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)
Qu'en Reste-T-Il ?
Yann Tiersen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fui solo una más de cientos
sin embargo fueron tuyos los primero volteos
Como no pude darme cuenta
que hay ascensores prohibidos
que hay pecados compartidos
que tu estabas tan cerca
Me disfrazo de ti
Te disfrazas de mi
Y jugamos a ser humanos en esta habitacion gris
Muerdo al agua por ti
te deslizas por mi
y jugamos a ser dos gatos que no se quieren dormir
Mis anclajes no pararon tus instintos
ni los tuyos mis quejios
y dejo correr mis tuercas
que hormigas me retuerzan
Quiero que no dejes de estrujarme
Sin que yo te diga nada
que tus llamas sean legañas
enganchadas a mis vertices
Me disfrazo de ti
Te disfrazas de mi
Y jugamos a ser humanos en esta habitacion gris
Muerdo al agua por ti
te deslizas por mi
y jugamos a ser dos gatos que no se quieren dormir
No se que acabo sucediendo
solo senti dentro dardos
nuestra incomoda postura
se delata en el espacio
Se me hunde el dolor en el costado
y se me nublan los recodos
tengo sed
y estoy tragando
no quiero no estar a tu lado
Me disfrazo de ti
Te disfrazas de mi
Y jugamos a ser humanos en esta habitacion gris
Muerdo al agua por ti
te deslizas por mi
y jugamos a ser dos gatos que no se quieren dormir
Me morire de ganas de decirte
que te voy a echar de menos
las palabras se me apartan
me vacian las entrañas
Finjo que no sé que no he sabido
Finjo que no me gusta estar contigo
Y al perderme entre mis dedos
te recuerdo sin esfuerzo
Me moriré de ganas de decirte
que te voy a echar de menos.
The lyrics of Yann Tiersen's song Qu'en Reste-T-Il? describe a complicated, passionate relationship between two people who seem to struggle with the intensity of their connection. The singer recalls the initial moments of meeting the other person, lamenting that she was only one of many in the room, but somehow caught the attention of the other person. This sets the tone for the rest of the song, in which the two individuals play games of imitation and desire, trying to be close but also to maintain some emotional distance.
Throughout the song, there are references to forbidden elevators, shared sins, and a gray room where the two individuals seem to be trapped. The singer describes how both she and the other person disguise themselves as one another, playing at being human in this sterile environment. They become two cats who can't quite bring themselves to fall asleep, engaged in a passionate and complicated dance.
The final verses of the song highlight the singer's intense desire to be close to the other person, despite the struggles of their relationship. She vacillates between wishing not to be with the other person and aching for his touch, ultimately admitting that she will miss him when he's gone. Overall, Qu'en Reste-T-Il? is a powerful meditation on the complexities and contradictions of love.
Line by Line Meaning
Recuerdo que al llegar ni me miraste
I remember that when I arrived, you didn't even look at me
Fui solo una más de cientos
I was just one more of hundreds
sin embargo fueron tuyos los primero volteos
However, it was your first glance that first caught my attention
Como no pude darme cuenta
How could I not have realized
que hay ascensores prohibidos
that there are forbidden elevators
que hay pecados compartidos
that there are shared sins
que tu estabas tan cerca
that you were so close
Me disfrazo de ti
I disguise myself as you
Te disfrazas de mi
You disguise yourself as me
Y jugamos a ser humanos en esta habitacion gris
And we play at being human in this gray room
Muerdo al agua por ti
I bite the water for you
te deslizas por mi
you slide over me
y jugamos a ser dos gatos que no se quieren dormir
And we play at being two cats who don't want to sleep
Mis anclajes no pararon tus instintos
My anchors didn't stop your instincts
ni los tuyos mis quejios
Nor did yours stop my complaints
y dejo correr mis tuercas
And I let my cogs run
que hormigas me retuerzan
While ants twist me
Quiero que no dejes de estrujarme
I want you to keep squeezing me
Sin que yo te diga nada
Without me having to say anything
que tus llamas sean legañas
Let your flames be crusty eyelashes
enganchadas a mis vertices
Attached to my vertices
No se que acabo sucediendo
I don't know what ended up happening
solo senti dentro dardos
I just felt sharp pains inside
nuestra incomoda postura
Our uncomfortable position
se delata en el espacio
is betrayed in the space
Se me hunde el dolor en el costado
The pain sinks into my side
y se me nublan los recodos
And my bends become hazy
tengo sed
I am thirsty
y estoy tragando
And I am swallowing
no quiero no estar a tu lado
I don't want to not be by your side
Me morire de ganas de decirte
I will die to tell you
que te voy a echar de menos
that I will miss you
las palabras se me apartan
The words are separating from me
me vacian las entrañas
They empty my insides
Finjo que no sé que no he sabido
I pretend not to know what I didn't know
Finjo que no me gusta estar contigo
I pretend not to like being with you
Y al perderme entre mis dedos
And as I lose myself between my fingers
te recuerdo sin esfuerzo
I remember you effortlessly
Contributed by Isaac S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.