Yann Perreau (b. 1976) is a singer-songwriter from Quebec. A self-taught in… Read Full Bio ↴Yann Perreau (b. 1976) is a singer-songwriter from Quebec. A self-taught interpreter who loves human contact, the stage has always been a playground for Perreau. At the age of 18, he started his professional career and quickly built a reputation for himself as a "beast who swallows the stage!" (Alexandre Vigneault, La Presse). After five years as the singer of "Doc et les Chirurgiens", with two albums and hundreds of shows, Perreau decided to pack up his bag and leave the country to begin a life-questioning journey that would lead him straight to the mythic west of America.

In this state of mind, he started to write the material for his first solo album, Western Romance. After his return, Perreau began a one-year program at the acting DOJO under the wing of Pol Pelletier, renowned lady of the theater. This union would be crucial for the singer. In November of 2002, the release of Western Romance, co-produced by Gilles Brisebois, would earn Yann Perreau many awards such as the Belgium-Quebec Rapsat-Lelièvre Award, the Miroir Prize at the Festival d’été de Québec and the Félix-Leclerc Prize at the Francofolies de Montréal. The Western Romance show was presented all over the province of Quebec, Belgium, France, Canada and Mexico.

In 2005, Yann Perreau delivered his second album, Nucléaire, produced this time by Éric Goulet. After finalizing a whole new musical atmosphere, the singer presented a brand new show called "Perreau et la Lune", a luminous mix of both his albums that resulted in the singer touring constantly during the year it was released. In the fall of 2007, Perreau won the Félix Award for Director of the Year for the show. 2008 saw the release of the CD\DVD "Perreau et la lune, live au Quat'Sous".

In 2009, Yann Perreau returned with his new album "Un Serpent Sous les Fleurs", released on March 24th with Bonsound Records.

Je marche à toi
Yann Perreau Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

je marche à toi, je titube à toi, je meurs de toi
lentement je m'affale de tout mon long dans l'âme

je marche à toi, je titube à toi, je te bois
à la gourde vide du sens de la vie
à ces pas semés dans les rues sans nord ni sud
à ces taloches de vent sans queue et sans tête

je marche à toi, je titube à toi, je meurs de toi
lentement je m'affale de tout mon long dans l'âme

je marche à toi, je titube à toi, je bois

je n'ai plus de visage pour l'amour
je n'ai plus de visage pour rien de rien
parfois je m'assois par pitié de moi
j'ouvre mes bras à la croix des sommeils
à la croix des sommeils

mon corps est un dernier réseau de tics amoureux
avec à mes doigts les ficelles des souvenirs perdus
je n'attends pas à demain je t'attends
je n'attends pas la fin du monde je t'attends
dégagé de la fausse auréole de ma vie

je n'attends pas à demain je t'attends
je n'attends pas la fin du monde je t'attends
je n'attends pas à demain je t'attends
je n'attends pas la fin du monde je t'attends

je t'attends…

je t'attends…
je t'attends…

Overall Meaning

The first stanza of Yann Perreau's "Je marche à toi" paints a vivid picture of the singer's desperation for his beloved. He describes himself as "marching" and "stumbling" towards his beloved, consumed by his love for them. He is slowly collapsing "in his soul" and acknowledges that he is drinking from the empty vessel of life. He laments the aimless wanderings on streets, and the unforgiving winds. In the second stanza, he repeats his previous words, emphasizing just how much he is wholly devoted to his lover. He's become numb to everything else and has no "face" left for love, or anything else. He ends up resting in exhaustion and opening his arms as though he were on the cross, bearing the burden of his love, and the sleepless nights when he awaits the return of his lover.

The third stanza speaks to the concept of memory, where the singer notes that his body is a network of memories and habits that have been engrained in him due to his love. The strings of memory hold him like a puppet; he doesn't expect anything from life other than his beloved. The fourth stanza repeats the phrase "Je n'attends pas à demain je t'attends" (I'm not waiting for tomorrow, I'm waiting for you), adding an air of finality to the song. The chorus repeats the line "Je t'attends" (I'm waiting for you), emphasizing his devotion and faith in love and providing a sense of closure to the song.

Line by Line Meaning

je marche à toi, je titube à toi, je meurs de toi
I walk towards you, I stumble towards you, I die for you

lentement je m'affale de tout mon long dans l'âme
Slowly I collapse completely into my soul

je te bois à la gourde vide du sens de la vie
I drink you like water from an empty flask of the sense of life

à ces pas semés dans les rues sans nord ni sud
To these steps scattered in streets with no north or south

à ces taloches de vent sans queue et sans tête
To these slaps of wind with no tail or head

je n'ai plus de visage pour l'amour
I no longer have a face for love

je n'ai plus de visage pour rien de rien
I no longer have a face for anything at all

parfois je m'assois par pitié de moi
Sometimes I sit out of pity for myself

j'ouvre mes bras à la croix des sommeils
I open my arms to the cross of sleeps

mon corps est un dernier réseau de tics amoureux
My body is a final network of loving habits

avec à mes doigts les ficelles des souvenirs perdus
With the threads of lost memories at my fingertips