Thomas Fersen is a French singer-composer born in 1963 in Paris.

In… Read Full Bio ↴Thomas Fersen is a French singer-composer born in 1963 in Paris.

In his youth, he joined a punk band, before playing the piano in cafés-théatre. His first album in 1993 brought him an immediate success.

Fersen is a poet, who enjoys playing with language -he writes his lyrics exclusively in french-, using words, rhymes, symbols and images of vegetal or animal world. He tells strange and funny stories, impressions and dreams of casual life. His smoker's deep voice gives a particular tone to his songs. His musical style varies from one album to another (rock, folk, jazz and blues..).

He is one of the first who joined the Tot Ou tard/WM France label.

Les Ronds de carotte
Thomas Fersen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Chacun aime
Avoir son pauvre,
Celui qu'il aide,
Celui qu'il sauve.
Les plus riches
Me font l'aumône,
Les plus chiches donnent
Des pièces jaunes

Et des ronds de carotte

À l'époque,
J'avais le blé.
J'ai des cloques,
J'ai le balai,
Les feuilles mortes,
Les vieux papiers.
La fortune transporte, parfois
De l'argent sous mon pied,
Et des ronds de carotte.

À L'époque,
J'avais l'auto.
Je suis en loques,
J'ai le landau,
J'attends la soupe populaire.
Si je la loupe
Qui va m'en faire ?
J'aime les ronds de carotte.

Les touristes
Viennent et observent.
Ils sont tristes
Mais ils me réservent
Les jetons de lave-linge,
Les boutons de culotte !
De la monnaie de singe
Et des ronds de carotte

Et des ronds de carotte
Que des ronds de carotte

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Thomas Fersen's song "Les Ronds de carotte" speaks to the idea that everyone needs someone or something to help them out in life. The song describes a narrator who used to be rich and now describes his life in poverty. He talks about how even though he used to have a lot of money, he now relies on handouts from others. The song refers to the idea of charity, with the wealthy giving alms to the poor, and also the idea that sometimes luck can change, making the rich poor and the poor rich.

The first verse talks about how everyone needs help, even the rich. The wealthy offer alms to the poor, while the not-so-generous give small coins and "ronds de carotte" or carrot coins. These coins represent the small things people give to help those in need, even if it's not much. The second verse talks about how the singer's luck has changed, and he is now poor. His possessions have been reduced to a broom and old papers. However, he admits that sometimes he finds money under his feet or small donations from people.

The last verse talks about how tourists come to watch the struggling poor and feel bad for them. They offer small tokens of kindness such as buttons and tokens for laundry, along with carrot coins.

Line by Line Meaning

Chacun aime
Everyone loves

Avoir son pauvre,
To have their poor one,

Celui qu'il aide,
The one they help,

Celui qu'il sauve.
The one they save.

Les plus riches
The richest ones

Me font l'aumône,
Give me alms,

Les plus chiches donnent
The stingiest ones give

Des pièces jaunes
Yellow coins

Et des ronds de carotte
And carrot rounds.

À l'époque,
Back then,

J'avais le blé.
I had the money.