Extremely versatile and respected French singer-songwriter. His music is a … Read Full Bio ↴Extremely versatile and respected French singer-songwriter. His music is a crossover of folk, rock, blues and punk. Active since the 70s, Renaud has written some very controversial songs during his musical career, the most famous one (to British readers at least) praising all women as being better than men except Margaret Thatcher, saying that if he comes back as a dog in his next life, he will use her as a lampost... He is famously recovering from alcoholism with some degree of success.

The most iconic song to many French people, and possibly the song that put him on the map, was the huge 70's French hit "Laisse Béton" (the story - told with a great deal of humour - of someone who enters a bar and gets mugged for everything he owns, from his leather jacket, to his jeans, his boots, and ends up in an alley without any clothes on).

Renaud 'came back' in 2002 with a huge hit 'Manhattan-Kaboul' (featuring Belgian singer Axelle Red), comparing the lives of a Puerto Rican in NYC to an Afghan girl in Kabul in 2001. This song catapulted his latest album to the top of the charts and earned him various awards in France. His latest album was published in october 2006 and was called "Rouge sang".

Olé
Renaud Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Olé
Les belles étrangères à étrangler

Fichus, soleil a dos, robes de chez Lacroix
Les pétasses au soleil des longs étés framboises
Posent leur cul bronzé qu'un con honorera
Sur la pierre fatiguée des arènes Nimoises

Et puis pour une fiotte, en balerines noires
Qui arrose bientôt le sable d'un sang bovin
Elles se pâment sur l'épaule de leur maque d'un soir
Et mouillent la soie fine de leur dessous coquins

Olé
Les belles étrangères à étrangler

Les yeux plantés profonds dans ceux du matador
Descendant quelques fois vers le membre latin
Serti comme une pierre dans le satin et l'or
Elles rougissent un peu et pensent "quel engin"

Puis elles vont pieds nus dans leur fragile blouse
Par les ruelles chaudes quand la ville s'embrase
S'imaginent gitanes, provençales, andalouses
Toutes sont parisiennes, pire encore Niçoises

Olé
Les belles étrangères à étrangler

Les pétassent finissent dans quelques bodégas
Écoutant Gipsy-King, dansant et riant fort
Avant d'aller vomir toute leur sangria
Enfin dans le rétro poussiéreux

D'un camion des poubelles, à l'aurore
Elles se remaquillent un peu

Overall Meaning

In the song "Olé" by Renaud, the lyrics describe a group of foreign women who are objectified and sexually exploited by men. The chorus repeats the phrase "Les belles étrangères à étrangler," which translates to "The beautiful foreigners to strangle," highlighting the violent and misogynistic attitude towards these women. The women are described as wearing fashionable clothing from designer brands and posing provocatively in arenas in Nîmes, France. They are objectified for their tan bodies and are seen as mere sexual objects for men to enjoy.

The second verse is even more explicit, describing how the women gaze into the eyes of the matador while occasionally shifting their gaze towards his genitalia. The women are then portrayed as wandering the streets barefoot, dressed in fragile blouses, while imagining themselves as gypsy or Andalusian women. The lyrics suggest that these women are not only objectified by men, but they also internalize these stereotypes and use them to create their own identities.

The third and final verse describes the women drunkenly dancing in small bars and eventually vomiting their sangrias before being discarded like trash in the back of a truck. The lyrics highlight the exploitative and harsh realities of these women's lives, as they are treated as disposable objects with no value beyond their sexual appeal. Renaud's use of vivid and explicit language forces listeners to confront the objectification and oppression of women in society.

Line by Line Meaning

Les belles étrangères à étrangler
Beautiful foreign women to be strangled

Fichus, soleillados, robes de chez Lacroix
Scarves, sun hats, and dresses from Lacroix

Les pétasses au soleil des longs étés framboises
Sluts under the sun of long raspberry summers

Posent leur cul bronzé qu'un con honorera
They rest their tanned ass that a fool will honor

Sur la pierre fatiguée des arènes Nimoises
On the tired stone of the Nimes arena

Et puis pour une fiotte, en balerines noires
And then, for a faggot, in black ballet flats

Qui arrose bientôt le sable d'un sang bovin
Who soon waters the sand with bovine blood

Elles se pâment sur l'épaule de leur maque d'un soir
They swoon on the shoulder of their one-night pimp

Et mouillent la soie fine de leur dessous coquins
And wet the fine silk of their naughty underwear

Olé
Olé

Les belles étrangères à étrangler
Beautiful foreign women to be strangled

Les yeux plantés profonds dans ceux du matador
Eyes deeply planted in those of the matador

Descendant quelques fois vers le membre latin
Occasionally descending towards the Latin member

Serti comme une pierre dans le satin et l'or
Set like a stone in satin and gold

Elles rougissent un peu et pensent: "Quel engin"
They blush a bit and think: "What a machine"

Puis elles vont pieds nus dans leur fragile blouse
Then they go barefoot in their fragile blouse

Par les ruelles chaudes quand la ville s'embrase
Through the hot alleys when the city ignites

S'imaginent gitanes, provençales, andalouses
Imagine themselves as gypsies, Provençals, Andalusians

Toutes sont parisiennes, pire encore Niçoises
All are from Paris, worse yet from Nice

Olé
Olé

Les belles étrangères à étrangler
Beautiful foreign women to be strangled

Les pétassent finissent dans quelques bodégas
The sluts end up in some bodegas

Écoutant Gipsy-King, dansant et riant fort
Listening to Gipsy-King, dancing, and laughing loudly

Avant d'aller vomir toute leur sangria
Before going to vomit all their sangria

Enfin dans le rétro poussiéreux
Finally in the dusty rearview mirror

D'un camion des poubelles, à l'aurore
Of a garbage truck, at dawn

Elles se remaquillent un peu
They touch up their makeup a bit

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jean-Pierre Bucolo, Renaud Sechan

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

François Sardou

3y↑3

Je n'ai jamais vraiment été fan de Renaud, sans nier son talent non plus, mais cette chanson est un véritable bijou d'écriture et de composition.

Et la force du message. Au moins aussi puissante que "La corride" de Francis Cabrel.

À faire écouter autour de vous pour faire découvrir cette perle et sensibiliser à la si noble cause qu'elle défend.

Nadji ZAYER

oui Renaud a fait 2 chansons contre la corrida celle là et rouge sang

Tristan Da Silva

7y↑11

Cette chanson que j'écouté le casque aux oreilles lors de la sieste quotidienne chez mon papa du week-end mais belle et bien le seul. Je me souviens très bien mais c'est aujourd'hui que je comprends les paroles en écoutant à nouveau cette très belle chanson dont la mélodie n'a pas d'âge pour être savourer !!!