Madeleine Peyroux is a jazz singer who was born in 1974 in Athens, Georgia,… Read Full Bio ↴Madeleine Peyroux is a jazz singer who was born in 1974 in Athens, Georgia, USA, and raised in New York City and Paris, France. She is noted for her vocal style, which is highly reminiscent of Billie Holiday. Madeleine also has qualities similar to Ella Fitzgerald. Though Peyroux may remind some listeners of Holiday, there are differences, and she has her own sense of phrasing and interpretation.

Peyroux started singing at the age of fifteen, when she discovered street musicians in the Latin Quarter in Paris. She joined a group called the Riverboat Shufflers, first passing round the hat, and then singing. At sixteen she joined the The Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, spending two years touring Europe performing songs by the likes of Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and others, which provided the basis for her first album, Dreamland.

Dreamland was released in 1996, and gained widespread attention. Time called it "the most exciting, involving vocal performance by a new singer this year". Dreamland, is a brilliant recording, as Peyroux's distinctive voice is not hindered by overly intricate arrangements. Most of the accompaniment on the record is light and sparse, the way it should be for a singer with such a unique voice. Peyroux soon found herself opening for Sarah McLachlan and Cesária Évora, and made appearances at jazz festivals and on the Lilith Fair tour.

In May 2002 she joined multi-instrumentalist William Galison, and together they appeared at such venues as the Bottom Line, Joe's Pub, and the Tin Angel. In 2003 the duo released a seven-song EP entitled Got You on My Mind, which they sold at shows and online. Got You on My Mind was re-released by William Galison in August 2004; the original EP was expanded by the addition of four tracks by Gallison.

Peyroux released her own sophomore effort, Careless Love, in September 2004. The album received generally positive reviews.

Her new album, Half the Perfect World, was released on September 12, 2006. She collaborated with several artists, including Jesse Harris, Walter Becker, Larry Klein (who also produced the album), and K.d. lang, with whom Peyroux duets on a cover of the Joni Mitchell song, "River".

On July 12, 2007, she was awarded Best International Jazz Artist at the BBC Jazz Awards.

Half the Perfect World
Madeleine Peyroux Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Every night he'd come to me
I'd cook for him, I'd pour his tea
I was in my thirties then
Had made some money, lived with men

We'd lay us down to give and get
Beneath the white mosquito net
And since no counting had begun

We lived a thousand years in one

The candles burned
The moon went down
The polished hill
The milky town
Transparent, weightless, luminous
Uncovering the two of us
On that fundamental ground
Where love's unwilled, unleashed, unbound
And half the perfect world is found

The candles burned
The moon went down
The polished hill
The milky town
Transparent, weightless, luminous
Uncovering the two of us
On that fundamental ground

Where love's unwilled, unleashed, unbound
And half the perfect world is found

Overall Meaning

In "Half The Perfect World", Madeleine Peyroux sings about a love affair that was free and wild, without boundaries, and developed between two individuals who were clearly at ease with each other. She reminisces about a time earlier in her life when she was in her thirties, had made some money and lived a life with men. She met someone whom she would cook for, pour tea for, lie down with under a mosquito net, and give and get with. They shared a moment that could have lasted a thousand years in just one night. It was pure and simple love.

The imagery of the song is vivid and strong, the world around them is transparent, weightless, and luminous. Their love is fundamental, unwilled, unleashed, and unbound. They are in a place where half the perfect world is found. The line "where love's unwilled, unleashed, unbound" suggests a state of being where one's emotions are not forced - they just happen organically, naturally, and without friction. The song is a celebration of an uncomplicated romance that is free and full of life.

Line by Line Meaning

Every night he'd come to me
He came to me every single night

I'd cook for him, I'd pour his tea
I prepared and served him his meals and beverages

I was in my thirties then
At that time, I was in my thirties

Had made some money, lived with men
I had earned some money and lived with various men

We'd lay us down to give and get
We would lay down together to both give and receive pleasure

Beneath the white mosquito net
We were under a white mosquito net

And since no counting had begun
Since we had not started counting time

We lived a thousand years in one
It felt like we had lived a thousand years in just one

The candles burned
The candles were lit

The moon went down
The moon set

The polished hill
The hill was smooth and shining