They began performing in the early 1980's in alternative spaces such as the Pali-Kao, a squatted factory building in Belleville, Paris. Their first hit single was Marcia Baila off the Rita Mitsouko album, a song about the Argentinian choreographer and dancer Marcia Moretto who had died of cancer in 1981 and with whom they had performed on several occasions. This album was creative and eccentric (produced by Conny Plank, sound engineer and producer of Neu! and Kraftwerk) combining elements of punk, rock, cold electro pop and jazz, and coupled with their colorful, wild, over-the-top image caught the interest of some important anglophone listeners.
American record producer and musician Tony Visconti produced the following two albums, The No Comprendo and Marc et Robert, while polishing and perfecting their sound. The American band Sparks collaborated with them on the latter record and Russell Mael sings lead vocals with Ringer on three tracks, Singing in the Shower, Live in Las Vegas and Hip Kit. These two albums feature both French and English lyrics. The most successful singles were C'est comme ça and Andy.
Jean-Baptiste Mondino directed most of their music videos in the 1980's and Jean-Luc Godard filmed a short documentary Soigne ta droite about the group during the recording of The No Comprendo in 1986.
On Wednesday November 28th 2007, Fred Chichin died from cancer while the band had just cancelled their previous concert dates in Paris. He was only diagnosed with the disease two months before.
Mais c'est la mort qui t'a assassinée, Marcia
C'est la mort qui t'a consumée, Marcia
C"est le cancer que tu as pris sous ton bras
Maintenant, tu es en cendres, cendres
La mort, c'est comme une chose impossible
Et même à toi, qui est la vie même, Marcia
Et même à toi qui est forte comme une fusée
C'est la mort qui t'a emmenée
Harpie & Harpo
Les Rita Mitsouko Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
down there
She was going
somewhere
Give me your love
said the guy
Ok but give me your rasor
she said
Harpie la harpiste
et Harpo au piano
sont dans un bateau
Le bateau
tombe à l'eau
qu'est-ce qui reste?
Harpo au piano
Harpie la harpiste
Harpo sans piano
Harpie la harpiste
et Harpo au piano
c'est tout Elle est où la blague?
Harpie la harpiste
Harpo sans piano
The first stanza of the Les Rita Mitsouko song Harpie & Harpo tells the story of a girl walking somewhere when a guy asks for her love. She agrees to give him her love only if he gives her his razor. This seemingly disjointed exchange sets the tone for a song that revels in unconventional wordplay and surrealist imagery. Throughout the song, the singers, Harpie the harpist and Harpo the pianist, exist in a series of surreal and absurd situations, including falling out of a boat and discussing whether the remaining members of the pair are "Harpo without a piano" or "Harpie without a harp."
The repeated phrase "Harpie and Harpo in a boat" is a reference to the classic French children's song "Ainsi font, font, font" which has the same rhythm and melody. The song features a minimalist instrumentation that allows the lyrics to take center stage, highlighting the absurd and dreamlike quality of the text. The repetitious nature of the chorus invites the listener to join in on the whimsical nonsense, and the use of non-traditional instruments, such as a harp and theremin, adds to the song's unique sound.
Line by Line Meaning
She was walking
A woman was strolling outside.
down there
She was walking in a specific direction or location.
She was going
She had a destination in mind.
somewhere
The woman's destination was unspecified or unknown.
Give me your love
A man requested the woman's affection.
said the guy
The man made this request.
Ok but give me your razor
The woman agreed to the man's request, but asked for something in return.
she said
The woman spoke this line in response to the man's request.
Harpie la harpiste
Harpie the harpist
et Harpo au piano
And Harpo on the piano
sont dans un bateau
They are in a boat.
Le bateau
The boat
tombe à l'eau
The boat falls into the water.
qu'est-ce qui reste?
What remains?
Harpo au piano
Harpo on the piano
Harpie la harpiste
Harpie the harpist
Harpo sans piano
Harpo without the piano
Harpie la harpiste
Harpie the harpist
et Harpo au piano
And Harpo on the piano
c'est tout Elle est où la blague?
That's all. Where's the joke?
Harpo sans piano
Harpo without the piano
Contributed by Gavin O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
SharkRequin
She was walking
down there
She was going
somewhere
Give me your love
said the guy
Ok but give me your razor
she said
Harpie la harpiste
et Harpo au piano
sont dans un bateau
Le bateau
tombe à l'eau
qu'est-ce qui reste?
Harpo au piano
Harpie la harpiste
Harpo sans piano
Harpie la harpiste
et Harpo au piano
c'est tout Elle est où la blague?
Harpie la harpiste
Harpo sans piano
corailgris
Et dire que c’est Catherine Ringer en personne qui joue cette superbe ligne de basse funk!