Traoré was born in Kolokani, Mali as a member of the Bambara ethnic group. As her father was a diplomat, she travelled widely in her youth travelling to Algeria, Saudi Arabia, France and Belgium. As a result of this travel, she was exposed to a wide variety of influences.
The Bambara also had a tradition of griot performing at weddings although members of the nobility such as Traoré are discouraged from performing as musicians. Traoré attended lycée in Mali when her father was stationed in Brussels and started performing publicly. As well as guitar she plays ngoni (lute) and balafon.
In 1997 she linked with Mali musician Ali Farka Touré which raised her profile. She won a Radio France Internationale prize as African discovery of 1997, an honor previously won by Mali's Habib Koité in 1993.
Her first album Mouneïssa (Label Bleu), released in late 1997 in Mali and 1998 in Europe, was acclaimed for its fresh treatment and unqualifiable combinations of several Malian music traditions such as her use of the ngoni and the balafon. It sold over 40,000 copies in Europe.
In 2000, her second album Wanita was released. Traoré wrote and arranged the whole album. The album was widely acclaimed with the New York Times nominating it as one of its critics' albums of the year.
Her 2003 album Bowmboï has two tracks recorded with the Kronos Quartet but still sung in the Bambara language, and was awarded the prestigious BBC 3 World Music Award. As of 2005, she has been nominated three times for this award.
In 2008, her latest album "Tchamantché" was released.
ADDITIONAL READING:
Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Rokia Traoré’s Beautiful Africa will be released on April 1, 2013, by Nonesuch Records in France and April 8, 2013 in Europe, Canada and USA. The record was produced by English musician John Parish (PJ Harvey, Eels, Sparklehorse) and recorded at Toybox Studios in Bristol, UK. Its lyrics are sung in the Malian–born Traoré’s native languages of French and Bambara, as well as some English.
Pitchfork described Traoré’s most recent record, 2009’s Tchamantché, as “a guitar album of a particularly understated bent...hauntingly spare yet ridiculously well-defined, the timbre and tone of every string presented in perfect resolution.” And the BBC World Service called it “One of the best albums of the year. An absolute stunner.” Tchamantché also won a Victoires de la Musique (the equivalent of a Grammy Award in France) and a Songlines Artist of the Year Award for Traoré.
The daughter of a Malian diplomat who was posted to the US, Europe, and the Middle East, Traoré studied sociology in Brussels before embarking on her musical career. Although based in Bamako, Traoré has, for her son’s safety, temporarily relocated to Paris due to the current conflict in Mali. Her music draws upon her homeland’s traditions as well as the European and American rock and pop she has listened to throughout her life.
Traoré has explored a breadth of directions in her career. She recently collaborated with Nobel Prize–winning novelist Toni Morrison and MacArthur “Genius” Grant winning director Peter Sellars on the theater piece Desdemona. The piece premiered in Vienna in the summer of 2011 and received its New York premiere at Lincoln Center that fall; its UK premiere was at the Barbican in London in the summer of 2012. The Guardian called it “a remarkable, challenging and bravely original new work.”
The Barbican also produced a three-night series of shows by Traoré that summer, entitled Donguili – Donke – Damou (Sing – Dance – Dream). For the Sing evening, held at the Barbican, Traoré and mandolinist/former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones joined young musicians from Traoré’s training program in Mali, Foundation Passerelle. Dance, at the Village Underground rock club, featured Traoré and her band playing the high-energy, danceable shows she is well known for—joined by Parish on guitar. And for Dream, which took place in an East End theater, Traoré narrated an ancient Malian tale, with occasional musical interludes. Australia’s Sydney Festival also presented Donguili – Donke – Damou in January 2013. Traoré was awarded the inaugural Roskilde Festival World Music Award in 2009 for her work with Foundation Passerelle.
In the autumn of 2012, Traoré joined Damon Albarn’s UK train tour Africa Express, performing scheduled concerts in Middlesbrough, Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff, Bristol, and London as well as pop-up performances at railway stations, schools, factories, offices, shopping centers, and private homes. Other musicians on the tour included John Paul Jones, Amadou Bagayoko, Baaba Maal, and Paul McCartney.
Mélancolie
Rokia Traoré Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
À la belle cadence de mes rêves de joie
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Les mots de Bonheur
Que m'inspire la vie
Mélancolie
De ma solitude
Mélancolie je ne veux pas tes douleurs
Qui tourbillonnent dans les failles de mon cœur
Tes larmes qui ternissent les couleurs de mon âme
J'voudrais des rires qui éclatent en étincelles
Des rêves qui virevoltent et racontent des poèmes
Et je serais plus douce que la plus belle de toutes les joies
Mélancolie danse avec moi
À la belle cadence de mes joies rêvées
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Les mots de Bonheur
Que m'inspire la vie
Mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Mélancolie au fond de ton abîme
Tu tairas les tourments qui me hantent
Plus jamais je n'entendrai tous ces maux
Qui m'éloignent des lumières de la vie
Je narguerai le doute malicieux
Et j'entendrai l'espoir murmurer
Ses doux mots, ô mélancolie
Mélancolie danse avec moi
À la belle cadence de mes rêves de joie
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Les mots de Bonheur
Que m'inspire la vie
Mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Mélancolie
Danse avec moi
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Mélancolie tétoudeï toudida ti toto
Ô mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Hei hei iyé
Ô mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Hei hei iyé
Ô mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Hei hei iyé
In Rokia Traoré's song Mélancolie, the singer addresses the melancholy as a companion that follows them through the ups and downs of life. The first two stanzas describe a harmonious dance between the two, where melancholy sings with the singer's words of happiness that life has inspired them with. However, as the song progresses, the singer becomes reluctant to accept the pain and sorrow that melancholy brings along. They express their desire for laughter and dreams that shatter like fireworks instead of the tears that cloud their soul's colors. The singer yearns to be gentler than the most beautiful joys.
In the last part of the song, the singer vows to silence the tormenting thoughts that keep them away from life's light. They challenge the malicious doubt and let hope whisper sweet nothings in their ear instead. The singer's tone shifts from dancing with melancholy to asserting their control over their state of mind. With each repetition of "Ô mélancolie / Compagnon fidèle / De ma solitude," the singer reaffirms their relationship with melancholy but on their own terms.
Overall, the song captures the complexity of the human experience through its exploration of melancholy. Traoré's voice brings forth the nuances of the lyrics, transcending language barriers and taking the listeners on a journey.
Line by Line Meaning
Mélancolie danse avec moi
Melancholy dances with me
À la belle cadence de mes rêves de joie
To the beautiful rhythm of my dreams of joy
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Melancholy sings with me
Les mots de Bonheur Que m'inspire la vie
The words of happiness that life inspires me with
Mélancolie Compagnon fidèle De ma solitude
Melancholy faithful companion of my solitude
Mélancolie je ne veux pas tes douleurs
Melancholy I don't want your pain
Qui tourbillonnent dans les failles de mon cœur
That twirl in the cracks of my heart
Tes larmes qui ternissent les couleurs de mon âme
Your tears that tarnish the colors of my soul
J'voudrais des rires qui éclatent en étincelles
I want laughs that burst into sparkles
Des rêves qui virevoltent et racontent des poèmes
Dreams that twirl and tell poems
Et je serais plus douce que la plus belle de toutes les joies
And I would be sweeter than the most beautiful of all joys
Mélancolie au fond de ton abîme
Melancholy in the depths of your abyss
Tu tairas les tourments qui me hantent
You will silence the torments that haunt me
Plus jamais je n'entendrai tous ces maux
I will never hear all those woes again
Qui m'éloignent des lumières de la vie
That keep me away from the lights of life
Je narguerai le doute malicieux
I will defy the mischievous doubt
Et j'entendrai l'espoir murmurer
And I will hear hope whisper
Ses doux mots, ô mélancolie
Its sweet words, oh melancholy
Mélancolie danse avec moi
Melancholy dances with me
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Melancholy sings with me
Mélancolie compagnon fidèle De ma solitude
Melancholy faithful companion of my solitude
Mélancolie danse avec moi
Melancholy dances with me
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Melancholy sings with me
Mélancolie tétoudeï toudida ti toto
Melancholy tétéoudeï toudida ti toto
Ô mélancolie compagnon fidèle De ma solitude
Oh melancholy faithful companion of my solitude
Hei hei iyé
Hei hei iyé
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@marcio29de03
Mélancolie danse avec moi
À la belle cadence de mes rêves de joie
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Les mots de Bonheur
Que m'inspire la vie
Mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Mélancolie je ne veux pas tes douleurs
Qui tourbillonnent dans les failles de mon cœur
Tes larmes qui ternissent les couleurs de mon âme
J'voudrais des rires qui éclatent en étincelles
Des rêves qui virevoltent et racontent des poèmes
Et je serais plus douce que la plus belle de toutes les joies
Mélancolie danse avec moi
À la belle cadence de mes joies rêvées
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Les mots de Bonheur
Que m'inspire la vie
Mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Mélancolie au fond de ton abîme
Tu tairas les tourments qui me hantent
Plus jamais je n'entendrai tous ces maux
Qui m'éloignent des lumières de la vie
Je narguerai le doute malicieux
Et j'entendrai l'espoir murmurer
Ses doux mots, ô mélancolie
Mélancolie danse avec moi
À la belle cadence de mes rêves de joie
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Les mots de Bonheur
Que m'inspire la vie
Mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Mélancolie
Danse avec moi
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Mélancolie tétoudeï toudida ti toto
Ô mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Hei hei iyé
Ô mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Hei hei iyé
Ô mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Hei hei iyé
@alexandrefernandes6929
Mélancolie danse avec moi
À la belle cadence de mes rêves de joie
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Les mots de bonheur
Que m'inspire la vie
Mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
Mélancolie je ne veux pas tes douleurs
Qui tourbillonnent dans les failles de mon cœur
Tes larmes qui ternissent les couleurs de mon âme
J'voudrais des rires qui éclatent en étincelles
Des rêves qui virevoltent et racontent des poèmes
Et je serais plus douce que la plus belle de toutes les joies
Mélancolie au fond de ton abîme
Tu tairas les tourments qui me hantent
Plus jamais je n'entendrai tous ces maux
Qui m'éloignent des lumières de la vie
Je narguerai le doute malicieux
Et j'entendrai l'espoir murmurer
Ses doux mots, ô mélancolie
Mélancolie danse avec moi
Mélancolie chante avec moi
Mélancolie
Ô mélancolie
Compagnon fidèle
De ma solitude
@line890910
Soutien à Rokia Traore et sa fille ❤❤❤❤❤
@koneibrahim4341
Une voix incroyable entre rêve et réalité mais écoutez je suis sur quelle planète là...les mots me manquent pour te dire que je t'adore comme ''OR''
@TimFoxUkulele
I saw you on PBS and I was moved by your musical vision! Thank you!
@angelomazzei
GRAZIE ROKIA! Molto bello il tuo album
@artepoesiaymusica
Como siempre, Rokia acaricia el alma con su obra.!!! Y uno, aùn desde una lejana tierra al otro lado del mar,comprende y agradece...Mercì Terimusso !!! Eduardo Heras (Nye Kelè Terikè) desde Argentina.
@Amancay_
Amarla fuerte! Saludos desde Argentina !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@WilksonVitor
Great music! Greetings from Brazil
@Kelemlegroupe
Sublime....Rokia je t'aimes....Hâte de partager la scène avec toi...
@linamukandoli9403
Magnifique travail artistique ! J'ai l'impression de voir les pensées dans ma tête en train de danser.
@InstrumentalBackTracks
I am a music lover and have just come across this. For me it's a masterpiece of music. For years as I too am African (eventhough what is called white born in Angola live in South Africa) I have wanted to produce African Karaoke as I believe that if Karaoke is produced with the original artists and their backing tracks African Music and all it's beauty will be introduced to the world due to the global use of this media. Rokia Traore thank you for sharing your music. It is truly amazing.