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.
Le zouave du pont de l'Alma
Serge Reggiani Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Et je fais le zouave
Sur le pont de l'Alma
Oщ quelquefois
Comme autrefois
J'en bave
Mais plus qu'en Afrique
Aux temps hйroпques
Garance. J'a-
Vais mission historique
D'йduquer les peuples
Sauvages et aveugles
De guider sur des
Torrents d'idйes
Le grand troupeau qui beugle
Que j'ai de la peine
Toute la semaine
Moi qui aimait tant
Voir couler l'sang
De voir couler la Seine!
On nous redoutais comme le feu, comme la peste
De Sйbastopol а Magenta а Palestro
Comme Mac-Mahon je suis parti:
"J'y suis, j'y reste!"
Pour en arriver final'ment а:
"Que d'eau, que d'eau!"
Au printemps le fleuve
Me met а l'йpreuve
Comme si les frimas
N'suffisaient pas
Il faut encore qu'il pleuve
Et il monte monte
Ce lent mastodon'te
J'affrontais le front
C'est un affront
A prйsent que j'affronte
Car j'ai de la flotte
Jusqu'а la culotte
Jusqu'au gros colon
Jusqu'aux galons
Parfois jusqu'а la glotte
Moi qu'on put connaоtre
Zouave et fier de l'кtre
Il y a des moments
Maintenant oщ j'en
Ai par-dessus la tкte
On nous redoutais comme le feu, comme la peste
De Sйbastopol а Magenta а Palestro
Comme Mac-Mahon je suis parti:
"J'y suis, j'y reste!"
Pour en arriver final'ment а:
"Que d'eau, que d'eau!"
Je m'appelle Octave
Et je fais le zouave
Sur ce pont damnй
Oщ chaque annйe
Je sens qu'mon cas s'aggrave
Dans mes jambes зa bouge
J'ai des fourmis rouges
Un jour j'vais m'tirer
Faire une virйe
Je vais prendre un bateau mouche
Direction le septiиme
Rйgiment que j'aime
Encore des beaux jours
Pour les Tambours
Et pour les chrysanthиmes
Paraоt qu'y a une chouette
Guйguerre qui vous guette
Зa sent le crime
Et les vieux d'Crimйe
Ne seraient pas de la fкte.
Serge Reggiani's "Le Zouave du Pont de l'Alma" is a somber and melancholic song that tells the story of Octave, a fellow soldier who became a mascot of sorts for the French Army in the mid-19th century. The zouaves were a light infantry force, known for their colorful and distinctive uniforms, that were instrumental in several conflicts during this period, including the Crimean War. Octave, who is presumably an older man now, reflects on his days as a zouave stationed at the Pont de l'Alma bridge in Paris, where he performed various acrobatics and stunts to entertain passersby.
However, his memories are not all fond ones as he recounts his experiences fighting in Africa and educating "savage and blind" peoples. Octave also reveals his disillusionment with his previous glorification of violence and bloodshed, as represented by the line "that I loved so much, to see the Seine flow." As the bridge he has long called home is once again threatened by rising waters, he reflects on the impermanence of life and the ephemerality of it all, as encapsulated in the repeating line "Que d'eau, que d'eau," which roughly translates to "So much water, so much water."
Overall, Reggiani's song is a poignant reflection on aging, the passage of time, and the disillusionment that comes with it. It is a haunting and thought-provoking meditation on the human condition that resonates deeply with listeners of all backgrounds.
Line by Line Meaning
Je m'appelle Octave
My name is Octave
Et je fais le zouave
And I act like a fool
Sur le pont de l'Alma
On the Alma bridge
Oщ quelquefois
Where sometimes
Comme autrefois
Like in the old times
J'en bave
I struggle
Mais plus qu'en Afrique
But more than in Africa
Aux temps hйroпques
In the heroic times
Quand sous la chйchia
When under the headscarf
Garance. J'a-
Garance. I had a
Vais mission historique
Historical mission
D'йduquer les peuples
To educate the people
Sauvages et aveugles
Savage and blinded
De guider sur des
To guide on
Torrents d'idйes
Torrents of ideas
Le grand troupeau qui beugle
The big bellowing herd
Que j'ai de la peine
This is hard for me
Toute la semaine
All week long
Moi qui aimait tant
I who loved so much
Voir couler l'sang
To see the blood flow
De voir couler la Seine!
To see the Seine flowing!
On nous redoutais comme le feu, comme la peste
We were feared like fire, like the plague
De Sйbastopol а Magenta а Palestro
From Sebastopol to Magenta to Palestro
Comme Mac-Mahon je suis parti:
Like Mac-Mahon, I left:
"J'y suis, j'y reste!"
"I'm in, I'm staying!"
Pour en arriver final'ment а:
To finally arrive at:
"Que d'eau, que d'eau!"
"So much water, so much water!"
Au printemps le fleuve
In the spring, the river
Me met а l'йpreuve
Challenges me
Comme si les frimas
As if the frost
N'suffisaient pas
Was not enough
Il faut encore qu'il pleuve
It still has to rain
Et il monte monte
And it rises, rises
Ce lent mastodon'te
This slow mastodon
J'affrontais le front
I faced the front
C'est un affront
It's an affront
A prйsent que j'affronte
Now that I face
Car j'ai de la flotte
Because I have water
Jusqu'а la culotte
Up to my underwear
Jusqu'au gros colon
Up to my colon
Jusqu'aux galons
Up to my badges
Parfois jusqu'а la glotte
Sometimes up to my throat
Moi qu'on put connaоtre
Me, who they knew
Zouave et fier de l'кtre
Zouave and proud of it
Il y a des moments
There are moments
Maintenant oщ j'en
Now that I'm
Ai par-dessus la tкte
Fed up
Je m'appelle Octave
My name is Octave
Et je fais le zouave
And I act like a fool
Sur ce pont damnй
On this cursed bridge
Oщ chaque annйe
Where every year
Je sens qu'mon cas s'aggrave
I feel like my situation is worsening
Dans mes jambes зa bouge
My legs are restless
J'ai des fourmis rouges
I have red ants
Un jour j'vais m'tirer
One day, I will leave
Faire une virйe
Go on a trip
Je vais prendre un bateau mouche
I will take a tourist boat
Direction le septiиme
Towards the seventh
Rйgiment que j'aime
Regiment that I love
Encore des beaux jours
More beautiful days
Pour les Tambours
For the drums
Et pour les chrysanthиmes
And for the chrysanthemums
Paraоt qu'y a une chouette
It seems there is a cool
Guйguerre qui vous guette
War that's waiting for you
Зa sent le crime
It smells like crime
Et les vieux d'Crimйe
And the old people from Crimea
Ne seraient pas de la fкte.
Won't be in the party.
Contributed by Riley G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.