He was bor… Read Full Bio ↴Michel Sardou (born January 26, 1947) is a French singer.
He was born in Paris, the son of Fernand Sardou and Jackie Rollin (Jackie Sardou). Contrary to what has been written at the beginning of his career, he is not the grandson of the dramatist Victorien Sardou.
He is known for songs dealing with various social and political issues, such as the rights of women in Islamic countries, clerical celibacy and colonialism. Another sometimes controversial theme found in some of his songs ("Les Ricains," for example) is respect and support for the culture and foreign policies of the United States. Another notable fact about his career is that he has focused his full attention on his homeland, ignoring the prospect of an international audience, although his 1981 single "Les lacs du Connemara" did manage to become a big international hit. A number of his hit songs were written in collaboration with Jacques Revaux, a few others (most notably "En chantant") with Italian singer Toto Cutugno.
Even in the 21st century, Michel Sardou remains immensely popular in France, selling out 18 consecutive dates at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in 2001, while his 2004 album "Du plaisir" went straight to the no. 1 spot on the French album charts.
He has been married three times, first to a French dancer, then to Babette (the mother of his children) and lastly to an lifelong friend who edits the French version of Vogue.
He is currently (2023) at the center of a controversy over a song he wrote fifty years ago: the lakes of Connemara. Juliette Armanet, a French pop starlet answering a question about a song that would made her leave a party and it was LES LACS DU CONNEMARA. Sardou, an idol of the French right, in spite of himself, is stuck between the left which finds him corny and the right which does not support that one attacks its institutions. Music is a strong force and nobody fights harder than those who LOVE certain songs. Amazingly this song has nothing to do with politics.
Délivrance
Michel Sardou Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Une plaie qui s'ouvrira
Comme on a jailli d'un ventre
Ebloui on s'en ira
Une vie comme un rêve
Elle s'achève on l'oublie
On s'éveille dans l'autre monde
Un matin s'ouvrent deux lèvres
Sur un ciel encore plus grand
Un flambeau dans les ténèbres
Comme un phare dans l'ouragan
Un matin les murs s'effondrent
Sur un vide encore plus loin
Pas d'écho pour nous répondre
Un vent froid qui nous rejoint
Un matin on se rappelle
Le premier feu d'où l'on vient
Et l'élan originel
Qui nous a poussé si loin
Et puis c'est le grand silence
La dérive à l'infini
Le tourbillon recommence
Et s'éloigne au fond des nuits
Attiré hors de son antre
Expulsé du fond de soi
Comme on est sorti d'un ventre
Etourdi on s'en ira
Un voyage sans frontière
Qui commence dans le sang
Entre l'ombre et la lumière
Entre l'être et le vivant
The lyrics of Michel Sardou's "Délivrance" describe the journey of a person through different phases of life and death. The first stanza talks about a sudden flash of light in a dark sky, which can be seen as a metaphor for the moment of birth when a new life is born. The second line emphasizes the inevitability of death, as the wound will eventually open up in the end. It suggests that no matter how bright and hopeful life may seem, it will eventually come to an end.
The second stanza talks about life as a dream that eventually fades away, and as we awake in the afterlife, we are surprised to realize that we have been asleep for so long. The third and fourth stanza use metaphors to describe the chaos and finality of death, the crumbling walls and the cold wind that join us in the void.
The fifth stanza talks about remembering the beginning of our journey and the very first spark of life that set us on this path. And finally, the last two stanzas suggest that death is just the beginning of another journey, one that is not bound by any physical constraints or borders. It is a journey that lies between light and shadow, being and existence, and is constantly moving towards the unknown.
Line by Line Meaning
Un éclair dans un ciel d'encre
A sudden moment of enlightenment in a dark and uncertain time
Une plaie qui s'ouvrira
An inevitable wound that will open and hurt us
Comme on a jailli d'un ventre
As if we were born again, with a new outlook on life
Ebloui on s'en ira
Dazzled by the experience, we will eventually leave
Une vie comme un rêve
A life that seems like a dream
Elle s'achève on l'oublie
It ends, and we forget about it all
On s'éveille dans l'autre monde
We awaken to a new reality
Etonné d'avoir dormi
Surprised that we were asleep for so long
Un matin s'ouvrent deux lèvres
One morning, we are greeted with a new horizon
Sur un ciel encore plus grand
One that is even bigger and more vast than before
Un flambeau dans les ténèbres
A beacon of hope in the darkness
Comme un phare dans l'ouragan
Like a lighthouse in the midst of chaos
Un matin les murs s'effondrent
One day, everything we thought was solid crumbles away
Sur un vide encore plus loin
Leaving us with an even greater emptiness
Pas d'écho pour nous répondre
No answer echoes back to us
Un vent froid qui nous rejoint
Only a cold, unfeeling wind that joins us
Un matin on se rappelle
Then, one day, we remember
Le premier feu d'où l'on vient
Where we came from, the origin of our flame
Et l'élan originel
The primal force that drove us forward
Qui nous a poussé si loin
And made us come so far
Et puis c'est le grand silence
But then comes the great silence
La dérive à l'infini
A drifting without end
Le tourbillon recommence
And the whirlwind begins anew
Et s'éloigne au fond des nuits
Fading away into the depths of the night
Attiré hors de son antre
Pulled out from within ourselves
Expulsé du fond de soi
Expelled from the depth of our being
Comme on est sorti d'un ventre
As if we were born again, but not by choice
Etourdi on s'en ira
Dizzy and disoriented, we will eventually leave
Un voyage sans frontière
A journey without borders
Qui commence dans le sang
That begins with the very essence of our being
Entre l'ombre et la lumière
Between shadow and light
Entre l'être et le vivant
Between existing and truly living
Contributed by Michael N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.