Her career began accidentally in 1959 when she replaced her sister at the last minute in a French radio talent contest Naissance d'une étoile and won. Director Louis Malle then cast the young starlet in the film he was shooting at the time, Liberté, a project he finally abandonded, making Laforêt's first appearance on screen opposite actor Alain Delon in René Clément's 1960 drama Plein Soleil.
After this film she became very popular and interpreted many roles in the 1960s. She married director Jean-Gabriel Albicocco, who cast her in some of his own works, including La Fille aux Yeux d'Or (The Girl with the Golden Eyes), based on the Balzac story, which would become her nickname.
In her second film, Saint Tropez Blues, accompanied by a young Jacques Higelin at the guitar, she sang the title song and immediately started releasing singles, her first hit being 1963's Les Vendanges de l'Amour. Her songs offered a more mature, poetic, tender alternative to the light, teenage yé-yé tunes charting in France at the time. Her melodies borrowed more from exotic folk music, especially South American and Eastern European, than from contemporary American and British pop acts. Laforêt worked with many important French composers,musicians and lyricists, such as André Popp and Pierre Cour, who provided her with a panoply of colorful, sophisticated orchestral arrangements, featuring dozens of musical instruments and creating a variety of sounds, sometimes almost Medieval, Rennaissance or Baroque, other times quite modern and innovative.
At the end of the 1960s, Marie had become a rather unique figure in the French pop scene. Her music stood out, perhaps too much for her new label CBS Records, which expected of her more upbeat, simpler songs. She was interested in making more personal records, but finally gave in. Although her most financially successful singles (Viens, Viens, a cover of a British hit, and Il a neigé sur Yesterday, a ballad about the break-up of the Beatles) were released in the 1970s, Marie progressively lost interest in her singing career, moving to Geneva, Switzerland in 1978, where she opened an art gallery and abandoned music more or less altogether.
In the 1980s, Marie concentrated on her acting career, appearing in a few French and Italian films. Some music singles were eventually released, but were not popular. She made a comeback, however, in 1993 with an album (her last) for which she wrote the lyrics. In the 1990s, she again continued to work as an actress, both on screen and on stage. She has performed in a number of plays in Paris over the years, acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. In September 2005 she took the stage of Les Bouffes Parisiens for a two-weeks sold-out concerts, her first (and last) concerts since 1972. Laforêt moved to Geneva in 1978 and obtained Swiss citizenship.
Records
Marie Laforêt, the folk singer
Laforêt has been fond of folk music ever since she began recording in the early 1960s. She helped popularize the Bob Dylan song "Blowin' in the Wind" in France with her 1963 interpretation. On the B-side of the same EP she sings the classic American folk ballad "House of the Rising Sun". Other folk recordings include: "Viens sur la montagne", a 1964 French adaptation of the African-American spiritual "Go Tell It on the Mountain", recorded by American folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary the previous year, "Coule doux" (Hush-a-Bye), another Peter, Paul and Mary song, 1966's "Sur les chemins des Andes", a French version of the traditional Peruvian song "El Cóndor Pasa", and "La voix du silence", a 1966 cover of American duo Simon and Garfunkel's first hit, "The Sound of Silence".
Marie Laforêt, the rocker
She also recorded some rock songs in the 1960s, her most famous being "Marie-douceur, Marie-colère", a 1966 cover of the Rolling Stones hit "Paint It Black". Another popular recording was 1965's girl group-style "A demain, my darling", known by English-speakers as "The Sha La La Song" written by Marianne Faithfull on her debut eponymous album.
Marie Laforêt, the pop singer
Some of her most memorable pop songs are those written or arranged by French composer André Popp, such as "Entre toi et moi", "L'amour en fleurs", "Les noces de campagne", "Mon amour, mon ami", and "Manchester et Liverpool". The melody of the latter song gained fame in the former Soviet Union as the background music to the Vremya television news programme's weather forecast in the 1970s.[7]
Other important records
The quiet, bittersweet and minimally arranged ballad "Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes" (1966), composed by Francis Lai, is a Marie Laforêt favorite. Homage was paid to the song in the 1980s when French pop superstar Mylène Farmer added it to her own concert repertoire.
The 1973 hit "Viens, viens" was a cover version of a German song "Rain, Rain, Rain" performed by Simon Butterfly.
Marie's 1977 hit "Il a neigé sur Yesterday", perhaps her most well-known recording, was penned by musician Jean-Claude Petit, and lyricist Michel Jourdan, (famous for his work with Dalida, Nana Mouskouri, Michel Fugain and Mike Brant) and who had written the words for earlier Laforêt songs, such as "Les vendanges de l'amour" and "L'orage".
Je Voudrais Tant Que Tu Comprennes
Marie Laforêt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Toi que je vais quitter ce soir
Que l'on peut avoir de la peine
Et sembler ne pas en avoir
Le coeur blessé encore sourire
Indifférente apparemment
Aux derniers mots, qu'il faut écrire
Lorsque finit mal un roman
Chanter des larmes plein les yeux
Et dans un univers de glace
Donner l'impression d'être heureux
Je Voudrais Tant Que Tu Comprennes
Puisque notre amour va finir
Que malgré tout, vois-tu je t'aime
Et que j'ai mal à en mourir
Je Voudrais Tant Que Tu Comprennes
Malgré tout ce qui s'est passé
Que je t'aimais plus que moi-même
Et que je ne peux t'oublier
Et que je ne peux t'oublier
The song Je Voudrais Tant Que Tu Comprennes by Marie Laforêt is about the pain and complexity of ending a romantic relationship. The singer is addressing their soon-to-be former lover, expressing their desire for them to understand the conflicting emotions they are experiencing. They acknowledge that one can feel sadness and yet appear indifferent to it, and that the heart can be wounded but still smile. The singer also touches on the difficulty of ending a relationship, describing it as the end of a poorly written novel. They express the desire to maintain appearances even as their soul is in turmoil, singing with tears in their eyes in a world that feels like ice, giving the impression of happiness.
The singer goes on to say that despite the pain and the end of their love, they still deeply care for their partner and are hurting to the point of death. They then express regret and longing, stating that they loved their partner more than themselves and cannot forget them.
Overall, the lyrics paint a deeply emotional picture of the end of a relationship, capturing the complicated mix of pain, confusion, and love that can exist in such a situation.
Line by Line Meaning
Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes
I wish so much that you understand
Toi que je vais quitter ce soir
You, whom I am leaving tonight
Que l'on peut avoir de la peine
That we can be in pain
Et sembler ne pas en avoir
And appear to not have any
Le coeur blessé encore sourire
To smile with a wounded heart
Indifférente apparemment
Seemingly indifferent
Aux derniers mots, qu'il faut écrire
To the final words that must be written
Lorsque finit mal un roman
When a novel ends badly
L'âme éperdue, sauver la face
The soul in distress, saving face
Chanter des larmes plein les yeux
Sing with tears in our eyes
Et dans un univers de glace
And in a universe of ice
Donner l'impression d'être heureux
To give the impression of being happy
Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes
I wish so much that you understand
Puisque notre amour va finir
Since our love is going to end
Que malgré tout, vois-tu je t'aime
That despite everything, you see, I love you
Et que j'ai mal à en mourir
And that it hurts me to the point of dying
Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes
I wish so much that you understand
Malgré tout ce qui s'est passé
Despite everything that has happened
Que je t'aimais plus que moi-même
That I loved you more than myself
Et que je ne peux t'oublier
And that I cannot forget you
Et que je ne peux t'oublier
And that I cannot forget you
Contributed by Hudson I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Sophie-td3lc
Quelle chanson triste.
La voix est belle.
C'est Marie Laforet ❤
Une chanson d'adieu qui fait si mal.
Pas pour moi, en ce moment qui attend son retour...
Et je n'envisage pas de le quitter !
La musique est très belle.
Romantisme absolu.
Merci pour ce joli partage 💐🎶🕊️
@arpitirpanci
Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes
Toi que je vais quitter ce soir
Que l'on peut avoir de la peine
Et sembler ne pas en avoir
Le coeur blessé encore sourire
Indifférente apparemment
Aux derniers mots, qu'il faut écrire
Lorsque finit mal un roman
L'âme éperdue, sauver la face
Chanter des larmes plein les yeux
Et dans un univers de glace
Donner l'impression d'être heureux
Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes
Puisque notre amour va finir
Que malgré tout, vois-tu je t'aime
Et que j'ai mal à en mourir
Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes
Malgré tout ce qui s'est passé
Que je t'aimais plus que moi-même
Et que je ne peux t'oublier
Et que je ne peux t'oublier
@koosloop
Que je t'aimais plus que moi-même
Et que je ne peux t'oublier !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes
Toi que je vais quitter ce soir
Que l'on peut avoir de la peine
Et sembler ne pas en avoir
La c ur blessé encore sourire
Indifférente apparemment
Aux derniers mots qu'il faut écrire
Lorsque finit mal un roman
L'âme perdue, sauver la face
Chanter des larmes plein les yeux
Et dans l'impression d'être heureux
Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes
Puisque notre amour va finir
Que malgré tout, vois-tu je t'aime
Et que j'ai mal à en mourir
Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes
Malgré tout ce qui s'est passé
Que je t'aimais plus que moi-même
Et que je ne peux t'oublier
@thayse7744
Marie Laforêt
Gostaria muito que você entenda
eu quiser, desde que você entenda
Você Eu estou deixando esta noite
Que você pode tê-lo
E parecem não ter
ainda doía coração sorrir
Indiferente aparentemente
Nas últimas palavras, ele deve escrever
Quando um romance termina mal
alma desesperada, salvar a face
Cante os olhos cheios de lágrimas
E em um mundo de gelo
dar a impressão de ser feliz
eu quiser, desde que você entenda
Porque o nosso amor vai acabar
que apesar de tudo, você sabe que eu te amo
E dói até a morte
eu quiser, desde que você entenda
Apesar de tudo que aconteceu
Que eu te amei mais do que eu
E eu não consigo te esquecer
E eu não consigo te esquecer
Je Voudrais Tant Que Tu Comprennes
@venusinlovebyselenaangels9862
Quelles finesse élégance et sensibilité cette femme était une œuvre d' art et d amour a elle seule ❤la délicatesse de la balance exquise et magnifiquement belle paix a son âme ❤
@antoinestratman8459
Marie je t'aime encore:les chansons de mes 20 ans resonnent toujours a 78 ans Repose en paix.
@indianos80
Plus que Formidable, tout simplement Incroyable ! J’adore…….
@kennedydry1632
La tragédie faite chanson
Une interprétation parfaite
La beauté et la douceur à l'état pur
Eternelle Marie Laforêt.
@isaacmendez5
How beautiful can beauty be? No limits. Beauty is the highest state of human. Theres lots of it... but you wouldnt live and see it if you dont recognize yours. This song is amazing.
@michellecorbeau6725
J'avais 18 ans et à présent 71 ..et je la connais encore par cœur sa chanson !! Tristesse et nostalgie ..
@jfjoubertquebec
Merci de partager
@jaimenazario2930
Es una cantante increible
@shtaketnik1
Il est même difficile d'écouter une chanson quand un chanteur,aimé de tous,est déjà dans le ciel...le Royaume des cieux est pour elle....
@walterdelanghe6519
C'est d'une vérité terrifiante comme ma vie.