At the age of 17, Merwan Rim started to learn and instruments as an autodidact. Realizing his gift in musical arts, Merwan decided to become a full-time musician. This decision led him into quitting Paris 13 University where he attended communication studies to enroll in Alice Dona Studios, a performing arts school for future professionals in September 2000. Nine months later, Merwan was cast as Ramses in the musical Les Dix Commandements. He first was Pow-Wow member Ahmed Mouici's alternate before he took over the role on one year later.
In 2004, Merwan enrolled in Elie Chouraqui and Maxime Le Forestier's musical entitled Spartacus in which he was cast as David's stand-in but he never had the occasion to portray the role. Nevertheless, Merwan avoided a show's being cancelled at the last minute by replacing Pow-Wow member Alain Chennevière (who portrayed Crassus) at the drop of the hat, calling himself "the stand-in ès Pow-Wow".
Soon after, Merwan was chosen to portray François, Duke of Beaufort in the musical Le Roi Soleil which opened for two seasons in Paris on 22 September 2005. Even though he was not the star of the show, Merwan gathered a huge fandom thanks to his pleasant character tinged with shyness.
In 2007, Merwan recorded two duets with Canadian singer Marilou. The first C'était écrit for the Canadian version of Marilou's album (released on 8 May 2007) and the second Danser sur la lune for the European version (released on 25 June 2007). After the end of Le Roi Soleil, Merwan began touring France with his musicians to promote his future solo album due to release in 2012.
On 1 June 2009, Merwan announced he had been cast on the musical Mozart L'Opéra-Rock for the roles of L'Aubergiste and the Clown Démoniaque. In addition to his two roles, Merwan is also an alternate for Antonio Salieri (portrayed by Florent Mothe). The musical opened on 22 September 2009 in Paris and had a phenomenal success.
Merwan Rim's solo debut single, entitled "Vous" (meaning you in French), is available for legal download since 2011, May 2
In 2012, he was nominated for the category "NRJ Music Award of the Francophone Revelation of the Year" at the NRJ Music Awards.
Entre Ciel et Terre
Merwan Rim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Et vouloir malgré tout
Rester debout,
Couchés sur des parvis de pierre,
Qui pense encore à nous,
Quand on est loin de tout,
Un pont, entre ciel et terre,
Un chemin à peine ouvert,
Un lien, malgré les barrières
Qui ne tient qu'à nous
Un voyage qu'on pourrait faire
Est-ce qu'on est tous des ennemis
L'un envers l'autre éteint
Et démuni,
Même si ça nous paraît loin
Même si tout est gris,
Je veux garder l'envie
D'un pont, entre ciel et terre,
Entre vous et nous
Un chemin juste en lisière,
Un lien, malgré les barrières
Qui ne tient qu'à nous
Un voyage qu'on saurait faire,
Un voyage presque ordinaire ...
Désirer la terre entière,
Et devoir malgré soi
Rester en bas,
Si chacun prenait sa part
Faisait le nécessaire
Sans nous mettre à l'écart
D'un pas, entre ciel et terre,
Entre vous et nous,
Un chemin qui s'est ouvert,
Un lien, malgré les barrières
Qui ne tient qu'à nous
Un voyage qu'il faudrait faire,
Un voyage presque ordinaire.
The song "Entre ciel et terre" by Merwan Rim and Victoria Petrosillo speaks about the struggle to stay strong and persevere amidst adversity. The opening lines, "En vouloir à la terre entière / Et vouloir malgré tout / Rester debout," can be translated to "to be angry at the whole world / and still, despite everything, / stand tall." It talks about the feeling of being forgotten and unrecognized when one is far away from everything and everyone. The lines "Qui pense encore à nous, / Quand on est loin de tout" mean "who still thinks of us / when we are far away from everything."
The song then moves on to ponder about whether we are all enemies, extinguishing each other's spirits and becoming helpless. But despite everything, the singer wants to keep the desire and motivation to continue pushing forward. The lines "Même si tout est gris, / Je veux garder l'envie" mean "even if everything is gray, / I want to keep the desire."
The chorus talks about a bridge between heaven and earth, between "you" and "us," a path that is just opening and a bond that is only up to us to maintain. It speaks about a journey that can be made, that is almost ordinary but also extraordinary in its own way. The last verse suggests that if everyone played their part and did what is necessary without excluding anyone, they could take a step forward, creating a path between heaven and earth.
Line by Line Meaning
En vouloir à la terre entière
To want to blame the entire world
Et vouloir malgré tout
And still want to
Rester debout,
Stay standing
Couchés sur des parvis de pierre,
Lying on stone steps
Qui pense encore à nous,
Who still thinks of us
Quand on est loin de tout,
When we are far from everything
Un pont, entre ciel et terre,
A bridge, between heaven and earth,
Entre vous et nous,
Between you and us,
Un chemin à peine ouvert,
A path barely opened,
Un lien, malgré les barrières
A connection, despite the barriers
Qui ne tient qu'à nous
That only depends on us
Un voyage qu'on pourrait faire
A journey we could make
Est-ce qu'on est tous des ennemis
Are we all enemies
L'un envers l'autre éteint
One extinguishing the other
Et démuni,
And helpless
Même si ça nous paraît loin
Even if it seems far to us
Même si tout est gris,
Even if everything is gray
Je veux garder l'envie
I want to keep the desire
D'un pont, entre ciel et terre,
Of a bridge, between heaven and earth,
Un chemin juste en lisière,
A path just on the edge,
Un voyage qu'on saurait faire,
A journey we would know how to make,
Un voyage presque ordinaire ...
An almost ordinary journey ...
Désirer la terre entière,
To desire the entire earth,
Et devoir malgré soi
And to have to, despite oneself
Rester en bas,
Stay down
Si chacun prenait sa part
If everyone took their share
Faisait le nécessaire
Did what was necessary
Sans nous mettre à l'écart
Without excluding us
D'un pas, entre ciel et terre,
With a step, between heaven and earth,
Un chemin qui s'est ouvert,
A path that has opened,
Un voyage qu'il faudrait faire,
A journey that should be made,
Un voyage presque ordinaire.
An almost ordinary journey.
Lyrics © SONY ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING, ACN, Universal Music Publishing Group, PILOTIS
Written by: ANTOINE ESSERTIER, LIONEL JACQUES FLORENCE, PATRICE GUIRAO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind