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".
Julie Crève Coeur
Marie Laforêt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dans le pays des trappeurs?
Quel est ton nom, la belle?
"Mon nom est Julie Crèvecœur"
Je parcours l'Amérique
Je cherche un amour perdu
Mon amant chimérique
Que je n'ai jamais revu
Quand mon vieux cheval a bu
Je mets genou à terre
Dans un pays inconnu
Les souvenirs dans ma tête
Font la foire, font la fête
Il faut pourtant dormir
Les souvenirs à la pelle
Qui m'obsèdent et qui m'appellent
Mais il faut repartir
Tout au bout du voyage
Il y aura le bonheur
Ne perds donc pas courage
Jolie Julie Crèvecœur
Du grand nord au Pacifique
De New-York jusqu'au Mexique
Je poursuis mon chemin
Le danger, les aventures
En blue-jean ou en guipures
Toujours, toujours plus loin
Le jour viendra peut-être,
Tout fini par arriver,
Où je verrai paraître
Le garçon que j'ai aimé
Qui cherches-tu, la belle
Dans le pays des trappeurs?
Dis-nous ton nom, la belle
"Mon nom est Julie Crèvecœur"
The lyrics to Marie Laforêt’s song “Julie Crève Coeur” tells the story of a woman named Julie who is traveling through the American wilderness searching for her lost love. Julie describes herself as a wanderer who is on a journey to find her “chimerical lover” who she has never seen or been with since he left her. Her travels take her all over the United States, from the northern forests to the Pacific Ocean and everywhere in-between.
Throughout the song, Julie describes her nightly routine of kneeling in unfamiliar lands and reminiscing about her former love. Her mind is filled with memories of him, and she cannot escape the thoughts of her lost love. She sings about the adventures and danger she faces on her journey and how her longing for love and happiness keeps her moving forward. Despite the difficulties she faces, Julie never loses faith in finding her lost love and ultimately encountering true happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
Que cherches-tu, la belle
What are you looking for, my dear?
Dans le pays des trappeurs?
In the land of trappers?
Quel est ton nom, la belle?
What is your name, my dear?
"Mon nom est Julie Crèvecœur"
My name is Julie Crèvecœur.
Je parcours l'Amérique
I travel America.
Je cherche un amour perdu
I'm searching for lost love.
Mon amant chimérique
My imaginary lover,
Que je n'ai jamais revu
Whom I've never seen again.
Parfois dans la nuit claire
Sometimes on a clear night,
Quand mon vieux cheval a bu
When my old horse has drunk,
Je mets genou à terre
I kneel on the ground,
Dans un pays inconnu
In an unknown land.
Les souvenirs dans ma tête
Memories in my head,
Font la foire, font la fête
Make a fuss, make a party.
Il faut pourtant dormir
But one must sleep.
Les souvenirs à la pelle
Memories by the shovel,
Qui m'obsèdent et qui m'appellent
That obsess me and call me,
Mais il faut repartir
But one must leave again.
Tout au bout du voyage
At the end of the journey,
Il y aura le bonheur
Happiness awaits.
Ne perds donc pas courage
Don't lose heart,
Jolie Julie Crèvecœur
Pretty Julie Crèvecœur.
Du grand nord au Pacifique
From the far north to the Pacific,
De New-York jusqu'au Mexique
From New York to Mexico.
Je poursuis mon chemin
I pursue my path.
Le danger, les aventures
Danger, adventures,
En blue-jean ou en guipures
In blue jeans or lace.
Toujours, toujours plus loin
Always, always further.
Le jour viendra peut-être,
Perhaps the day will come,
Tout fini par arriver,
Everything eventually happens,
Où je verrai paraître
When I see the appearance of
Le garçon que j'ai aimé
The boy I loved.
Qui cherches-tu, la belle
What are you looking for, my dear?
Dans le pays des trappeurs?
In the land of trappers?
Dis-nous ton nom, la belle
Tell us your name, my dear
"Mon nom est Julie Crèvecœur"
My name is Julie Crèvecœur.
Writer(s): ANDRE POPP, GERARD NERY
Contributed by London N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.