After acting school he was discovered by Jean Cocteau and appeared in a wartime production of Les parents terribles ("The Terrible Parents"). His first feature film came in 1946 with his role in Les portes de la nuit ("The Doors of the Night"). He later went on to perform in 80 films including The Pianist (1998).
In 1965 he began a second career as a singer, with the help of Simone Signoret and her husband Yves Montand. Reggiani became one of the most acclaimed performers of French "Chanson" ("song") and although he was in his 40s, his bad-boy image made him popular with both young and older listeners. His best known songs include "Les loups sont entres dans Paris" ("The Wolves Have Entered Paris") and "La femme qui est dans mon lit." ("The Woman Who Is In My Bed").
In later life he became a painter and gave a number of exhibitions of his artwork.
Serge Reggiani died of a heart attack at the age of 82, one day after the death of another well known French singer Sacha Distel. He is interred in the Cimetière du Montparnasse.
Ivre
Serge Reggiani Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Du mal de vivre
En équilibre
Entre deux rives,
Deux tentations
L'une
Où je m'allume
Et me consume
La dérision...
Ivre
De fleurs, de livres,
De pleurs, de givre,
De pures plaintes,
D'absurde absinthe,
De vin de messe
De vin païen.
Tomber par terre et comme un oiseau ivre,
Voler, revivre émerveillé,
Dans l'air plus libre,
Dans l'innocence réveillée,
La joie furtive
D'avoir volé au temps, dictateur infini,
Un peu d'oubli...
Ivre
De ces dérives
Qui me délivrent,
Qui me dérident
Et me défont
Ivre
Jusqu'au vertige,
L'avant suicide
Le plus splendide,
Le plus profond.
Ivre,
Le cœur liquide
La tête vide
Mais pour mieux faire
Bondir la terre
Après l'ivresse
Comme un ballon
Être cassé, KO et me survivre
Me décupler dans ce décor
Sans récidive,
Prison provisoire de mon corps
Et que s'écrive
En lettres saoules, en pleurs d'alcool que j'ai toujours
Un manqu'd'amour
Ivre
Quoi qu'il arrive,
J'ai soif de vivre,
Entre deux rives,
Deux dérisions...
The lyrics of Serge Reggiani's song Ivre describe the singer's feeling of being intoxicated by a variety of different things, ranging from the struggles of life to the joys of flying free. The first verse suggests that the singer is torn between two temptations - one where they light up and are consumed by their problems and another where they accept the absurdity of life. The second verse expands upon this idea, with the singer describing their sense of intoxication from a wide variety of sources, including flowers, books, tears, and both religious and pagan wines. They continue to describe the feeling of being drunk, of falling to the ground like a bird and then flying free, experiencing the joy of liberation from the constraints of time and circumstance.
The final verse suggests a desire to stay in this state of intoxication, to be liberated from the constraints of the body and to transcend the mundane realities of daily life. The singer describes the feeling of being broken and surviving, of being temporarily trapped in their body, and the hope that their experiences of being drunk will somehow leave a lasting impression on the world.
Overall, the song Ivre can be interpreted as an expression of the struggles and joys of life, the desire to transcend these struggles, and the belief that even in our most intoxicated and vulnerable moments, we can somehow leave a lasting impact on the world around us.
Line by Line Meaning
Ivre
Drunk
Du mal de vivre
From the pain of living
En équilibre
In balance
Entre deux rives,
Between two shores
Deux tentations
Two temptations
L'une
One
Où je m'allume
Where I light up
Et me consume
And consume myself
L'autre où j'assume
The other where I assume
La dérision...
The derision...
De fleurs, de livres,
Of flowers, books,
De pleurs, de givre,
Of tears, frost,
De pures plaintes,
Of pure complaints,
D'absurde absinthe,
Of absurd absinthe,
De vin de messe
Of sacramental wine
De vin païen.
Of pagan wine.
Tomber par terre et comme un oiseau ivre,
Fall to the ground like a drunk bird,
Voler, revivre émerveillé,
Fly, revive amazed,
Dans l'air plus libre,
In freer air,
Dans l'innocence réveillée,
In awakened innocence,
La joie furtive
The fleeting joy
D'avoir volé au temps, dictateur infini,
Of having stolen from time, infinite dictator,
Un peu d'oubli...
A little forgetting...
De ces dérives
Of these drifts
Qui me délivrent,
That free me,
Qui me dérident
That make me laugh
Et me défont
And undo me
Ivre
Drunk
Jusqu'au vertige,
To vertigo,
L'avant suicide
The pre-suicide
Le plus splendide,
The most splendid,
Le plus profond.
The deepest.
Le cœur liquide
The liquid heart
La tête vide
The empty head
Mais pour mieux faire
But to do better
Bondir la terre
Make the earth bounce
Après l'ivresse
After the drunkenness
Comme un ballon
Like a balloon
Être cassé, KO et me survivre
To be broken, knocked out and survive
Me décupler dans ce décor
To multiply myself in this setting
Sans récidive,
Without relapse,
Prison provisoire de mon corps
Temporary prison of my body
Et que s'écrive
And let it be written
En lettres saoules, en pleurs d'alcool que j'ai toujours
In drunken letters, in tears of alcohol that I always have
Un manqu'd'amour
A lack of love
Quoi qu'il arrive,
Whatever happens,
J'ai soif de vivre,
I thirst for life,
Entre deux rives,
Between two shores,
Deux dérisions...
Two derisions...
Contributed by Maria F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Sylvie Giuliano
Bonjour Serge, toujours la pêche, éternellement.