Tiersen has been honing his musical aesthetic since he could stand on two legs. He started learning piano at the age of four, taking up violin at the age of six and receiving classical training at musical academies in Rennes, Nantes and Boulogne. Then, at the age of 13, he chose to alter his destiny, breaking his violin into pieces, buying a guitar and forming a rock band.
Yann Tiersen has collaborated with vocal artists like Claire Pichet ("Le phare" and "Rue des cascades"), Elizabeth Fraser ("Les retrouvailles") and Shannon Wright ("Yann Tiersen and Shannon Wright"). Other musicians he has worked with include The Divine Comedy, Noir Désir, Dominique A., Francoiz Breut, Les Têtes Raides, The Married Monk and Sage Francis
Tiersen got a musical education from the city of Rennes' annual Transmusicales festival, seeing acts like Nirvana, Einstürzende Neubaten, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, The Cramps, Television and Suicide. When his band broke up a few years later, instead of hunting for some new musicians, he bought a cheap mixing desk, an eight-track reel, and started recording music solo with a synth, sampler and drum machine, poring over the grooves of old records on the hunt for loops and orchestral strings to plunder.
As it turned out, though, the key to his new approach lay in his own past. "One day I thought, instead of spending days on research and listening to tons of records to find the nearest sound of what I have in mind, why don't I fix this fucking violin and use it?" Through the summer of 1993, Tiersen stayed in his apartment, recording music alone with guitar, violin and accordion, guided not by the classical canon, but by intuition and his vision of "a musical anarchy".
By the end of the summer of 1993, Tiersen had recorded over 40 tracks, which would form the bulk of his first two albums. 1995's La Valse Des Monstres, inspired by Tod Browning's Freaks and Yukio Mishima's The Damask Drum was the second album to be released on Nancy-based label Ici, d'ailleurs. It would be followed six months later by Rue Des Cascades, a collection of short pieces recorded with toy piano, harpsichord, violin, accordion and mandolin. Six years later, the record would find a much larger audience when several tracks, along with a couple of Tiersen originals, would be used on the soundtrack to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film Amelie (2001).
Tiersen's commercial breakthrough would come earlier, though, and off his own back. 1998's Le Phare (The Light House) was recorded in self-imposed seclusion on the isle of Ouessant, where Tiersen spent two months living in a rented house. At night, he watched the Creach'h, the most powerful lighthouse in Europe, as it illuminated the surrounding scenery. "I was amazed how the rays of lights from the lighthouse revealed some hidden details of the land, how we can rediscover something we have everyday, just in front of us, by a light pointing on it," says Tiersen.
Le Phare went on to sell over 160,000 copies, confirming Tiersen's status as one of the most pioneering and original artists of his generation and commencing a run of successful albums like 2001's L'Absente (featuring orchestral group Synaxis, Lisa Germano and the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon) and 2005's Les Retrouvailles (with guests Stuart Staples of Tindersticks, Jane Birkin and Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins). In this period, Tiersen also took his music out around the world, playing shows with a full orchestra and an amplified string quartet – a set-up captured on 2002's electrifying live album C'etait ici. And following the box-office success of Amelie, Tiersen's skills as a soundtracker were much in demand, leading to scores for the likes of Wolfgang Becker's tragicomedy Good Bye Lenin! (2003) and Tabarly (2008), a documentary about the French sailor Éric Tabarly, who ate his final meal on Ouessant Island before he meeting a watery end in the Irish sea.
Discography:
La valse des monstres (1995)
Rue des cascades (1996)
Le phare (1998)
Tout est calme (1999)
Black session (1999, radio concert)
L'absente (2001)
Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001, Soundtrack)
C'était ici (2002, Live and Best Of)
Good Bye Lenin! (2003, Soundtrack)
Yann Tiersen and Shannon Wright (2004)
Les Retrouvailles (2005)
On Tour (2006, Live)
Tabarly (2008)
Dust Lane (2010)
Dragon fly
Yann Tiersen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I awoke from a total sleep
You said
Keep your eyes open wide
And keep your arms open wide
You brought me courage
You bring me courage
To keep my eyes open wide
And keep my arms open wide
You brought me courage
You show
A kind of delight
Dancing 'round
Like a dragonfly
Like a coverlet in the summer's air
In the summer's air
In the summer's air
On the day that we met
I awoke from a total sleep
You said
Keep your eyes open wide
And keep your arms open wide
You brought me courage
You bring me courage
To bring my eyes open wide
To keep my arms open wide
You bring me courage
You wrap your curve of delight
Round my cold cold neck
You're a coverlet
In the summer's air
In the summer's air
In the summer's air
The opening line of Yann Tiersen's song "Dragonfly" speaks of the moment when the singer meets someone. They feel like they have been woken up from a deep sleep, indicating that this meeting has significance and has changed something in their life. The person they meet gives them advice by telling them to keep their eyes and arms open wide. This advice is likely metaphorical, encouraging the singer to be open-minded and accepting towards new experiences and people. The person they meet brings them courage, suggesting that they were lacking in this attribute before the meeting.
The following stanzas of the song contain vivid imagery, painting a picture of the person the singer has met. They are described as "dancing 'round like a dragonfly", which is a metaphorical comparison to the small, agile, and graceful flying insect. This indicates that this person has a carefree and playful nature, which is a quality that the singer admires. The dragonfly is also compared to a "coverlet in the summer's air", indicating that this person is light and ethereal, like a cool summer breeze.
Overall, "Dragonfly" is a song about meeting someone who has a positive impact on the singer. They bring courage and a sense of lightness to their life, and the singer is grateful for their presence.
Line by Line Meaning
On the day that we met
The day when we first met is significant
I awoke from a total sleep
Meeting you brought me out of my slumber
You said
You spoke to me
Keep your eyes open wide
Be alert and observant
And keep your arms open wide
Be receptive and open to new experiences
You brought me courage
You gave me the strength to face my fears
You bring me courage
You continue to inspire me and give me courage
To keep my eyes open wide
To maintain my awareness and keep learning
And keep my arms open wide
To remain open to new possibilities and experiences
You show
You exhibit or demonstrate
A kind of delight
A joy or happiness
Dancing 'round
Moving or swaying in a circular motion
Like a dragonfly
In a way that resembles the flight of a dragonfly
Like a coverlet in the summer's air
Like a light and soft fabric floating in the summer breeze
In the summer's air
In the warm and bright atmosphere of summer
You wrap your curve of delight
You envelop with a joyful energy
Round my cold cold neck
Around my reserved and unfeeling demeanor
You're a coverlet
You are like a blanket or comforter
In the summer's air
In the carefree and lively spirit of summer
Contributed by James R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.