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 Surveillant Général
Michel Sardou Lyrics
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Monsieur le surveillant des classes secondaires
Était un peu efféminé
En ce temps-là
Je lisais "Le Grand Meaulnes"
Et après les lumières
Je me faisais plaisir
Je me faisais dormir
Rempli de femmes aux cheveux roux
J'ai dit de femmes
Pas de jeunes filles
Cette année-là
Je n'oublierai jamais le regard de vipère
Que m'avait lancé ce vieux rat
Cette année-là
J'avais posé les yeux sur la croupe incendiaire
De ma professeur de droit
Elle avait mis le feu en moi
J'avais avalé la lumière
J'aurais aimé la terre entière
Seulement les femmes
Pas les jeunes filles
Pauvre de moi
Monsieur le surveillant des classes secondaires
Passait ses nuits à espionner
Pauvre de moi
Du couloir des secondes au dortoir des premières
Comment les jeunes étaient couchés
Bien sur le dos, les bras croisés
Sur la couverture de laine
Des fois qu'on aurait des idées
Pauvre taré
Pauvre chimère
C'est pourtant là
Que durant des années j'ai rêvé d'adultère
Que je n'ai jamais consommé
Et chaque nuit
Quand je tiens dans mes bras une femme trop fière
Qui se refuse à me donner
Un peu plus que le nécessaire
Parce que j'hésite à la défaire
De son carcan de préjugés
Parce que je n'ai pas la manière
J'ai presque envie de lui confier
Qu'en ce temps-là
J'avais un surveillant des classes secondaires
Mais ça la ferait rigoler
The song "Le Surveillant Général" by Michel Sardou is a nostalgic and affectionate look back at the singer's youth. The lyrics describe the time when Sardou was a student, reading "Le Grand Meaulnes" and daydreaming about a world filled with red-haired women. He also remembers his passion for his female law professor, whose elegant walk and fiery "croupe" ignited a flame within him. He couldn't resist taking in all the light and wished to have the entire world, but only women, particularly those with red hair.
However, Sardou's romantic interests are threatened by the effeminate "surveillant," who seems to be spying on the male students at night. Even though he is devoted to the idea of adult relationships with women, he is unable to act on it due to his insecurities and social expectations. The singer concludes by saying that if he were to confess to a woman that he once had a female teacher who set him on fire, she would laugh at him.
Line by Line Meaning
En ce temps-là
Back in the day
Monsieur le surveillant des classes secondaires
The high school monitor
Était un peu efféminé
Was somewhat effeminate
Je lisais "Le Grand Meaulnes"
I was reading “The Lost Estate”
Et après les lumières
And after lights out
Je me faisais plaisir
I was giving myself pleasure
Je me faisais dormir
I was putting myself to sleep
Je m'inventais un monde
I was imagining a world
Rempli de femmes aux cheveux roux
Filled with redheaded women
J'ai dit de femmes
I said women
Pas de jeunes filles
Not young girls
Cette année-là
That year
Je n'oublierai jamais le regard de vipère
I will never forget the viper's glare
Que m'avait lancé ce vieux rat
That the old rat had given me
J'avais posé les yeux sur la croupe incendiaire
I had laid eyes on the fiery hindquarters
De ma professeur de droit
Of my law professor
Elle avait mis le feu en moi
She set me on fire
J'avais avalé la lumière
I had swallowed the light
J'aurais aimé la terre entière
I would have loved the whole world
Seulement les femmes
Only women
Pas les jeunes filles
Not young girls
Pauvre de moi
Poor me
Monsieur le surveillant des classes secondaires
The high school monitor
Passait ses nuits à espionner
Spent his nights spying
Du couloir des secondes au dortoir des premières
From the second floor hallway to the first floor dormitory
Comment les jeunes étaient couchés
How the young ones were sleeping
Bien sur le dos, les bras croisés
Of course on their backs, arms crossed
Sur la couverture de laine
On the wool blanket
Des fois qu'on aurait des idées
In case we had any ideas
Pauvre taré
Poor crazy one
Pauvre chimère
Poor chimera
C'est pourtant là
Yet it is there
Que durant des années j'ai rêvé d'adultère
That for years I dreamed of adultery
Que je n'ai jamais consommé
That I never consummated
Et chaque nuit
And every night
Quand je tiens dans mes bras une femme trop fière
When I hold a too proud woman in my arms
Qui se refuse à me donner
Who refuses to give herself to me
Un peu plus que le nécessaire
A little more than necessary
Parce que j'hésite à la défaire
Because I hesitate to undress her
De son carcan de préjugés
From her cocoon of prejudices
Parce que je n'ai pas la manière
Because I don't have the way
J'ai presque envie de lui confier
I almost want to confess to her
Qu'en ce temps-là
That back in the day
J'avais un surveillant des classes secondaires
I had a high school monitor
Mais ça la ferait rigoler
But that would make her laugh
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jacque Revaud, Michel Sardou
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind