Stacey Kent (born March 27, 1968 in South Orange, New Jersey) is a Grammy-n… Read Full Bio ↴Stacey Kent (born March 27, 1968 in South Orange, New Jersey) is a Grammy-nominated American jazz vocalist, who debuted in 1997 with Close Your Eyes.

Kent attended Newark Academy in Livingston, New Jersey. She graduated with a Degree in Comparative Literature from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, and moved to England after her graduation. While studying at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she met tenor saxophonist, Jim Tomlinson, whom she married on 9 Aug 1991.

Discography:
"Close Your Eyes" (1997), "The Tender Trap" (1998), "Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire" (2000),
"Dreamsville" (2001), "Brazilian Sketches" (2001), "In Love Again: The Music of Richard Rodgers" (2002),
"The Boy Next Door" (2003), "Collection" (2001), "Collection II" (2003), "Collection III" (2006),
"Breakfast On The Morning Tram" (2007), "Breakfast on the Morning Tram" (2008, limited edition boxset CD/DVD),
"Raconte-Moi..." (2010) , "Hushabye Mountain" (2011) , "THE CHANGING LIGHTS" (2013)

Kent has also featured in Tomlinson's 2006 album, The Lyric, which won "Album of the Year" at the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards.

Awards: British Jazz Award (2001) and BBC Jazz Award for Best Vocalist (2002).

Kent's album, Breakfast on the Morning Tram, was a nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 51st Grammy Awards (2009).

Trivia: Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro wrote the liner notes to Kent's 2003 album, The Boy Next Door, and also co-wrote four of the songs on the 2007 album, Breakfast on the Morning Tram.

Sites: Discogs

C'est le printemps
Stacey Kent Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Agitée comme un roseau dans la tourmente
Tout m'énerve et tout m'irrite en ce moment
Le monde me désenchante
Par ce beau jour de printemps

Fatiguée, désabusée et sans courage
Impatiente je ne sais plus ce qui m'attend
Je sens arriver l'orage

Par ce beau jour de printemps

Je voudrais me sentir loin d'ici
Fuir la vie de chaque jour
Et peut-être en m'évadant ainsi
Y trouverais-je l'amour

Les bourgeons des marronniers
De mon enfance
La jacinthe, l'aubépine et les lilas blancs
En vain me chantent leur romance

Douterais-tu du printemps?
Tout est si joyeux
Pourtant je suis malheureuse

D'où me vient tout ce tourment?
Ô mon ami, c'est le printemps.

Overall Meaning

The opening verse of Stacey Kent's song "C'est le printemps" paints a picture of a person who feels agitated, easily irritated, and disillusioned by the world in this beautiful spring day. The imagery of a reed swaying in the storm represents the singer's turbulent state. The next verse carries the same mood, depicting a tired, disenchanted, and helpless person who expects an impending storm. The singer wishes to escape the mundane life and finds love in the process.

However, the references to the spring season, such as chestnut buds, hyacinth, hawthorn, and white lilac, do not have any effect on the singer's melancholy state. The chorus of the song poses the question if one could doubt the spring season, which is typically associated with joy, beauty, renewal, and hope. The singer's friend responds, "everything is so cheerful, yet I am unhappy -" attributing the singer's struggle to the spring season.

The song "C'est le printemps" speaks to the complexity of emotions and mental states that individuals go through despite the lovely energy that spring brings. It acknowledges that some people experience overwhelming feelings of sadness, loss, and confusion when everyone else is experiencing romantic energy and budding love.

Line by Line Meaning

Agitée comme un roseau dans la tourmente
I am restless and uneasy, swaying like a reed caught up in a storm

Tout m'énerve et tout m'irrite en ce moment
Everything is making me nervous and irritated right now

Le monde me désenchante
The world has lost its charm for me

Par ce beau jour de printemps
On this beautiful spring day

Fatiguée, désabusée et sans courage
Tired, disillusioned, and lacking in courage

Impatiente je ne sais plus ce qui m'attend
I am impatient and unsure of what lies ahead

Je sens arriver l'orage
I feel a storm coming

Je voudrais me sentir loin d'ici
I wish I could feel far away from here

Fuir la vie de chaque jour
To escape from the everyday life

Et peut-être en m'évadant ainsi
And perhaps by escaping like this

Y trouverais-je l'amour
I might find love there