1. A French… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least seven artists using the name Niagara:
1. A French duo active from the early 1980s until the early 1990s
2. A Portuguese electronic trio releasing on the Lisbon labels Príncipe and Ascender.
3. A German jazz/funk-percussion group active in the early 1970s
4. A Ukrainian group
5. A Spanish hard rock band
6. The pseudonym of Lynn Rovner, who was the lead singer in the 1970s experimental band Destroy All Monsters.
7. An Italian progressive rock band
1. The French Niagara, who emerged from the thriving pop'n'rock scene in Rennes (France) in the early 80s, went on to become one of the best-selling duos of the decade. However, after years of chart hits and successful international tours, the duo finally went their separate ways in 1993. Muriel and Daniel have both launched solo projects, but these have failed to live up to the success of the Niagara years.
In the early 80s Rennes, a lively student town in Brittany, was the scene of a veritable music revolution. In 1982 Muriel met Daniel Chenevez, a talented young amateur musician who, after a brief spell studying sociology, had also launched a serious music career. Chenevez, who played guitar and keyboards, also kept up with all the latest music technology, experimenting with synthesisers and videos right from the beginning of his career.
Daniel and Muriel went on to start a relationship and would later get married, Muriel taking the name Muriel Moreno. Around the same time the pair decided to become musical partners, teaming up as a duo under the name Ombre jaune (Yellow Shadow). Daniel and Muriel made their public debut at the "Trans Musicales" festival in December 1982 and soon went on to make a name for themselves on the thriving Rennes scene, playing in clubs and concert halls throughout the Brittany region.
In February 1984 the duo changed their name to Niagara and the following year the cultural centre in Rennes offered to finance the release of singles for four local artists. Niagara was one of the lucky four chosen and the duo went into the studio shortly afterwards to record the single "Tchiki Boum", which proved an instant hit with record-buyers and within a few weeks of its release, Niagara went shooting into the Top 50, and many more hits were soon to follow.
Muriel and Daniel made a perfect duo - Muriel, definitely the more extrovert and flamboyant of the two, made a great frontwoman, dressing up in sexy Barbarella-style stage costumes and charming audiences with her sultry vocals. Meanwhile Daniel, the more shy and reserved of the duo, took a back seat during performances. As for the Niagara sound, this was produced through a fusion of sweet, carefree pop melodies and Afro-Cuban, funk and soul rhythms.
In 1986 the pair released their debut album, "Encore un premier baiser", scoring another huge hit with the French public. Videos were all the rage in the mid-80s and Niagara came up with consistently good visuals, Chenevez stepping behind the camera to produce the videos for "L'amour a la plage" and "Je dois m'en aller".
In 1988 Niagara were back at the forefront of the French music scene with their second album, "Quel enfer" (What a Hell). This album marked a definite shift in Niagara's image and their musical direction, a chang from a riot of multi-coloured psychedelia to black. Fans appeared to appreciate this change of style, however, and "Assez !" soon went rocketing to the top of the charts and proved a big hit in clubs up and down the country. By this point Niagara were at the height of their career and, shortly after the release of their second album, they set off on an extensive tour sponsored by MTV. Accompanied by a dozen musicians in their tour bus, Muriel and Daniel played to audiences in fifteen different countries over the next five months.
In April 1990 the duo returned to the spotlight with their third album "Religion", mixing hard rock with catchy pop melodies. Muriel's stage outfits changed accordingly, the sultry star appearing in concert dressed in full leather gear. Niagara's new image was supported by aggressive vocals and hard-hitting lyrics and new songs included "Pendant que les champs brulent" (While Fields Are Burning), "le Ciel s'est dechire" (The Sky Ripped In Two) and "Chemin de Croix" (Stations of the Cross). The group's new single "J'ai vu" (I Have Seen) was a powerful track about war.
By 1992 the Niagara craze was beginning to subside. Muriel and Daniel's relationship came to an end, but they decided to continue working together in their professional life. Recording kicked off in the ICP studio in Brussels (where Niagara had recorded their last three albums) and finished up in New York in August in the Electric Ladyland Studio. "La Vérité" was the biggest production of Niagara's career - in fact, no less than forty-five musicians worked in the studio with the duo. But this time round Niagara's rock sound failed to impress either the critics or the record-buying public.
On 25 March 1993 Niagara performed at Le Zénith in Paris, but later that year Muriel and Daniel finally decided to go their separate ways.
Subsequently, Moreno and Chenevez went on to put out a series of individual solo albums, none of which managed to achieve the same success as the Niagara records. Muriel experimented with electronic influences, Chenevez was also busy in the studio, working on his debut solo album, "Excentrique", released in 1996, which made as little impact as Muriel's solo album, however, neither the critics nor the record-buying public taking much interest in it.
Meanwhile, a compilation of the duo's greatest hits was released on 9 April 2002. Entitled "Flammes", the album proved a huge hit with the French public. Indeed, burgeoning sales meant the album went gold within two months of its release. But Muriel and Daniel refused to come out of Niagara "retirement" and promote their greatest hits compilation - as far as the duo are concerned their Niagara days are well and truly over.
2. Niagara is a Portuguese electronic trio releasing music on the Lisbon labels Príncipe and Ascender, the latter being their own imprint. Its members are Alberto Arruda, António Arruda and Sara Eckerson. They also record as Novo Mundo.
3. The German jazz/funk-percussion group, Niagara, existing between 1971-1973. The group featured artists including, on percussion: Klaus Weiss, Udo Lindenberg, Cotch Blackmon, Keith Forsey, Juan Romero, Danny Fichelscher, Joe Harris, George Green; on bass: Gary Unwin, Milan Pilar; on guitar: Paul Vincent; on horns: Ack van Royen; on sax & flute: Ferdinand Povel; on keyboard: Christian Schulze. They produced three albums: Niagara (1971), S.U.B. (1972) and Afire (1973). It is extremely difficult to find more information on the project, even in the official biographies of Klaus Weiss and Udo Lindenberg.
Chemin De Croix
Niagara Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mais je ne sais pas comment les satisfaire
Je ne suis pas comprise
Mais je n’ai pas encore envie de me taire
J’aime parler de travers et me rouler par terre
Je veux faire comme tout le monde mais à l’envers
Je pourrai me perdre juste pour faire le contraire
Je serai bien capable de tout mettre en l’air
C’est pas la peine d’insister je ne céderai jamais
J’en ai pour l’éternité rien ne me fera plier
J’avoue mes contradictions mais je suis mes intuitions
Je dois faire attention jusqu’à mon extrême onction
N’aie pas peur de moi
Même si tout ça est défendu par la loi
Je n’ai pas le choix
Il faut bien que je suive mon chemin de croix
Je ne me suis jamais, jamais sentie coupable
Et ça ne m’empêche pas de tenter le diable
J’ai dit noir, j’ai dit blanc ce n’est pas innocent
Je m’enferme dans ce tourment jusqu’au néant
C’est pas la peine d’insister je ne céderai jamais
J’en ai pour l’éternité rien ne me fera plier
J’avoue mes contradictions mais je suis mes intuitions
Je dois faire attention jusqu’à mon extrême onction
Je pourrai me perdre juste pour faire le contraire
Je serai bien capable de tout mettre en l’air
J’ai dit noir, j’ai dit blanc ce n’est pas innocent
Je m’enferme dans ce tourment jusqu’au néant
C’est pas la peine d’insister je ne céderai jamais
J’en ai pour l’éternité rien ne me fera plier
J’avoue mes contradictions mais je suis mes intuitions
Je dois faire attention jusqu’à mon extrême onction
C’est pas la peine d’insister je ne céderai jamais
J’en ai pour l’éternité rien ne me fera plier
J’avoue mes contradictions mais je suis mes intuitions
Je dois faire attention jusqu’à mon extrême onction
The lyrics to Niagara's song Chemin De Croix express the singer's inner turmoil and their desire to go against societal norms. The song begins with the singer admitting to having strange desires that they don't know how to satisfy, and feeling misunderstood. However, they are not yet ready to remain silent about these desires. The singer wants to talk in circles and revel in the chaos of going against the norm, all while admitting that they could easily get lost in the opposite direction, causing everything to fall apart.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the singer's stubbornness and the fact that nothing can make them bend or break, as they follow their instincts and try to stay true to themselves until the very end. The singer acknowledges their contradictions, but they are not apologetic, as they continue to push boundaries and test limits. The song ends with the repetition of the chorus, emphasizing the singer's unyielding nature.
Overall, the lyrics to Chemin De Croix can be interpreted in many different ways, but the underlying message appears to be about the struggle to stay true to oneself while facing societal pressures to conform.
Line by Line Meaning
J’ai d’étranges envies
I have strange desires
Mais je ne sais pas comment les satisfaire
But I don't know how to satisfy them
Je ne suis pas comprise
I am not understood
Mais je n’ai pas encore envie de me taire
But I don't have the desire to be quiet yet
J’aime parler de travers et me rouler par terre
I like to talk incoherently and roll on the floor
Je veux faire comme tout le monde mais à l’envers
I want to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing
Je pourrai me perdre juste pour faire le contraire
I could get lost just to do the opposite
Je serai bien capable de tout mettre en l’air
I am perfectly capable of ruining everything
C’est pas la peine d’insister je ne céderai jamais
There's no use insisting, I'll never give in
J’en ai pour l’éternité rien ne me fera plier
I am committed for eternity, nothing will make me bend
J’avoue mes contradictions mais je suis mes intuitions
I admit my contradictions, but I follow my intuitions
Je dois faire attention jusqu’à mon extrême onction
I must be careful until my last breath
N’aie pas peur de moi
Don't be afraid of me
Même si tout ça est défendu par la loi
Even if all of this is forbidden by the law
Je n’ai pas le choix
I have no choice
Il faut bien que je suive mon chemin de croix
I have to follow my cross to bear
Je ne me suis jamais, jamais sentie coupable
I have never, never felt guilty
Et ça ne m’empêche pas de tenter le diable
And that doesn't stop me from tempting fate
J’ai dit noir, j’ai dit blanc ce n’est pas innocent
I said black, I said white, it's not innocent
Je m’enferme dans ce tourment jusqu’au néant
I am trapped in this torment until the abyss
Contributed by Xavier A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.