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.
Sales puces à chien
Pierre Perret Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Je plais à son père
Je plais à sa mère
Mais pas à son chien
Par dessus le marché
Ce chien a des puces
Je plais à ces puces
Et je le sens bien
Ah, bonne fille
Bonne mère
Bon père
Sale chien
Sales puces
Ah, sales puces à chien
Quand le facteur vient
M'apporter des lettres
Ah, quel doux bien-être
Si c'est d'mon béguin
Mais je les ouvre plus
Dedans je sais qu'en plus
Y a deux ou trois puces
Qui vont me sauter dessus
D'après ma fiancée
Son chien qui a du prix
Par malheur apprit
Quand on l'a dressé
Que les petits présents
Réchauffent l'amitié
Et parbleu ses puces
Il me les a refilées
Ah, bonne fille
Bonne mère
Bon père
Sale chien
Sales puces
Ah, sales puces à chien
Quand le facteur vient
M'apporter des lettres
Ah, quel doux bien-être
Si c'est d'mon béguin
Mais je les ouvre plus
Dedans je sais qu'en plus
Y a deux ou trois puces
Qui vont me sauter dessus
Quand on s'est mariés
Notre salaud de voisin
Nous a fait cadeau d'un fer à friser
Nous pour nous venger
On y a donné le chien
Mais le chien est parti
Les puces sont restées
Ah, bonne fille
Bonne mère
Bon père
Sale chien
Sales puces
Ah, sales puces à chien
Quand le facteur vient
M'apporter des lettres
Ah, quel doux bien-être
Si c'est d'mon béguin
Mais je les ouvre plus
Dedans je sais qu'en plus
Y a deux ou trois puces
Qui vont me sauter dessus
The lyrics of Pierre Perret's song "Sales puces à chien" describe the singer's complicated relationship with a girl and her family pet. The singer is well-liked by the girl, her mother, and her father, but the dog does not share the sentiment. To make matters worse, the dog has fleas, and the singer strangely admits to being attracted to them.
The song progresses with a series of events that lead to the singer being pestered by the fleas, including receiving letters from the girl through the mail. The singer cannot even bring himself to open the letters because of the presence of the fleas.
As the song closes, the singer tells the story of how he and his wife used the dog to take revenge on a neighbor by giving him the fleas. The dog, unfortunately, left, but the fleas remained to torture the singer.
The song has a humorous tone, and the singer's unusual attraction to the dog's fleas is one of the interesting quirks of the song. It is an enjoyable song that is both comical and strange at the same time.
Line by Line Meaning
Je plais à une fille
I am attractive to a certain girl
Je plais à son père
Her father likes me
Je plais à sa mère
Her mother likes me
Mais pas à son chien
But her dog does not like me
Par dessus le marché
To top it all off
Ce chien a des puces
This dog has fleas
Je plais à ces puces
And even the fleas like me
Et je le sens bien
And I can feel it
Quand le facteur vient
When the mailman comes
M'apporter des lettres
Bringing me letters
Ah, quel doux bien-être
Oh, what a sweet feeling
Si c'est d'mon béguin
If it's from my sweetheart
Mais je les ouvre plus
But I don't open them anymore
Dedans je sais qu'en plus
Because I know that inside, there are
Y a deux ou trois puces
Two or three fleas
Qui vont me sauter dessus
That will jump on me
D'après ma fiancée
According to my fiancé
Son chien qui a du prix
Her dog, which is valuable
Par malheur apprit
Unfortunately learned
Quand on l'a dressé
When it was trained
Que les petits présents
That small gifts
Réchauffent l'amitié
Warm up friendships
Et parbleu ses puces
And so its fleas
Il me les a refilées
Passed them on to me
Quand on s'est mariés
When we got married
Notre salaud de voisin
Our nasty neighbor
Nous a fait cadeau d'un fer à friser
Gave us a hair curling iron as a gift
Nous pour nous venger
To get revenge
On y a donné le chien
We gave him the dog
Mais le chien est parti
But the dog left
Les puces sont restées
The fleas stayed
Ah, sales puces à chien
Oh, nasty dog fleas
Quand le facteur vient
When the mailman comes
M'apporter des lettres
Bringing me letters
Ah, quel doux bien-être
Oh, what a sweet feeling
Si c'est d'mon béguin
If it's from my sweetheart
Mais je les ouvre plus
But I don't open them anymore
Dedans je sais qu'en plus
Because I know that inside, there are
Y'a deux ou trois puces
Two or three fleas
Qui vont me sauter dessus
That will jump on me
Lyrics © SEMI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Michael Comte
En souvenir de Napo, le chien de Pierre Perret: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0ghUp0c2AY&t=28s