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
Pourquoi Pas L'Exotisme
Lara Fabian Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
T'oublies même de rêver la nuit
Tu téléphones aux hommes qui t'ont chanté la pomme
Tu te prends à envier tes amis
Et tu te demandes ce que tu fous là
Si repeindre ta chambre changerait tout ça
Pourquoi pas l'exotisme? Mets un maillot sympa
Pourquoi pas l'exotisme? L'express San Francisco
Ouvre les yeux, pourquoi faner dans ce ghetto
Pourquoi faner, pourquoi faner, pourquoi faner?
Lentement tu désespères, tu te perds dans ce désert
Entre un ordi et l'ordinaire
Tu déchaînes tes colères quand tu te ramasses à terre
La galère n'a rien pour te plaire
Et tu tangues au beau milieu
De cette ville qui flanche, c'est quoi que tu veux?
Pourquoi pas l'exotisme? Mets un maillot sympa
Prends le ton air d'actrice en vacances, pourquoi pas?
Pourquoi pas l'exotisme? L'express à San Francisco
Ouvre les yeux, pourquoi faner dans ce ghetto
Pourquoi faner, pourquoi faner, pourquoi faner?
Oh, mais t'es si belle dans la tête
Même tes yeux sont le reflet d'une vie en fête
Oh, tu peux t'en aller sur une île du Pacifique
Pourquoi pas l'exotisme?
Et tu tangues au beau milieu
De cette ville qui flanche, c'est quoi tu veux?
Pourquoi pas l'exotisme? Mets un maillot sympa
Prends le ton air d'actrice en vacances, pourquoi pas?
Pourquoi pas l'exotisme? L'express San Francisco
Ouvre les yeux, pourquoi faner dans ce ghetto
Pourquoi faner, pourquoi faner, pourquoi faner?
The lyrics of Lara Fabian's song Pourquoi Pas L'Exotisme depict a person who feels lost and frustrated with their mundane life. The person doesn't remember why they exist, and they wonder if they fit in. They forget to dream at night, and they even call the people who flattered them, which makes them envy their friends. They wonder why they are even living the way they do, and they consider whether repainting their room will change anything. They slowly despair and get lost in the desert between their computer and the monotony of their life. They have outbursts of frustration, but even the struggle doesn't please them. They wonder what they want in the midst of a collapsing city.
The chorus of the song suggests that perhaps the answer is to seek something exotic. She suggests going on vacation, wearing a cute swimsuit, and pretending to be an actress; she also suggests taking a trip on the San Francisco express or opening one's eyes to avoid fading away in a ghetto. The singer encourages her audience to consider the options, and the repetition of "why fade away" emphasizes the need to take action and seek something new.
The song is an emotional call for change, and its lyrics are a poetic reflection of the human condition. Lara Fabian's singing enhances the emotional effect of the lyrics, and her performance quality is high. The song expresses the thought that life often calls for humans to seek something new or different, and that moving outside one's comfort zone can have a positive effect on life.
Line by Line Meaning
Tu sais plus pourquoi t'es là, si tu ressembles ou pas
You don't know why you're here anymore, whether you fit in or not
T'oublies même de rêver la nuit
You even forget to dream at night
Tu téléphones aux hommes qui t'ont chanté la pomme
You call the men who sweet-talked you
Tu te prends à envier tes amis
You start to envy your friends
Et tu te demandes ce que tu fous là
And you wonder what you're doing here
Si repeindre ta chambre changerait tout ça
If painting your room would change all that
Lentement tu désespères, tu te perds dans ce désert
Slowly you despair, you get lost in this desert
Entre un ordi et l'ordinaire
Between a computer and the ordinary
Tu déchaînes tes colères quand tu te ramasses à terre
You unleash your anger when you fall
La galère n'a rien pour te plaire
The hardship has nothing to please you
Et tu tangues au beau milieu
And you stagger in the midst of it all
De cette ville qui flanche, c'est quoi que tu veux?
From this city that's crumbling, what do you want?
Oh, mais t'es si belle dans la tête
Oh, but you're so beautiful in your mind
Même tes yeux sont le reflet d'une vie en fête
Even your eyes reflect a life of celebration
Oh, tu peux t'en aller sur une île du Pacifique
Oh, you can go to an island in the Pacific
Pourquoi pas l'exotisme?
Why not exoticism?
Pourquoi pas l'exotisme? Mets un maillot sympa
Why not exoticism? Put on a nice swimsuit
Prends le ton air d'actrice en vacances, pourquoi pas?
Take on the tone of an actress on vacation, why not?
L'express San Francisco
The express to San Francisco
Ouvre les yeux, pourquoi faner dans ce ghetto
Open your eyes, why fade away in this ghetto
Pourquoi faner, pourquoi faner, pourquoi faner?
Why wither, why wither, why wither?
Lyrics © Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LARA FABIAN, SETH SWIRSKY, STAN MEISSNER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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