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".
Les vendanges de l'amour
Marie Laforêt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Demain les vendanges de l'amour
Car la vie toujours rassemble, oui la vie toujours rassemble
Malgré tout, ceux qui se quittent un jour
Et le soleil du bel âge brillera après l'orage
Un beau matin pour sécher nos pleurs
Et ta main comme une chaîne viendra se fondre à la mienne
Enfin pour le pire et le meilleur
Nous les referons ensemble, nous les referons ensemble
Demain les vendanges de l'amour
Car je sais que tu ressembles, oui je sais que tu ressembles
Comme deux gouttes d'eau à l'amour
Ma comparaison peut-être, sur tes lèvres fera naître
Un sourire en guise de discours
Mais pourtant j'en suis certaine, ce soir autant que je t'aime
Oui ce soir tu ressembles à l'amour
Nous les referons ensemble, nous les referons ensemble
Demain les vendanges de l'amour
Car la vie toujours rassemble, oui la vie toujours rassemble
Malgré tout, ceux qui se quittent un jour
Et le soleil du bel âge brillera après l'orage
Un beau matin pour sécher nos pleurs
Et ta main comme une chaîne viendra se fondre à la mienne
Enfin pour le pire et le meilleur
The lyrics to Marie Laforêt's song Les vendanges de l'amour (The love harvest) speaks about the cyclical nature of love, and how despite the temporary pain of separation, love will bring people back together. The phrase "Nous les referons ensemble" (We'll do them together again) is repeated throughout the song, emphasizing the idea of a cycle. The "vendanges" (harvest) in the title serves as a metaphor for the ups and downs of love, suggesting that love, like a harvest, requires hard work, patience, and eventually, a fruitful outcome.
The lyrics also speak of hope for the future, with the belief that the sun will shine again after the storm, and that hands will come together to face whatever comes their way - "Et ta main comme une chaîne viendra se fondre à la mienne / Enfin pour le pire et le meilleur" (And your hand, like a chain, will come to merge with mine / Finally, for better or for worse).
Marie Laforêt's voice adds a touch of romanticism to the poetic lyrics, with her expressive delivery capturing the bittersweet reality of love. The song is a beautiful reminder that love is a journey with its own seasons, and that even though there will be tough times, love ultimately prevails.
Line by Line Meaning
Nous les referons ensemble, nous les referons ensemble
We will do them again together, we will do them again together
Demain les vendanges de l'amour
Tomorrow the grape harvest of love
Car la vie toujours rassemble, oui la vie toujours rassemble
Because life always brings together, yes life always brings together
Malgré tout, ceux qui se quittent un jour
Despite that, those who leave one day
Et le soleil du bel âge brillera après l'orage
And the sun of the beautiful age will shine after the storm
Un beau matin pour sécher nos pleurs
A beautiful morning to dry our tears
Et ta main comme une chaîne viendra se fondre à la mienne
And your hand like a chain will come together with mine
Enfin pour le pire et le meilleur
Finally for the worse and the best
Car je sais que tu ressembles, oui je sais que tu ressembles
Because I know you resemble, yes I know you resemble
Comme deux gouttes d'eau à l'amour
Like two drops of water to love
Ma comparaison peut-être, sur tes lèvres fera naître
My comparison maybe, on your lips will create
Un sourire en guise de discours
A smile as a speech
Mais pourtant j'en suis certaine, ce soir autant que je t'aime
But yet I am certain, tonight as much as I love you
Oui ce soir tu ressembles à l'amour
Yes tonight you resemble love
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Danyel Gerard, Michel Eugene Jourdan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sandra Almonte
Nous les referons ensemble, nous les referons ensemble
Demain les vendanges de l'amour
Car la vie toujours rassemble, oui la vie toujours rassemble
Malgré tout, ceux qui se quittent un jour
Et le soleil du bel âge brillera après l'orage
Un beau matin pour sécher nos pleurs
Et ta main comme une chaîne viendra se fondre à la mienne
Enfin pour le pire et le meilleur
Nous les referons ensemble, nous les referons ensemble
Demain les vendanges de l'amour
Car je sais que tu ressembles, oui je sais que tu ressembles
Comme deux gouttes d'eau à l'amour
Ma comparaison peut-être, sur tes lèvres fera naître
Un sourire en guise de discours
Mais pourtant j'en suis certaine, ce soir autant que je t'aime
Oui ce soir tu ressembles à l'amour
Nous les referons ensemble, nous les referons ensemble
Demain les vendanges de l'amour
Car la vie toujours rassemble, oui la vie toujours rassemble
Malgré tout, ceux qui se quittent un jour
Et le soleil du bel âge brillera après l'orage
Un beau matin pour sécher nos pleurs
Et ta main comme une chaîne viendra se fondre à la mienne
Enfin pour le pire et le meilleur
Jlf Fulbert
Sublime Marie laforet, fait partie des êtres que l’on n’oublie pas,merci d’avoir existé.
Genevieve Yevdochenko
L'amour tendresse débordé dans cette très belle chanson 😢♥️🐦🌈💕🥰🌻
Sylvie Bonzon
Marie Laforet à fait partie de mon enfance, elle etait mystérieuse et j'aimais sa voie...
City Cell
Et de Mon endance aussi je l'aime beaucoup
Liberté
Une incroyable VOIX et une chanteuse extraordinaire, rare et ultra fine, intelligente. Elle nous manque déjà beaucoup. Un grand merci. Emmanuel
OV
Marie Laforêt, c'est une personne raffinée et intelligente. Je me rappelle bien d'un sujet sur elle à la télé soviétique... Elle nous manque énormément.
Blandine piegay
J’aimais toutes les chansons de Marie Laforet ; cette fille aux yeux d’or !
Julien Thomas
Marie, tu es éternelle ❤️
Gerard Romanet
Cette chanson me revient souvent en-tête elle me donne du bonheur j ai toujours grand plaisir a l écouter merci marie
Sandra Almonte
Nous les referons ensemble, nous les referons ensemble
Demain les vendanges de l'amour
Car la vie toujours rassemble, oui la vie toujours rassemble
Malgré tout, ceux qui se quittent un jour
Et le soleil du bel âge brillera après l'orage
Un beau matin pour sécher nos pleurs
Et ta main comme une chaîne viendra se fondre à la mienne
Enfin pour le pire et le meilleur
Nous les referons ensemble, nous les referons ensemble
Demain les vendanges de l'amour
Car je sais que tu ressembles, oui je sais que tu ressembles
Comme deux gouttes d'eau à l'amour
Ma comparaison peut-être, sur tes lèvres fera naître
Un sourire en guise de discours
Mais pourtant j'en suis certaine, ce soir autant que je t'aime
Oui ce soir tu ressembles à l'amour
Nous les referons ensemble, nous les referons ensemble
Demain les vendanges de l'amour
Car la vie toujours rassemble, oui la vie toujours rassemble
Malgré tout, ceux qui se quittent un jour
Et le soleil du bel âge brillera après l'orage
Un beau matin pour sécher nos pleurs
Et ta main comme une chaîne viendra se fondre à la mienne
Enfin pour le pire et le meilleur