He spent a long part of his childhood in the café which his parents owned, where he learned work jargon and slang. At the age of 14 he signed up to the conservatoire de musique de Toulouse and to a dramatic arts institute. In the mean time, he set up his first band of 4 musicians in his own name, with whom he played at events throughout the region. In 1957, he was snapped up by Eddie Barclay who signed him on. It was in the studio of Barclay where he met his future wife, Simone Mazaltarim.
In 1958 Perret carried on touring round Parisian cabaret bars and crossed France and Africa as a part of the American group, The Platters. In Novemeber that year, a pleurisy forced him to take two years off in a sanatorium.
A master of the subtleties of the French language and French slang (he even rewrote some of Jean de La Fontaine's fables), his songs are often cheeky (for example Le zizi (The willy)) , asking questions in a seemingly naive child's tone, but has written more serious political songs, such as La bête est revenue, La petite kurde, Vert de Colère ou Lily.
Les trois orfèvres
Pierre Perret Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Trois orfèvres à la St-Eloi
S'en allèrent diner chez un autre orfèvre
Trois orfèvres à la St-Eloi
S'en allèrent diner chez un autr' bourgeois
Ils ont baisé toute la famille
La mère au nichon
Le fils au cul
REFRAIN
Relevez, la belle, votre blanc jupon
Qu'on vous voie le cul, qu'on vous voie les fesses
Relevez, la belle, votre blanc jupon
Qu'on vous voie le cul, qu'on vous voie le con
La servante qui avait tout vu
Leur dit : "Foutez-moi votre pine aux fesses"
La servante qui avait tout vu
Leur dit : "Foutez-moi votre pine au cul"
Tous trois l'ont baisée assis sur une chaise
La chaise a cassé
Ils sont tombés sans débander.
Refrain
Les orfèvres non contents de ça
Montèrent sur le toit pour baiser minette
Les orfèvres non contents de ça
Montèrent sur le toit enculer le chat
Chat, petit chat, chat, tu m'égratignes
Petit polisson, tu m'égratignes
Les roustons.
Refrain
Les orfèvres chez le pâtissier
Se sont envoyé leurs 3 religieuses
3 charlottes finement beurrées
Et le puits d'amour de Mr le curé
Ils ont tellement, tellement jouï
Que sur les 1000feuilles ils ont laissé la chantilly
Refrain
Les orfèvres au son du canon
Se retrouveront tous à la frontière
Les orfèvres au son du canon
En guis' de boulets lanceront des étrons
En bandant tous comme des carmes
A grands coups de vits
Repousseront les ennemis.
The lyrics of Pierre Perret's song Les Trois orfèvres depict a group of three goldsmiths who set out to dine with a fellow craftsman, but end up in various sexual escapades. The first verse sets the stage by stating that the three goldsmiths, traditionally celebrated during the French feast day of Saint Eloi, chose to dine with another goldsmith or bourgeois. Their hosts are not mentioned again, and the lyrics move quickly towards explicit sexual encounters. The repetition of the refrain Relevez, la belle, votre blanc jupon, which translates to "Lift up your white petticoat, my beauty" sets the tone for the crass and aggressive behavior of the three men.
The second verse brings in the character of a servant who has seen everything and invites the men to have sex with her, also using the verb "baiser" which refers to having sex in a crude and vulgar way. The three goldsmiths proceed to have sex with her while sitting on a chair, which breaks under their weight as they continue to have sex. In the third and fourth verse, the lyrics become even more graphic as the men climb on the roof to have sex with a cat, and then move on to eating pastries with sexual innuendos. Finally, in the last verse, the three goldsmiths are depicted as heroic soldiers who fight for their country by "throwing feces" and defending themselves with their "vits," a slang term for the penis.
Line by Line Meaning
Trois orfèvres à la St-Eloi
Three goldsmiths went to St. Eloi's feast day
S'en allèrent diner chez un autre orfèvre
They went to dine at another goldsmith's house
S'en allèrent diner chez un autr' bourgeois
They went to dine at another bourgeois's house
Ils ont baisé toute la famille
They fucked the whole family
La mère au nichon
The mother on her tits
Le fils au cul
The son in the ass
La fille au con.
The daughter in the pussy
Relevez, la belle, votre blanc jupon
Raise your white petticoat, my beauty
Qu'on vous voie le cul, qu'on vous voie les fesses
Let us see your ass, let us see your buttocks
La servante qui avait tout vu
The maid who saw everything
Leur dit : "Foutez-moi votre pine aux fesses"
She said to them: "Stick your dick in my ass"
Leur dit : "Foutez-moi votre pine au cul"
She said to them: "Stick your dick in my ass"
Tous trois l'ont baisée assis sur une chaise
All three fucked her sitting on a chair
La chaise a cassé
The chair broke
Ils sont tombés sans débander.
They fell down without losing their erections.
Les orfèvres non contents de ça
The goldsmiths not satisfied with that
Montèrent sur le toit pour baiser minette
Climbed on the roof to fuck pussy
Montèrent sur le toit enculer le chat
Climbed on the roof to fuck the cat
Chat, petit chat, chat, tu m'égratignes
Cat, little cat, cat, you scratch me
Petit polisson, tu m'égratignes
Little rascal, you scratch me
Les roustons.
In my balls.
Les orfèvres chez le pâtissier
The goldsmiths at the pastry chef's
Se sont envoyé leurs 3 religieuses
They ate their three nuns
3 charlottes finement beurrées
3 finely buttered Charlotte cakes
Et le puits d'amour de Mr le curé
And Mr. Parish's well of love
Ils ont tellement, tellement jouï
They came so, so much
Que sur les 1000feuilles ils ont laissé la chantilly
That on the thousand leaves cake they left the whipped cream
Les orfèvres au son du canon
The goldsmiths to the sound of cannon fire
Se retrouveront tous à la frontière
Will all meet at the border
En guis' de boulets lanceront des étrons
Instead of cannonballs, they will throw turds
En bandant tous comme des carmes
All aroused like monks
A grands coups de vits
With great thrusts of their dicks
Repousseront les ennemis.
They will repel the enemies.
Contributed by Penelope J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Taho Flament
Pauvre chat paix à son âme
Nico Tilkens
LAST
Charles
TROISIÈME 😂
BALI BALO
FIRST