Her career began at the age of seven when she was selected as a regular performer for the music television program Young Talent Time. As a child Arena attracted attention for the power of her voice, which was considered remarkable for such a young child.
She was born to Italian parents and has a sister, Nancy (born 1961). Often billed as "Tiny Tina Arena", she was seen on weekly television singing and dancing the current pop hits. The show's policy was to promote talented children, and at the age of sixteen team members would leave, ostensibly to follow an adult career. As one of the show's youngest performers, Arena's nine year stint was also one of the show's longest. "Strong As Steel" Like most of the children who left the show, Arena carried with her a stigma that made it difficult to be taken seriously as an adult vocalist, and for a short time she contemplated ending her career, and found employment with an insurance company. She was invited to support Lionel Richie on his Australian tour, but despite this success and the profile it gave her, record companies were unwilling to offer her a recording contract. Arena persevered, playing nightclubs in Melbourne and in several stage musicals, before finally being offered a contract.
Her album Strong as Steel, released in 1990, contained one major hit single, the uptempo dance track, "I Need Your Body", whose accompanying video demonstrated Arena as a sexy and confident adult. The contrast between her adult image and that of the seven year old child she had been when she first became famous attracted considerable publicity in Australia, but some elements of the media insisted that she was little more than a novelty act. Despite the success of the further singles, The Machine's Breaking Down and the Diane Warren title track, the album failed to establish her as a major act, and she relocated to the United States.
After signing a contract with Sony Music, Arena released the album Don't Ask in 1994. It became one of the highest selling albums of the year in Australia and provided her with her first substantial hit single "Chains". The song also reached the Top 10 in the United Kingdom and Top 40 in the United States. Arena's career was said to be a priority of record executive Tommy Mottola who envisioned her achieving the level of success of Céline Dion or Mariah Carey, but the album failed to sell well in the US, and Mottola moved on to other projects. Other hits followed in Australia and Europe, including "Heaven Help My Heart", "Wasn't It Good" and "Sorrento Moon". The album won Arena five ARIA Awards for "Album of the Year", "Song of the Year" ("Chains"), "Pop Release of the Year" ("Chains") and "Best Female Vocalist", as well as a special award for "Highest Selling Female Artist in Australian History".
After more than twenty years she was finally accepted as a credible performer by both the record buying public and the Australian music industry.
Her next album In Deep (1997), produced by Foreigner's Mick Jones contained a cover version of their hit "I Want To Know What Love Is" (with backing vocals by the song's original vocalist Lou Gramm) and another major hit single "Burn". In Deep was the highest selling Australian album of the year. During this time she recorded the theme song for the film The Mask of Zorro, a duet with Marc Anthony titled "I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You". This song was highly successful in Europe, and Arena embraced European culture, recording several songs in French and relocating temporarily to France. During this period her greatest successes were these French recordings and they were major hits in France. A repackaged version of the In Deep album including the new French versions, and a cover version of the Edith Piaf song "Les Trois Cloches" was a major hit throughout Europe and reached number 3 in France.
Her 2001 album Just Me was a moderate success and included such hit singles as "Soul Mate #9", "Dare You To Be Happy" and "Symphony of Life". In 1998, Arena was invited to perform the role of Esmerelda in the West End production of Notre Dame de Paris in London. In 2000, she performed to the largest audience of her career at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Later that year she received an outstanding achievement ARIA Award for her career achievement, with the award also specifically recognising her success in France.
In 2003 she was recruited by Dance DJ Ray Roc to sing on his single "Never (Past Tense)". The song was one of the year's longest running hits on the Hot Dance Club Songs charet where it reached number one.
Arena completed her contract with Sony Music in the Fall of 2004, releasing a Greatest Hits album and a Greatest Hits DVD marking the end of her association with them. She was also released her Greatest Hits Live which features 90 minutes of LIVE concert footage recorded during her 2004 Greatest Hits tour in Australia.
After resigning a record deal with Columbia France, Arena recorded a new entirely French album, called Un Autre Univers (Another Universe). The album was co-written by Arena and an assortment of French and English writers and producers. The first single "Aimer jusqu'a l'impossible" (Love Till The Impossible) received airplay across French radio and debuted on the French national charts at #3. On November 17th 2005, Arena and partner Vincent Mancini became parents, with the birth of a son, Gabriel Joseph, in Paris.Arena's sixth studio album titled Songs of Love & Loss was recorded independently and self-financed as she no longer had a recording contract in Australia. The album was eventually released on 1 December 2007 after a new deal was struck with EMI Australia. The record was primarily made up of torch songs originally recorded by women in the 1960s and 70s such as Dusty Springfield and Diana Ross and the arrangements featured a full string orchestra conducted by Simon Hale. A promotional tour of Australia in early November included appearances on Dancing with the Stars and Sunrise. Five concert dates backed by a 35 piece orchestra were held in December–January: three at the Sydney Opera House and two at Melbourne's Hamer Hall. The album peaked at #3 on the ARIA Top Albums chart and was nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Selling Album.
While Arena was still promoting Songs of Love & Loss in Australia, her first French single in two years, "Entends-tu le monde?", was made available to French radio. The video was shot in and around Sydney during the promotional tour of her home country and went on heavy rotation on French music television channels upon its release. The song was the first single from her sophomore French album 7 vies which was released on 28 January 2008 and debuted at #12 on the official French charts, her highest debut ever in the country. The single "Entends-tu le monde?" was physically released on 11 February 2008 and debuted at #10 on the French charts, becoming her sixth top ten single there.
August 2008 saw Arena performing with Andrea Bocelli during his Australian tour. The two performed well received duets of "The Prayer", "Canto della Terra" and a cover of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love". Prior to the tour she had been in the UK recording her eighth studio album Songs of Love & Loss 2, which was released on 15 November 2008.[4] For this album, her vocals were recorded live with the London Studio Orchestra, again conducted by Hale.[5]
Arena & Alison Jiear at Sydney Mardi Gras 2009.Alongside fellow Australian singer and songwriter Darren Hayes, Arena appeared as a guest judge during the London auditions of Australian Idol's sixth season. The episode featuring Arena and Hayes aired on 27 August 2008. She again appeared as a guest judge on 16 November while she was in Australia to promote Songs of Love & Loss 2.
Arena has been awarded a Knighthood of the Order of National Merit, the second highest civil honour in France, by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in February 2009 for her contributions to French culture.
In March 2009, Arena toured Australia in support of her album Songs of Love & Loss 2 and also appeared as a surprise guest performer at the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras party singing a medley of "Aimer jusqu'à l'impossible" and "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" at 3 am accompanied by Alison Jiear on the latter.
2009 also saw the release of Arena's first French greatest hits album, The Best & le meilleur, and The Peel Me Sessions, an album of original material recorded in 2003 but rejected by her label at the time Sony.
A live CD and DVD was released in Australia in January 2010, The Onstage Collection, where the album peaked at #22 on the ARIA Charts.
Arena announced that she will release her seventh English studio album in 2011.
S'Il M'Est Donné
Tina Arena Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pour faire rimer ma vie à la tienne
S'il m'est donné
Le pouvoir de toucher nos rêves
Comme tu le sais le temps nous est compté
Il ne peut tendre qu'à s'accélérer
Laisse moi te dire
Ce que j'ai décidé de vivre
Juste que ce soit toujours
Nous qui dessinions l'amour
Que le temps s'écoule
Qu'il emporte ce qu'il reste des doutes... au
...ssi loin que l'on puisse y voir
Derrière la beauté du mirroir
Si nos mains se tiennent
Je sais qu'on vivra dans le même poème
Simplement lire
Au fond de soi
Ce que le coeur dit
Ce qu'il désigne
Moi je veux lire
Notre avenir
Dans la lumière
S'il m'est donné de choisir une prière
Pour que demain encore sur terre
Il soit donné
De pouvoir exaucer des rêves
Au fil du temps qui s'en va se fâne
La lumière des visages et des âmes
Je veux que brille
Notre avenir dans les regards
Juste que ce soit encore
Nous qui décidions du sort
Je prie pour qu'il reste le temps
De bâtir le plus important... de
... tout ce que l'on peut donner
Un instant, une éternité
Tout n'aura de sens
Que si l'on donne à nos prières leur chance
Simplement lire
Au fond de soi
Ce que le cœur dit
Ce qu'il désigne
Moi je veux lire
Notre avenir
Dans la lumière
Juste que ce soit toujours
Nous qui dessinions l' amour
Je prie pour qu'il reste le temps
De bâtir le plus important
De tout ce que l'on peut donner
Un instant, une éternité
Tout n'aura de sens
Que si on donne à nos prières leur chance
The song S'Il M'Est Donné by Tina Arena is a song about the power of love and the desire to create a life filled with love and devotion. The lyrics describe the singer's desire to choose a poem that will help connect their life with their loved one's life, and to be able to touch their dreams. The singer acknowledges that time is limited and can only accelerate, but they want to create a life where they always draw love and live it out. They want to believe in the power of love and live in a world where they can create their own destiny.
The lyrics also mention the importance of reading one's own heart and finding the will to pursue the future that the heart desires. The singer details their desire to build a life where they can decide their own destiny, and for love to always be the driving force. The lyrics also mention the power of prayer and the desire for these prayers to create a life shaped by love. In essence, the song is a beautiful love poem that combines the beauty of faith, hope, and the power of love.
Line by Line Meaning
S'il m'est donné de choisir un poème
If I am given the chance to choose a poem
Pour faire rimer ma vie à la tienne
To make my life rhyme with yours
S'il m'est donné
If it is given to me
Le pouvoir de toucher nos rêves
The power to touch our dreams
Comme tu le sais le temps nous est compté
As you know, time is limited for us
Il ne peut tendre qu'à s'accélérer
It can only tend to accelerate
Laisse moi te dire
Let me tell you
Ce que j'ai décidé de vivre
What I decided to live for
Juste que ce soit toujours
Just that it be always
Nous qui dessinions l'amour
Us who draw love
Que le temps s'écoule
Let time pass
Qu'il emporte ce qu'il reste des doutes...
Let it take away what remains of doubts...
aussi loin que l'on puisse y voir
as far as we can see it
Derrière la beauté du mirroir
Behind the beauty of the mirror
Si nos mains se tiennent
If our hands hold each other
Je sais qu'on vivra dans le même poème
I know we will live in the same poem
Simplement lire
Simply read
Au fond de soi
Deep within oneself
Ce que le coeur dit
What the heart says
Ce qu'il désigne
What it designates
Moi je veux lire
I want to read
Notre avenir
Our future
Dans la lumière
In the light
S'il m'est donné de choisir une prière
If I am given the chance to choose a prayer
Pour que demain encore sur terre
So that tomorrow still on earth
Il soit donné
It is given
De pouvoir exaucer des rêves
To be able to fulfill dreams
Au fil du temps qui s'en va se fâne
Over time that goes by and fades
La lumière des visages et des âmes
The light of faces and souls
Je veux que brille
I want to shine
Notre avenir dans les regards
Our future in the eyes
Juste que ce soit encore
Just that it be again
Nous qui décidions du sort
Us who decide the fate
Je prie pour qu'il reste le temps
I pray that there is still time
De bâtir le plus important...
To build the most important...
de tout ce que l'on peut donner
of all that we can give
Un instant, une éternité
An instant, an eternity
Tout n'aura de sens
Everything will make sense
Que si l'on donne à nos prières leur chance
Only if we give our prayers a chance
Writer(s): Vincent Hare, Filippina Lydia Arena, Patrick Fiori
Contributed by Liam I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.