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.
Le Mauvais Homme
Michel Sardou Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Une femme m'a mis au monde en hurlant.
Elle m'avait gardé comme le pourboire d'un homme
Qui ne l'a pas regardée en l'aimant,
Seulement mon père,
Mon père, c'était un régiment.
Vous comprendrez sans doute
Mauvais homme,
Mauvais mari, mauvais amant
Qui tient debout, évidemment,
Entre l'alcool et les calmants.
Mauvais homme,
J'étais déjà mauvais enfant
Et mauvais frère et mécréant,
Le cœur battant au minimum.
Mauvais homme
Et pas du tout c'que vous croyez
Seulement un type perdu
Qui ne voulait rien demander.
Mauvais homme,
Mauvais ami et mauvais père,
Mauvais ivrogne qui veut la mer
Et qui s'endort avec un rhum.
J'voudrais recommencer, c'est ça mon testament,
Transformer mon passé, mais comment?
Et être un jour peut-être une bible ou un enfant,
Un animal normal, simplement.
Mais comment m'refaire,
Comment revenir en arrière,
Rentrer dans l'ventre de ma mère
Et refaire mon entrée.
Chez les hommes
Où je ne suis qu'un mauvais homme
Qui n'a rien fait de bien en somme,
Qu'on effacerait d'un coup de gomme?
Mauvais homme,
Je ne peux plus changer d'histoire,
Changer de nom, changer de forme.
Y a rien à voir dans ma mémoire.
Mauvais homme,
Qui a vendu son âme au diable,
Mais qui finit tout seul à table,
Qui n'est ensemble avec personne.
Mauvais homme,
Mauvais mari et mauvais père,
Qui fait l'amour à des sorcières
Et qui s'endort avec un rhum.
Mauvais homme,
Je suis un mauvais homme,
Mauvais homme.
The lyrics to Michel Sardou's song Le Mauvais Homme depict a man who, from birth, has been surrounded by pain and disappointment. The first few lines describe the difficult circumstances surrounding his birth, with his mother screaming in pain as she brought him into the world. From there, we learn that his father was absent and that the man himself has a troubled history. He has been a bad son, a bad brother, a bad friend, a bad husband, and a bad father. He acknowledges that he has sold his soul to the devil and that he drinks, takes drugs, and sleeps around. Despite all of this, he laments his predicament and wishes that he could start over, be reborn, and perhaps become a better person. He ends the song by acknowledging that he is a bad man, but that he is still a man, and that he longs to be understood and forgiven.
Line by Line Meaning
Tout a commencé dans l'amour et le sang.
My life started with pain and passion.
Une femme m'a mis au monde en hurlant.
My mother gave birth to me with agony.
Elle m'avait gardé comme le pourboire d'un homme
Qui ne l'a pas regardée en l'aimant,
My mother kept me like a tip from a man who didn't truly love her.
Seulement mon père,
Mon père, c'était un régiment.
But my father was a strict military man.
Vous comprendrez sans doute
Pourquoi j'ai l'air méchant.
You can probably see why I seem so cruel.
Mauvais homme,
Mauvais mari, mauvais amant
Qui tient debout, évidemment,
Entre l'alcool et les calmants.
I am a bad man, husband, and lover who stands only with the help of booze and drugs.
Mauvais homme,
J'étais déjà mauvais enfant
Et mauvais frère et mécréant,
Le cœur battant au minimum.
I was a bad child and sibling, faithless and weak at heart.
Mauvais homme
Et pas du tout c'que vous croyez
Seulement un type perdu
Qui ne voulait rien demander.
I am not what you think, just a lost soul who desires nothing.
Mauvais homme,
Mauvais ami et mauvais père,
Mauvais ivrogne qui veut la mer
Et qui s'endort avec un rhum.
I am a bad friend, father, and drunk who dreams of the sea and falls asleep with rum.
J'voudrais recommencer, c'est ça mon testament,
Transformer mon passé, mais comment?
Et être un jour peut-être une bible ou un enfant,
Un animal normal, simplement.
I want to start over, that's my last will,
But how can I change my past?
Maybe one day, I could be like a book or a child,
Or just a regular animal.
Mais comment m'refaire,
Comment revenir en arrière,
Rentrer dans l'ventre de ma mère
Et refaire mon entrée.
But how can I reset my life?
How can I go back, enter my mother's womb,
And restart my existence?
Chez les hommes
Où je ne suis qu'un mauvais homme
Qui n'a rien fait de bien en somme,
Qu'on effacerait d'un coup de gomme?
Among men,
Where I am just a bad person who hasn't done anything right,
Could someone erase me with an eraser?
Mauvais homme,
Je ne peux plus changer d'histoire,
Changer de nom, changer de forme.
Y a rien à voir dans ma mémoire.
I cannot change my story anymore,
Change my name or my appearance.
There's nothing to look back on in my memory.
Mauvais homme,
Qui a vendu son âme au diable,
Mais qui finit tout seul à table,
Qui n'est ensemble avec personne.
I am a bad man who sold his soul to the devil
But ends up alone at the table
Without anyone to be with.
Mauvais homme,
Mauvais mari et mauvais père,
Qui fait l'amour à des sorcières
Et qui s'endort avec un rhum.
I am a bad husband and father
Who sleeps with witches and falls into slumber with rum.
Mauvais homme,
Je suis un mauvais homme,
Mauvais homme.
I am a bad man,
A bad man.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JACQUES ABEL JULES REVAUD, JEAN LOUP DABADIE, MICHEL CHARLES SARDOU, PIERRE JEAN MAURICE BILLON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind