Despite receiving a lukewarm reception in France, they have become one of the most successful French-language musical groups in the U.S. Apart from their two albums, they have also made appearances on songs by the Black Eyed Peas, Talib Kweli, and Yerba Buena.
Website: http://www.lesnubians.org/
September: Third Album "Nü Revolution" is released!
An unconventional female duo that came out of Bordeaux, France, in the 1990s, Les Nubians offered a jazzy, sophisticated style of R&B that combined French lyrics with the influence of Sade, Soul II Soul, hip-hop, and African pop. The duo consists of sisters Helene and Celia Faussart, who were born in France to a French father and a Cameroonian mother. After living in France as children, the siblings moved with their parents to the African country of Chad in 1985, when Helene (born 1975) was ten and Celia (born 1979) was six. The sisters lived in Chad for seven years before returning to France as teenagers. Helene and Celia had been singing most of their lives, and when they first formed Les Nubians, they were an a cappella group that specialized in covers of R&B, reggae, and African songs. Eventually, they started working with bands and performing original material. Helene and Celia absorbed a variety of music along the way, and they have expressed admiration for artists ranging from Ella Fitzgerald and Abbey Lincoln to the Fugees and African icons Miriam Makeba and Fela Kuti. Their promising debut album, Princesses Nubiennes, was released by Virgin worldwide in France, Switzerland, and Belgium in June 1998 before coming out on Omtown/Higher Octave in the U.S. in September of that year. It became America's most successful French-language album in more than a decade, and Les Nubians also graced recordings by Talib Kweli and Black Eyed Peas, as well as a Red Hot tribute to Fela Kuti, Red, Hot & Riot. Sessions for their second album brought the pair to Jamaica, Cameroon, London, and Paris, including a host of intriguing collaborators: top underground rapper Talib Kweli, fellow Cameroonian Manu Dibango, pianist Ray Lema, and broken-beat maestro IG Culture. The results appeared as One Step Forward, released in March 2003 by Higher Octave. In 2004, they recorded the track "Going All the Way" featuring reggae star Beres Hammond for UNITY: The Official Athens 2004 Olympic Games album. In 2005, Les Nubians issued Nubians Present Echoes, Chapter One, a collection of spoken word pieces by poets and hip-hop artists from the U.S., France, and Africa. The duo also covered "With or Without You," for inclusion on the compilation In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2, in 2008. Les Nubians finally re-entered the recording studio in 2010, emerging with the EP Nü Revolution Nubiatic in the latter part of the year and the full-length, Nü Revolution in the spring of 2011. ~ Alex Henderson and Thom Jurek, Rovi
Amour à mort
Les Nubians Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
See'est pas do vent
Tu dis « t'aimer m'rend téméraire »
Comme see'est divin
On cherche l'amour sans trêve
See'est qu'sans amour, on crève
Contre ma paire d'yeux
Regarde-moi de loin
Comme si mon garde do corps était dieu
J't'avais pas vu dans la mire
Un pavé dans l'amour
Endure tes vers pour entendre les gens dire
Qu'tu m'rendras légendaire
On cherche l'amour sans trêve
See'est qu'sans amour, on crève
Tu veux partager see'que je suis
See'que j'vaux, see'que j'vis
See'que j'vois, see'que j'ai vu
Et après on verra
Si l'amour meurt, alors dis moi see'qu'il reste
Des cases vides, des causes injustes
Juste des gestes
Tu dis qu'tu tuerais pour moi
Trouve une cible émouvante
Prouve-moi que tu m'aimes à mort
Au moins autant qu'tu t'en vantes
La balle au bout do fusil
Le fusil à bout de bras
Do braconnier à bout de souffle
La balle siffle
Un corps s'affale sa vie défile
Le bourreau s'tire dans la foule
Et moi, émue, je reste couchée
see'est moi qu'il a touché.
The lyrics to Les Nubians' song Amour À Mort are a poignant commentary on the extremes people will go to for love. The opening lines express the willingness to sacrifice one's life for their beloved, a sentiment often romanticized in popular culture. However, the next lines suggest that this sacrifice is not just a passing fancy but a serious commitment that defies the ordinary. The singer declares that loving someone makes them fearless, which is almost divine, emphasizing the transformative power of love.
The chorus declares that without love, one feels like they are drowning, searching for something they cannot find. The second verse continues this theme, with the singer expressing the belief that their love interest would exchange a promised paradise for the singer's eyes. The line "endure tes vers pour entendre les gens dire/qu'tu m'rendras légendaire" suggests that the love interest is a poet whose words are intended to honor the singer. The rest of the verse confronts the idea that the love interest wants to prove their love by killing someone else, underlining the danger of such a sentiment.
The final verse speaks directly to the love interest, asking them to share the singer's life and experience before ultimately wondering what is left when love dies. The last line "See'est moi qu'il a touché" is ambiguous but can be interpreted as the singer being emotionally touched by the love interest's actions.
Line by Line Meaning
T'es prêt à t'priver d'ta vie pour ta diva
You're willing to sacrifice your life for your idol
See'est pas do vent
It's not just talk
Tu dis « t'aimer m'rend téméraire »
You say, 'loving you makes me fearless'
Comme see'est divin
As if it's divine
On cherche l'amour sans trêve
We search endlessly for love
See'est qu'sans amour, on crève
Because without love, we die
T'échangerais une promesse do paradis
You'd exchange a promise of paradise
Contre ma paire d'yeux
For my pair of eyes
Regarde-moi de loin
Look at me from afar
Comme si mon garde do corps était dieu
As if my bodyguard was God
J't'avais pas vu dans la mire
I hadn't seen you in the sight
Un pavé dans l'amour
A roadblock in love
Endure tes vers pour entendre les gens dire
Endure your verses to hear people say
Qu'tu m'rendras légendaire
That you'll make me legendary
Tu veux partager see'que je suis
You want to share what I am
See'que j'vaux, see'que j'vis
What I'm worth, what I live
See'que j'vois, see'que j'ai vu
What I see, what I've seen
Et après on verra
And then we'll see
Si l'amour meurt, alors dis moi see'qu'il reste
If love dies, then tell me what's left
Des cases vides, des causes injustes
Empty spaces, unjust causes
Juste des gestes
Just actions
Tu dis qu'tu tuerais pour moi
You say you'd kill for me
Trouve une cible émouvante
Find a moving target
Prouve-moi que tu m'aimes à mort
Prove to me that you love me to death
Au moins autant qu'tu t'en vantes
At least as much as you boast
La balle au bout do fusil
The bullet at the end of the gun
Le fusil à bout de bras
The gun held at arm's length
Do braconnier à bout de souffle
The poacher out of breath
La balle siffle
The bullet whistles
Un corps s'affale sa vie défile
A body collapses, its life flashes by
Le bourreau s'tire dans la foule
The executioner disappears into the crowd
Et moi, émue, je reste couchée
And I, moved, remain lying down
see'est moi qu'il a touché.
It's me that he touched.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BENJAMIN BIOLAY, CELIA FAUSSART, HELENE FAUSSART, JOHN MITKO, MOUNIR BELKHIR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Brian Menendez
My favorite song of theirs!
johnjohn gus
Almost 20 years but dis song still amazing
KING JAMU
Incredible piece of art
Christian Vidal
Beautiful song
Chiquita Mijnals
love!
Mamaziha79
"Amour à mort"
T'es pret à t'priver d'ta vie pour ta diva
C'est pas du vent
Tu dis « t'aimer m'rend téméraire »
Comme c'est divin
On cherche l'amour sans treve
C'est qu'sans amour, on crève
T'échangerais une promesse du paradis
Contre ma paire d'yeux
Regarde-moi de loin
Comme si mon garde du corps était Dieu
J't'avais pas vu dans la mire
Un pavé dans l'amour
Endure tes vers pour entendre les gens dire
Qu'tu m'rendras légendaire
On cherche l'amour sans trêve
C'est qu'sans amour, on crève
Tu veux partager c'que je suis
C'que j'vaux, c'que j'vis
C'que j'vois, c'que j'ai vu
Et après on verra
Si l'amour meurt, alors dis moi c'qu'il reste
Des cases vides, des causes injustes
Juste des gestes
Tu dis qu'tu tuerais pour moi
Trouve une cible émouvante
Prouve-moi que tu m'aimes à mort
Au moins autant qu'tu t'en vantes
La balle au bout du fusil
Le fusil à bout de bras
Du braconnier à bout de souffle
La balle siffle
Un corps s'affale sa vie défile
Le bourreau s'tire dans la foule
Et moi, émue, je reste couchée
C'est moi qu'il a touchée...
FoxLuthor
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