His first album, La Marmaille Nue, was released in 1993 and sold 100,000 copies in the first year. His second album, Les Années Sombres ("The Dark Years"), a somber album that also went gold in its first months was released in 1995. In 1996, he regrouped with part of the Chihuahuas for the album Frères Misère (Brothers in Misery). Its rhythms are closer to punk, and the texts are more topical than his solo albums. With little media attention, the album failed to meet immediate success.
The release of his next album: Je sais pas trop ("I don't really know") was in 1997. Recorded live and featuring, once again, original melodies and sounds, it was a Gold record in France. Two years later, Mano Solo recorded the double album Internationale Shalala, live at the Tourtour, a little theatre where he played regularly since the beginning of his music career. He sings and plays guitar on the album, accompanied only by another guitarist, Jean-Louis Solans. The songs come from earlier Solo albums, except for Shalala, a hymn of "inner revolution" that the artist sang together with his audience at the end of every concert, with a positive and dynamic message.
His second live album, La Marche (The Walk), was released in 2002. It consists mostly of songs from the album Dehors ("Outside"), released earlier (August 2000). With the album comes a DVD featuring photos and videos from concerts, and CG animations from Mano Solo's imagination.
In 2004, Les animals was released. As with other Solo albums the sound was new, the lyrics contained much poetic language, and the songs were performed energetically. Some titles were new recordings of old songs. The song Botzaris, recorded with Les Têtes Raides, was featured on the album. Solo appeared on two tracks on the album Dans le caillou by Karpatt.
Solo had been HIV positive for years secondary to his youthful drug use. He was rushed to hospital after a concert in Paris on 12 November 2009. There he died at the age of 46 on 10 January 2010, due to his illness. He is buried at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Animals
Mano Solo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Débordantes de rêves charnels
Ils sont des millier
Un homme et une femme
Pour chaque pavé dans un brouillard sauvage
Et v'la que j'te claque, que j'te klaxonne
De tout mon maquillage. La foule se heurte et se défie
Ne vois-tu pas que je te veux?
Ils sont tous là
Leur si folle envie en forme de clous
Martelant les parcours
D'un appel à l'amour
Les yeux dans le vent
Le coeur dans la tempête
La foule se marche dans
La soif de conquêtes
Riant à s'écarter les dents
Un rideau de joie cachant la plainte
Qui traverse la ville et le monde entier
Orateurs sans auditeurs
Ils hurlent tous ensemble
Dans le vent et les moteurs,
Un ouragan de sons
Balayant le propos
Chacun s'accroche à son micro
Masqués de muscles
En gueules d'avenir
Rentrant leur ventre
Ils se découvrent à n'en plus finir
Sur une aube arrogante
Se remboursant du bien comme du mal
Le thon n'est pas né de l'animal
Il va de victoires en batailles
Labourant de sa colère qu'il porte, fier
Un monde de fiel, bardé de ferrailles meurtrières
Aujourd'hui je peux le dire
Quand en plein vol, l'animal abandonne
Quand il ne peut plus que laisser parler sa peur
C'est dans la musique qu'il pleure
Les rues sont pleines d'âmes en peine
Débordantes de rêves charnels
Les rues sont pleines d'âmes en peine
Débordantes de rêves charnels
Les rues sont pleines d'âmes en peine.
The song Animals by Mano Solo is a poignant and melancholic commentary on the state of society, specifically, on the individuals who make up modern cities. The opening lines, "Les rues sont pleines d'âmes en peine/Débordantes de rêves charnels" (The streets are full of troubled souls/Overflowing with carnal dreams), set the tone for the rest of the song. The singer describes how the streets are full of people, each with their own desires and dreams, yet they are all lost and disconnected. The line "Ils sont des milliers/Un homme et une femme" (They are thousands/One man and one woman) creates a sense of isolation amidst the crowded streets.
The chorus, "Ne vois-tu pas que je te veux?/Ils sont tous là/Leur si folle envie en forme de clous/Martelant les parcours/D'un appel à l'amour" (Don't you see that I want you?/They are all here/Their crazy desire in the shape of nails/Hammering the paths/With a call for love), continues this theme of disconnection, highlighting the desperation and longing that plagues modern society. The lines "La foule se heurte et se défie/La foule se marche sous la mitraille" (The crowd collides and defies/The crowd marches under the gunfire) imply a sense of violence and aggression that often accompanies a society that is lost and searching for something to cling to.
The latter half of the song focuses on the world outside the city, with a commentary on the violent and harsh reality of nature. The lines "Le thon n'est pas né de l'animal/Il va de victoires en batailles/Labourant de sa colère qu'il porte, fier/Un monde de fiel, bardé de ferrailles meurtrières" (The tuna was not born from the animal/It goes from victories to battles/Plowing through its anger which it carries, proud/A world of bile, armed with deadly steel) paints a picture of nature as a brutal and unforgiving world, something that we must accept and come to terms with.
Overall, Animals by Mano Solo is a powerful and thought-provoking commentary on modern society and the human condition.
Line by Line Meaning
Les rues sont pleines d'âmes en peine
The streets are full of troubled souls
Débordantes de rêves charnels
Overflowing with carnal desires
Ils sont des millier
There are thousands of them
Un homme et une femme
One man and one woman
Pour chaque pavé dans un brouillard sauvage
For each cobblestone in a wild fog
Et v'la que j'te claque, que j'te klaxonne
And here I am, clicking my tongue and honking at you
De tout mon maquillage.
With all my makeup
La foule se heurte et se défie
The crowd clashes and challenges each other
La foule se marche sous la mitraille
The crowd marches under gunfire
Ne vois-tu pas que je te veux?
Don't you see that I want you?
Ils sont tous là
They are all here
Leur si folle envie en forme de clous
Their crazy desire in the form of nails
Martelant les parcours
Hammering down the paths
D'un appel à l'amour
With a call for love
Les yeux dans le vent
Eyes in the wind
Le coeur dans la tempête
Heart in the storm
La foule se marche dans
The crowd marches in
La soif de conquêtes
The thirst for conquests
Riant à s'écarter les dents
Laughing, revealing their teeth
Un rideau de joie cachant la plainte
A curtain of joy hiding the complaint
Qui traverse la ville et le monde entier
Which crosses the city and the whole world
Orateurs sans auditeurs
Speakers without listeners
Ils hurlent tous ensemble
They all scream together
Dans le vent et les moteurs,
In the wind and the engines
Un ouragan de sons
A hurricane of sounds
Balayant le propos
Sweeping the message
Chacun s'accroche à son micro
Everyone clings to their microphone
Masqués de muscles
Masked in muscles
En gueules d'avenir
With faces of the future
Rentrant leur ventre
Pulling in their stomachs
Ils se découvrent à n'en plus finir
They discover themselves endlessly
Sur une aube arrogante
On an arrogant dawn
Se remboursant du bien comme du mal
Repaying themselves for both good and evil
Le thon n'est pas né de l'animal
The tuna wasn't born from the animal
Il va de victoires en batailles
It goes from victories to battles
Labourant de sa colère qu'il porte, fier
Plowing through with the anger he carries, proud
Un monde de fiel, bardé de ferrailles meurtrières
A world of venom, clad in deadly steel
Aujourd'hui je peux le dire
Today I can say it
Quand en plein vol, l'animal abandonne
When in mid-flight, the animal abandons
Quand il ne peut plus que laisser parler sa peur
When it can only let its fear speak
C'est dans la musique qu'il pleure
It's in the music that it cries
Les rues sont pleines d'âmes en peine
The streets are full of troubled souls
Débordantes de rêves charnels
Overflowing with carnal desires
Les rues sont pleines d'âmes en peine
The streets are full of troubled souls
Débordantes de rêves charnels
Overflowing with carnal desires
Les rues sont pleines d'âmes en peine.
The streets are full of troubled souls.
Writer(s): mano solo
Contributed by Addison S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.