Wainwright was born in Rhinebeck, New York, USA, to folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle (they divorced while he was a child). He began to play the piano at age six, and by age thirteen he was touring with his sister Martha Wainwright, mother Kate, and aunt Anna as the McGarrigle Sisters and Family.
His song I'm A-Runnin', which he performed in the movie Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller (in which he also played a minor character), was nominated for the 1989 Genie Award for Best Original Song and earned him a nomination for the 1990 Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist.
He lived in Montreal with his mother for most of his childhood and briefly attended McGill University, where he studied both classical and 'rock' piano. Some of his songs feature his mastery of French. Wainwright still maintains a residence in Canada.
He came out as gay while still a teen.
Wainwright became interested in opera throughout his adolescent years (for instance, his track Barcelona features lyrics of Giuseppe Verdi). He also became an enthusiast of such performers as Édith Piaf, Al Jolson and Judy Garland.
After having been a fixture on the Montreal club circuit, Wainwright cut a series of demo tapes, one of which found itself in the hands of DreamWorks executive Lenny Waronker. The label signed him and he released the self-titled Rufus Wainwright album in the spring of 1998. This album received much critical acclaim in Canada, and was recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the best albums of the year. Wainwright's second album, Poses (2001), brought similar acclaim.
Wainwright's first main exposure to the American public came as an opener to singer Tori Amos in 2001 and 2002. He garnered praise for his performance and began touring as a main act shortly afterwards. He has frequently toured as the opener for Sting and co-headlined with Ben Folds and Guster in the summer of 2004. He still often performs with his sister Martha Wainwright (now herself an emerging artist) on backup vocals. Despite a growing cult following and critical acclaim, Wainwright has experienced only marginal commercial success in the United States.
In addition to being a pianist, Wainwright is a guitarist, often switching between the two instruments when performing live; however, his mastery of the guitar does not approach his talent with the piano within the Piano rock genre. While some of his most moving songs feature just Wainwright with his piano, many of his songs display complex layering and harmonies, occasionally comprising hundreds of individual parts. Wainwright is an avid opera fan, and the influences on his music are evident, as well as his love of Schubert 'Lieder'; his music has been described as "Popera" (Pop Opera) or "Baroque Pop." His lyrics are filled with allusions to opera, literature, pop culture, and, more recently, politics (in songs such as Gay Messiah and Waiting for a Dream). Wainwright is a recovering crystal meth addict and a rape survivor; he uses the press to bring awareness to these societal problems.
His talent has been widely recognized and praised by such artists as Elton John, Morrissey, John Mayer, and Sting, and he continues to influence artists like Keane, Alanis Morissette, Scissor Sisters, and Ben Folds.
Wainwright's Want Two, from which four songs were released as the EP Waiting for a Want, was released by DreamWorks/Geffen on November 16, 2004. It is a companion to the 2003 release Want One. His latest, a live iTunes Sessions EP entitled Alright Already, was released March 15, 2005. A DVD entitled All I Want, featuring a biographical documentary, music videos, and live performances, was released on both sides of the Atlantic in summer 2005. The same year was also notable for two major contributions as solo vocalist to a pair of important records: the Mercury Prize winning I am a Bird Now and At This Time.
The pair of Want albums was repackaged as Want for a late November 2005 release to coincide with the start of a British tour. The version of Want One is that which contains the two extra songs Es Mus Sein and Velvet Curtain Rag. The Want (Want One and Want Two combined) package in the UK has two new extra tracks: Chelsea Hotel No. 2 and In with the Ladies, which replace Coeur de Parisienne — Reprise d'Arletty and Quand Vous Mourez de Nos Amours from 2004's augmented edition.
Rufus' fifth studio album Release the Stars was released by Geffen on May 15, 2007. The album was executive produced by Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys and featured Richard Thompson, Teddy Thompson, Martha Wainwright, Kate McGarrigle, Neil Tennant, Joan Wasser, Julianna Raye, Larry Mullins - pka Toby Dammit and Sian Phillips.[14]. It reached number 2 in the UK and debuted at number 23 in the USA. The first single of the album, "Going To A Town" was released on April 3, 2007 on the iTunes music store.
Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall is his sixth album. It is a live recording of his June 2006 tribute concert to Judy Garland. Backed by a 36-piece orchestra under the conduction of Stephen Oremus, Wainwright recreated Garland's April 23, 1961 concert, often considered "the greatest night in show business history." After overcoming many personal problems, her comeback performance of 25+ American standards spawned the double album, "Judy at Carnegie Hall."
As well as Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller, Wainwright has appeared in the films The Aviator and Heights. Rufus has music in the film Brokeback Mountain, for which he recorded The Maker Makes and King of the Road, as well as a minor cameo as a guitar player.
Wainwright released his sixth studio album All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu in March 2010. In stark contrast to the lush ornamentation of Release The Stars, the album is a simple voice and piano rendition of a song cycle that includes versions of three Shakespeare sonnets, and an excerpt from his 2009 opera Prima Donna.
The Lulu figure of the title is said by Wainwright to be "the dark, brooding, dangerous woman that lives within all of us", similar to the Dark Lady character in Shakespeare's sonnets. The first part of the title comes from the final couplet of William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 43" ("All days are nights to see till I see thee...").
L'Absence
Rufus Wainwright Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Comme une fleur loin du soleil
La fleur de ma vie est fermée
Loin de ton sourire vermeil
Entre nos coeurs quelle distance
Tant d'espace entre nos baisers
O sort amer! ô dure absence
Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée
Comme une fleur loin du soleil
La fleur de ma vie est fermée
Loin de ton sourire vermeil
D'ici là-bas que de campagnes
Que de villes et de hameaux
Que de vallons et de montagnes
A lasser le pied des chevaux
Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée
Comme une fleur loin du soleil
La fleur de ma vie est fermée
Loin de ton sourire vermeil
The lyrics of Rufus Wainwright's song L'Absence speak of a profound sense of longing and absence caused by the physical separation between the singer and his beloved. The repetition of the phrase "Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée" (Come back, come back, my beloved) emphasizes the desperate plea of the singer to have his love return to him. The metaphor comparing the singer's life to a flower "loin du soleil" (far from the sun) speaks of a deep feeling of desolation, as the singer's life seems empty and meaningless without his beloved's presence.
The second part of the song speaks of the distance that separates the two lovers, highlighting the vast space between their hearts and the unsatisfied desires caused by their separation. The description of the many landscapes that the singer would have to cross to reach his beloved emphasizes the impossibility of the task, and reinforces the sense of hopeless longing that pervades the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée
Come back, come back, my beloved
Comme une fleur loin du soleil
Like a flower far away from the sun
La fleur de ma vie est fermée
The flower of my life is closed
Loin de ton sourire vermeil
Far from your crimson smile
Entre nos coeurs quelle distance
What a distance between our hearts
Tant d'espace entre nos baisers
So much space between our kisses
O sort amer! ô dure absence
Oh bitter fate! Oh cruel absence
O grands désirs inapaisés
Oh unfulfilled desires
D'ici là-bas que de campagnes
From here to there, so many fields
Que de villes et de hameaux
So many cities and towns
Que de vallons et de montagnes
So many valleys and mountains
A lasser le pied des chevaux
Tiring out the hooves of horses
Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée
Come back, come back, my beloved
Comme une fleur loin du soleil
Like a flower far away from the sun
La fleur de ma vie est fermée
The flower of my life is closed
Loin de ton sourire vermeil
Far from your crimson smile
Contributed by David B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
californiatones
Look it up on Google yah twit!!! lol...duh, everybody knows this is Hector Berlioz's "L'absence" in the key of e flat major, adagio (44bpm) tempo from his works: Les nuits d'été .
In French:
Reviens, reviens, me bien-aimée;
Comme une fleur loin du soleil,
La fleur de ma vie est fermée
Loin de ton sourire vermeil!
Entre nos cœurs quelle distance!
Tant d’espace entre nos baisers!
Ô sort amer! ô dure absence!
Ô grands désirs inapaisés!
Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée.
Comme une fleur loin du soleil,
La fleur de ma vie est fermée
Loin de ton sourire vermeil!
D’ici là-bas, que de campagnes,
Que de villes et de hameaux,
Que de vallons et de montagnes,
À lasser le pied des chevaux.
Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée.
Comme une fleur loin du soleil,
La fleur de ma vie est fermée
Loin de ton sourire vermeil!
and because you're a lazy American who won't try and learn French, translated here (you happy????):
Return, return, my sweetest love!
Like a flower far from the sun,
The flower of my life is closed
Far from your crimson smile!
Such a distance between our hearts!
So great a gulf between our kisses!
O bitter fate! O harsh absence!
O great unassuaged desires!
Return, return, my sweetest love!
Like a flower far from the sun,
The flower of my life is closed
Far from your crimson smile!
So many intervening plains,
So many towns and hamlets,
So many valleys and mountains
To weary the horses’ hooves.
Return, return, my sweetest love!
Like a flower far from the sun,
The flower of my life is closed
Far from your crimson smile!
Now get with the program already, dude!!!!
Letterio Panto'
Une intérprétation magnifique, comme d'habitude! Un artiste véritable, une famille des musiciens, très celèbre d'ailleurs
Félicitations!
Je vous dis bonjour de l'Italie
Lillo
bluesexplosionrob
Yes, I've been looking for this one! It's been a while since I watched the DVD and I'd LOVE to learn to sing this one. I'm opera like that.
protbox
L'absence was the first song at the Fillmore concert and then yes, he was just about to start another song - the 14th Street. Another of my favourites.
Mailen Caride
Años atrás, unos cuantos escuche este tema cantado por ti y te volviste inmortal para mi.te adora .emilce arbo.
Matt Holzmacher
i wish there were mp3s of this performance
Petals Of Spain
Love to you Rufus.
jarrettla
Yes, he takes a breath and then launches into "14th Street!"
californiatones
Lyrics in French (with English translation?? Please universe?
californiatones
Well. Gee. Thanks. Me.
californiatones
Look it up on Google yah twit!!! lol...duh, everybody knows this is Hector Berlioz's "L'absence" in the key of e flat major, adagio (44bpm) tempo from his works: Les nuits d'été .
In French:
Reviens, reviens, me bien-aimée;
Comme une fleur loin du soleil,
La fleur de ma vie est fermée
Loin de ton sourire vermeil!
Entre nos cœurs quelle distance!
Tant d’espace entre nos baisers!
Ô sort amer! ô dure absence!
Ô grands désirs inapaisés!
Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée.
Comme une fleur loin du soleil,
La fleur de ma vie est fermée
Loin de ton sourire vermeil!
D’ici là-bas, que de campagnes,
Que de villes et de hameaux,
Que de vallons et de montagnes,
À lasser le pied des chevaux.
Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée.
Comme une fleur loin du soleil,
La fleur de ma vie est fermée
Loin de ton sourire vermeil!
and because you're a lazy American who won't try and learn French, translated here (you happy????):
Return, return, my sweetest love!
Like a flower far from the sun,
The flower of my life is closed
Far from your crimson smile!
Such a distance between our hearts!
So great a gulf between our kisses!
O bitter fate! O harsh absence!
O great unassuaged desires!
Return, return, my sweetest love!
Like a flower far from the sun,
The flower of my life is closed
Far from your crimson smile!
So many intervening plains,
So many towns and hamlets,
So many valleys and mountains
To weary the horses’ hooves.
Return, return, my sweetest love!
Like a flower far from the sun,
The flower of my life is closed
Far from your crimson smile!
Now get with the program already, dude!!!!