Stephan Eicher is a Swiss singer-songwriter born 17 August 1960 in Münchenb… Read Full Bio ↴Stephan Eicher is a Swiss singer-songwriter born 17 August 1960 in Münchenbuchsee close to the Swiss capital Bern. He combines French chanson and rock music. Being from a multilingual country Stephan Eicher sings in English, French, Italian, German and Swiss-German. Sometimes he even sings several languages in just one song.

He first started out in 1980 when he formed the band "Grauzone" with his brother. From 1982 on he sang solo and had his breakthrough in Switzerland in 1985 with the album "I tell this night".

In April 2007 he released his newest album: Eldorado. From his website:

"It seems that Stephan Eicher had this album in mind for a long time; almost fifteen years… Since « Carcassonne », when he was already thinking about reinventing himself, after six years of real success (Two people in a room, Combien de temps, Déjeuner en paix, Pas d’ami (comme toi…).

With 2003's generous "Taxi Europa", marked by continental climates, he went in a different direction, around the old continent. “By the end of this long tour, I couldn’t stand the idea of singing out loud. I felt like singing for myself or for someone. As a coincidence, I began to compose new songs in places where I couldn’t make so much noise. In the Camargue, there was a dog barking each time I started to sing. In Brussels, I had almost to whisper melodies to avoid waking up the child sleeping next to me. Progressively, I began to place my voice differently”.

Eldorado was born like that, in hushed silence, in the secret of the nights. And as usual with Stephan, the voice has opened the way. Softened, contained in intimacy, it drove all the instruments choices implicitly. It had to be organic, with grain, matter, in order to give more space to silences, a figurative instrumentation, almost a real original soundtrack which could tell what the voice was concealing."

Traces
Stephan Eicher Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Je les entends parler
S'éloigner dans la rue
Puis tout à coup cesser
Disparaître de ma vue
Les liens se sont usés
Le temps nous a vaincus
Plus rien à partager
Que sont amis devenus ?

Comme des pierres
Comme la glace
Comme des sourds aux fenêtres d'en face
Sans colère
Sans grimaces
Sans retour et sans perdre la face

Chacun de nous le sait
Chacun en est conscient
Mais le vide nous effraie
Et le reste est décevant
La nuit nous a distraits
Quelques verrez nous aidant
Lucidité jamais
Ne vous fait le coeur content

Si l'on n'meurt pas d'un coup
C'est par petits morceaux
La toiture qui se troue
Puis la cave qui prend l'eau
Nous nous aimions beaucoup
Ne nous blessons pas trop
Amis je pense à vous
Et murmure dans votre dos

Comme des pierres
Comme la glace
Comme des sourds aux fenêtres d'en face
Sans colère

Sans grimaces
Sans retour et sans perdre la trace

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Traces" by Stephan Eicher are about the breakdown of a friendship. The song starts with the singer hearing his former friends walking away from him on the street, which suddenly stops and they disappear from his view. The bonds between them have deteriorated, and the passage of time has left nothing left to share. The chorus emphasizes the feeling of distance and silence, describing the former friends as being like stones or ice, deaf to the sounds of the outside world. The loss is felt keenly, but there is a sense of resignation rather than anger, as the singer acknowledges that everyone is aware of the estrangement, though it is still something to be feared. The song also touches on the idea of feeling incomplete and distracted at night, with alcohol only serving as a temporary escape from the pain.

Overall, "Traces" conveys a sense of melancholy and longing, with a resigned acceptance of the distance between former friends. It captures the feeling of a relationship that has slowly faded away, leaving only the memory of the past.

Line by Line Meaning

Je les entends parler
I hear them talking

S'éloigner dans la rue
Walking away down the street

Puis tout à coup cesser
Suddenly stop

Disparaître de ma vue
Disappear from my sight

Les liens se sont usés
The ties have worn out

Le temps nous a vaincus
Time has defeated us

Plus rien à partager
Nothing left to share

Que sont amis devenus ?
What have our friends become?

Comme des pierres
Like stones

Comme la glace
Like ice

Comme des sourds aux fenêtres d'en face
Like deaf people at the windows across the street