Serge Reggiani (May 2, 1922 - July 23, 2004) was an Italian-born French sin… Read Full Bio ↴Serge Reggiani (May 2, 1922 - July 23, 2004) was an Italian-born French singer, painter and actor. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight. For many years, he struggled with alcoholism, caused in part by the 1980 suicide of his son Stephan.

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.

Sermonette
Serge Reggiani Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Si je croyais en Dieu
Je serais heureux
De rêver au jour où je verrais le ciel
Un ange en robe blanche
Par un clair dimanche
Descendant vers moi dans un chariot doré
Dans un bruit d'ailes et de soie
Loin de toute la Terre

Très haut, je verrais se lever devant moi
L'aube d'un jour sans fin
La brûlante lumière
Le bonheur éternel
Si je croyais en Dieu

Mais j'ai vu trop de haine
Tant et tant de peine
Et je sais, mon frère, qu'il te faudra marcher seul
En essayant toujours
De sauver l'amour
Qui te lie aux hommes de la Terre oubliée
Car tout au bout du chemin
Une faux à la main
La mort, en riant, nous attend pas pressée
Aussi mon ange à moi
Je le cherche en ce monde

Pour gagner enfin ma part de joie
Dans ses bras

Overall Meaning

In Serge Reggiani's song Sermonette, the singer contemplates the idea of God and the possibility of His existence. He imagines the happiness he would feel if he could believe in God, dreaming of the day he would see the sky and an angel descending towards him. This angel, dressed in white, would come on a golden chariot making the sound of fluttering wings and silk. Reggiani sings longingly of the endless daybreak, the blazing light, and the eternal happiness he could experience if he believed in God. But despite all these promises of happiness and joy, he admits that he cannot believe, having seen too much hatred and pain in the world.

Instead, the singer looks to find his own version of an angel, searching for someone or something that could bring him joy in the world he knows. As he walks through life trying to save love and connectedness with others, he knows that death awaits him at the end of the road, waiting with a scythe in hand. Therefore, he is searching for his own angel, not one that comes from above, but one that exists in the world around him, one that could hold him in its arms and bring him joy.

Overall, the song is a reflection on the idea of God, belief, and happiness. The lyrics represent the struggle of the human condition and the need to find and hold onto things that can bring joy in the midst of the harsh realities of life.

Line by Line Meaning

Si je croyais en Dieu
If I believed in God

Je serais heureux
I would be happy

De rêver au jour où je verrais le ciel
Dreaming of the day when I would see the sky

Un ange en robe blanche
An angel in a white robe

Par un clair dimanche
On a clear Sunday

Descendant vers moi dans un chariot doré
Descending towards me in a golden chariot

Dans un bruit d'ailes et de soie
In a sound of wings and silk

Loin de toute la Terre
Far from all the Earth

Très haut, je verrais se lever devant moi
Very high, I would see rising in front of me

L'aube d'un jour sans fin
The dawn of an endless day

La brûlante lumière
The scorching light