концерте в Москве.
"...В час, когда рождается новый день,
я возвращаюсь к своей
одинокой участи.
Я снимаю накладные ресницы и волосы,
как бедный, несчастный,
усталый клоун.
Я ложусь, но не сплю:
я думаю о своей безрадостной,
такой смехотворной любви,
об этом мальчике, красивом, как Бог,
который, ничего не делая,
разжег огонь в моей душе...".
"Comme ils disent" ("Как говорят") была создана и впервые исполнена Шарлем Азнавуром в 1972 году. Пронзительная баллада рассказывает о
влюбленности травести-актера к пианисту - безответной и
"нетрадиционной". На написание песни его вдохновил шофер, секретарь,
декоратор и друг - гомосексуал Андрюшка, русский по происхождению.
"Comme ils disent" многократно перепевали другие артисты - Лайза
Минелли, Шайм, Линда Лемэй, Жан-Луи Обер, Раймон Лефевр... Современной
публике песня, возможно, более знакома в исполнении Лары Фабиан.
Isabelle Gouget Graphothérapeute
Une grande artiste sans conteste, une interprétation travaillée jusqu'au bout des doigts. Aucun détail laissé au hasard, mais une place sans limite à l'émotion, bravo !
Ahmad Hamed
What a great pianist! What a great performance! What a great voice! I am a big fan of Charles Aznavour but I have to admit that Lara has even surpassed herself in this beautiful interpretation.
des mes
Que l'on aime ou que l'on aime pas la personnalité Lara Fabian, une chose ne fait aucun doute, c'est une des meilleure chanteuse interprète que l'on ai eu en France, et de loin.
Son niveau technique est époustouflant dans ce titre, toute cette période de l'album " En toute intimité " (Comme ils disent Immortelle Caruso Mistral gagnant Calling you...)
Sylvia Lubois
Tres belle interpretation et le pianist je l'adore bien travailler.
Michelle Osorio
El señor sultan capitulo
La_gaufre_ de_xewer
Pour moi c’est l’une des meilleures chanteuses au niveau Mondial, pour moi les seuls qui pouvaient être à son niveau sont : Mariah Carey ( avant ), Céline Dion ( plus actuellement ), Jennifer Hudson ( actuellement ) mais c’est tout. Je tiens à rappeler que Lara a 50 ans et même aujourd’hui elle est au dessus de toute les nouvelles.
Max Aert
Au cas où, elle est Belge
Roels William capiliculteur
@Hendrix Zila charles aznavour
Toufic E
C’est une très grande interprète! Je l’adore, très hâte de la voir en spectacle à Québec le 4 avril 2020:)
Sarah Lamia
And that’s on corona virus