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)
La Terrasse
Yann Tiersen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
on peut dire qu'on était bien,
assis à la terrasse du café d'en face
on voyait notre appartement.
je ne sais plus si nous nous étions tus
ou si nous parlions tout bas là au café d'en bas,
mais je revois très bien la table et tes mains,
le thé, le café et le sucre à côté.
puis d'un coup c'est parti, tout s'est effondré,
on n'a pas bien compris, tout a continué,
tandis qu'entre nous s'en allait l'équilibre,
plus jamais tranquilles, nous tombions du fil.
cet après-midi là, dans la rue du jourdain,
en fait tout n'allait pas si bien,
assis à la terrasse du café d'en face
on voyait notre appartement,
si triste finalement avec nous dedans
The lyrics of Yann Tiersen's song La Terrasse describe a memory of an afternoon spent sitting at a café opposite the singer's apartment on Rue du Jourdain. The mood is upbeat as the two enjoy a beverage and each other's company. The singer is not able to recall if they were silent or talking softly, but distinctly remembers the sight of their hands on the table, next to mugs of tea, coffee, and sugar. Then without warning, everything falls apart, the balance between them is lost, and they are never quite at ease again. Even as they sit together at the table, looking at their apartment in the distance, it suddenly seems like a sad place with them inside.
The song seems to be exploring the fragility of human relationships and how easily things can change in an instant. In the beginning, the lyricist is trying to depict a peaceful and content condition. However, the sudden and inexplicable change in the situation highlights how fickle life could be. The setting, the rhythm, and the melody of the song all come together to expand on this, creating a sense of nostalgia for a time that was briefly perfect before slipping away.
Line by Line Meaning
un après-midi là, dans la rue du jourdain,
We found ourselves in the street of Jourdain one afternoon.
on peut dire qu'on était bien,
We were comfortable and content.
assis à la terrasse du café d'en face
Sitting at the cafe across the street.
on voyait notre appartement.
We could see our apartment from where we were.
je ne sais plus si nous nous étions tus
I don't recall if we were quiet.
ou si nous parlions tout bas là au café d'en bas,
Perhaps we whispered to each other in the cafe below.
mais je revois très bien la table et tes mains,
I clearly remember the table and your hands.
le thé, le café et le sucre à côté.
There was tea, coffee, and sugar on the table.
puis d'un coup c'est parti, tout s'est effondré,
Suddenly, everything fell apart.
on n'a pas bien compris, tout a continué,
We couldn't quite grasp what was happening; life kept moving on.
tandis qu'entre nous s'en allait l'équilibre,
As we lost our balance between us,
plus jamais tranquilles, nous tombions du fil.
We could no longer find peace, falling apart.
cet après-midi là, dans la rue du jourdain,
That afternoon, on Jourdain street.
en fait tout n'allait pas si bien,
In reality, things weren't going so smoothly.
assis à la terrasse du café d'en face
Sitting at the cafe across the street.
on voyait notre appartement,
We could see our apartment.
si triste finalement avec nous dedans
Our apartment was ultimately so sad with us inside.
Contributed by Aria M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.