Tino Rossi (April 29, 1907 - September 26, 1983) was a singer and film acto… Read Full Bio ↴Tino Rossi (April 29, 1907 - September 26, 1983) was a singer and film actor.

Born Constantino Rossi in Ajaccio, Corsica, France, he became a tenor of French cabaret and one of the great romantic idols of his time. Gifted with an operatic voice, a "Latin Lover" persona made him a movie star as well. Over his career, Rossi made hundreds of records and appeared in more than 25 films, the most notable of which was the 1953 production, Si Versailles m'était conté directed by Sacha Guitry. His romantic ballads had women swooning and his art-songs by Jules Massenet (1842-1912), Reynaldo Hahn (1875-1947), and other composers helped draw sold out audiences wherever he performed.

As a young man, he played guitar and sang at a variety of small venues in his hometown of Ajaccio before going on to perform in Marseilles and at resort clubs along the French Riviera. In the early 1930s he went to Paris and within a few years achieved enormous success, joining a Columbia Records roster that included the biggest stars of the day such as Lucienne Boyer, Damia, Pills et Tabet, Mireille, and Jean Sablon.

Rossi's success was greatly aided by songwriter Vincent Scotto (1876-1952), who wrote his first hits and collaborated with him for many years, composing and arranging many Rossi songs. Prior to World War II. Rossi was a major box office attraction in the French speaking world but expanded his audience to America with a 1938 visit followed up by wartime tours across the USA and Canada. In 1946, his song "Petit Papa Noël" sold more than thirty million copies worldwide. A Christmas classic for the family, the song still sells by the thousands each Yuletide season. The recipient of many musical awards, including the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque, Tino Rossi is the most popular personality to ever come from Corsica other than Napoleon Bonaparte.

In 1947 he married Lilia Vetti, a young dancer he met while making a film. They would have a son together in a marriage that lasted for a lifetime. A star of film and the operetta scene, Tino Rossi's career also evolved into the television era, appearing in a number of popular variety shows. Age, and the advent of rock and roll in the 1960s saw him take backstage with the new generation of music lovers but he remained enormously popular with a following built up over fifty years of performing.

In 1982, for his contribution to France and its culture, President François Mitterrand named Tino Rossi a Commander of the Legion of Honor. That same year Rossi gave his last public performance at the Casino de Paris, a show that popular demand turned into a three month stint.

Tino Rossi died of pancreatic cancer in 1983 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France. His body returned to his native Ajaccio for burial in the family plot at the local cemetery. His hometown named a street and the sailing harbor in his honor and at Nogent-sur-Marne, on the River Marne in Paris, there is a square named Tino Rossi Square.

Le chaland qui passe
Tino Rossi Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

La nuit s′est faite, la berge
S'estompe et se perd...
Seule, au passage une auberge
Cligne ses yeux pers.
Le chaland glisse, sans trêve
Sur l′eau de satin,
Où s'en va-t-il? ... Vers quel rêve? ...
Vers quel incertain

Du destin? ...

{Refrain:}
Ne pensons à rien... le courant
Fait de nous toujours des errants;
Sur mon chaland, sautant d'un quai,
L′amour peut-être s′est embarqué...
Aimons-nous ce soir sans songer
A ce que demain peu changer,
Au fil de l'eau point de serments:
Ce n′est que sur terre qu'on ment!

Ta bouche est triste et j′évoque
Ces fruits mal mûris
Loin d'un soleil qui provoque
Leurs chauds coloris,
Mais sous ma lèvre enfiévrée
Par l′onde et le vent,
Je veux la voir empourprée
Comme au soleil levant
Les auvents ...

{Refrain}

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Tino Rossi's song "Le chaland qui passe" depict a serene and dream-like scene set by the riverside at night. The singer describes the fading and disappearing river bank as the night falls, leaving only an inn that blinks its eyes. Meanwhile, a boat named "Le chaland" glides steadily on the smooth satin-like water, prompting questions of its destination and uncertain fate determined by destiny.

In the chorus, the singer emphasizes the idea of living in the present moment and not worrying about the future. The river's current metaphorically turns people into wanderers, and it is on this boat, "Le chaland," that love may have embarked. The lyrics suggest to love each other without considering the changes that tomorrow may bring. The song also highlights the contrast between the untruthfulness of promises and commitments on land and the sincerity and purity found on the water.

The second verse dives deeper into the personal interaction between the singer and his lover. The singer notices the sadness in his lover's mouth, reminiscent of unripe fruits that have not fully experienced the warmth of the sun. However, fueled by the emotion of the water and the wind, the singer desires to see her mouth turn red, like the vibrant colors of the rising sun on awnings.

Through its poetic phrases and romantic imagery, "Le chaland qui passe" conveys a sense of longing, fleeting moments, and the transcendence of love beyond the uncertainty of tomorrow.

Line by Line Meaning

La nuit s′est faite, la berge
The darkness has arrived, the riverbank

S'estompe et se perd...
Fades away and disappears...

Seule, au passage une auberge
Alone, at the crossing an inn

Cligne ses yeux pers.
Blinks its piercing eyes.

Le chaland glisse, sans trêve
The barge glides, tirelessly

Sur l′eau de satin,
On the satin water,

Où s'en va-t-il? ... Vers quel rêve? ...
Where is it going? ... Towards which dream? ...

Vers quel incertain
Towards which uncertainty

Du destin? ...
Of destiny? ...

Ne pensons à rien... le courant
Let's not think about anything... the current

Fait de nous toujours des errants;
Always makes wanderers of us;

Sur mon chaland, sautant d'un quai,
On my barge, jumping from one dock,

L′amour peut-être s'est embarqué...
Love may have embarked...

Aimons-nous ce soir sans songer
Let's love each other tonight without thinking

A ce que demain peu changer,
About what tomorrow may change,

Au fil de l'eau point de serments:
Along the water, no oaths:

Ce n'est que sur terre qu'on ment!
It is only on land that we lie!

Ta bouche est triste et j'évoque
Your mouth is sad and I evoke

Ces fruits mal mûris
These unripe fruits

Loin d'un soleil qui provoque
Far from a sun that provokes

Leurs chauds coloris,
Their warm colors,

Mais sous ma lèvre enfiévrée
But under my feverish lip

Par l'onde et le vent,
By the wave and the wind,

Je veux la voir empourprée
I want to see it flushed

Comme au soleil levant
Like at sunrise

Les auvents ...
The awnings ...