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
Smog
Les Rita Mitsouko Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
in a restaurant
The waiteress takes
his coat and his hat
Come on babay
to the flood floor
Gonna go direct
into the parket
Smokin smokin in L.A. City
Are you kiding she says or what?
Come on baby here some more
OK no smokers
Switch off the speakers
smearing inside my ears
Oh no smokers
Switch off the speakers
The song "Smog" by Les Rita Mitsouko talks about the detrimental effects that smoking has on oneself and the people around them. The opening lyrics show a heavy smoker in a restaurant. The waiteress takes his coat and hat, and he heads to the dance floor to smoke a cigarette. "Smokin' smokin' in L.A. City" reiterates the idea of smoking in a public setting. The woman in the song is surprised when the man asks if she's kidding and encourages him to smoke more. However, this impression quickly fades as she asks him to stop smoking and turn off the singers which are filling her ears with smoke.
The lyrics of "Smog" demonstrate that the band is using smoking as a metaphor for the toxic behavior of an individual in a larger community. Smoking grounds are typically isolated from the public, but the man is smoking close to other people. The woman's demand of the cessation of smoking in the song displays society's erosion of confidence in the freedom of one to hazardously pursue one's desires. The song calls for the recognition and acceptance of the society's welfare regulations, indicating that society needs to act collectively to defeat destructive practices that are harmful to people's wellbeing.
Line by Line Meaning
A heavy smoker
A person who frequently smokes tobacco products
in a restaurant
Inside a place where food and drinks are served to customers who come in to dine
The waitress takes
A female server employed in a restaurant who receives orders from customers and brings their food to the table
his coat and his hat
The clothing items worn by the smoker that have been removed and taken by the waitress
Come on baby
An affectionate address to the smoker by another person
to the flood floor
The lowest level of a multistory building where a dance floor is located
Gonna go direct
Intending to proceed in a straight or uninterrupted course towards a destination
into the parket
A floor made of wooden boards tightly fitted together
smoking a cigaret
Engaged in the act of inhaling and exhaling smoke produced by burning tobacco wrapped in paper
Smokin smokin in L.A. City
Continuously smoking tobacco products while being in the city of Los Angeles
Are you kidding she says or what?
An expression of disbelief and skepticism expressed by a woman
Come on baby here some more
An invitation to smoke further, directed at the smoker by a person
OK no smokers
An acknowledgement that smoking is prohibited and must be avoided
Switch off the speakers
A request to turn off the audio equipment that produces sound signals
smearing inside my ears
An unpleasant and uncomfortable sensation caused by the loud and harsh noise
Oh no smokers
An expression of discouragement and disapproval towards smoking
Switch off the speakers
A repeated request to turn off the sound-producing devices
Contributed by Alexandra I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
emadrilou
Punaise, je découvre cette musique ! J'adoooore 🤟✨
Mekhel BOBEAR
chanté par Fred. . . of course !
Lombricompostage Facile
Smoking !