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
Les vacances au bord de la mer
Stacey Kent Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Avec mon père, ma sœur, ma mère
On regardait les autres gens
Comme ils dépensaient leur argent
Nous, il fallait faire attention
Quand on avait payé
Le prix d'une location
Il ne nous restait pas grand-chose
Alors on regardait les bateaux
On suçait des glaces à l'eau
Les palaces, les restaurants
On n' faisait que passer d'vant
Et on regardait les bateaux
Le matin on s' réveillait tôt
Sur la plage, pendant des heures
On prenait de belles couleurs
On allait au bord de la mer
Avec mon père, ma sœur, ma mère
Et quand les vagues étaient tranquilles
On passait la journée aux îles
Sauf quand on pouvait déjà plus
Alors on regardait les bateaux
On suçait des glaces à l'eau
On avait l' cœur un peu gros
Mais c'était quand même beau.
The song "Les vacances au bord de la mer" by Stacey Kent narrates the childhood memories of the singer spent by the sea with her family. The first stanza depicts the singer's family as not being affluent and forced to be careful with their expenses during their vacations. They could only afford to watch the other people around them spend their money. Despite the financial difficulties, they were excited about their annual vacation, and the sight of boats and indulging in ice cream kept them entertained.
The second stanza maintains the same sentiment and includes the family's morning ritual waking up early to spend the entire day basking in the sun and lazing around in the sand. The third stanza describes their boat rides out into the sea and visiting nearby islands. The last two lines of this stanza suggest that the family's financial limitations would cut these trips short, but they would still enjoy themselves.
Overall, the song paints a vivid picture of a working-class family's experience during their summer vacations. Although they couldn't afford the luxuries that were available around them, they enjoyed and cherished what they could afford.
Line by Line Meaning
On allait au bord de la mer
We used to go to the seaside
Avec mon père, ma sœur, ma mère
With my father, my sister, my mother
On regardait les autres gens
We looked at other people
Comme ils dépensaient leur argent
How they were spending their money
Nous, il fallait faire attention
We had to be careful
Quand on avait payé
When we had paid
Le prix d'une location
The cost of a rental
Il ne nous restait pas grand-chose
We didn't have much left
Alors on regardait les bateaux
So we looked at the boats
On suçait des glaces à l'eau
We sucked on water ice lollies
Les palaces, les restaurants
The luxury hotels, the restaurants
On n' faisait que passer d'vant
We just passed by
Le matin on s' réveillait tôt
In the morning we woke up early
Sur la plage, pendant des heures
On the beach, for hours
On prenait de belles couleurs
We got a nice tan
Et quand les vagues étaient tranquilles
And when the waves were calm
On passait la journée aux îles
We spent the day on the islands
Sauf quand on pouvait déjà plus
Except when we couldn't do anymore
On avait l' cœur un peu gros
We felt a bit sad
Mais c'était quand même beau.
But it was still beautiful.
Contributed by Owen K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.