Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, the son of poor peasants Giuseppina (née Simoni) and Giovanni Livi, a broommaker. Montand's mother was a devout Catholic, while his father held strong Communist beliefs. Because of the Fascist regime in Italy, Montand's family left for France in 1923. He grew up in Marseille, where, as a young man, he worked in his sister's barber shop, and later on the docks. He began a career in show business as a music-hall singer. In 1944, he was discovered by Édith Piaf in Paris and she made him part of her act, becoming his mentor and lover.
Montand went on to international recognition as a singer and actor, starring in numerous films. His recognizably crooner songs, especially those about Paris, became instant classics.
He was one of the most famous performers at Bruno Coquatrix's famous Paris Olympia music hall.
In 1951, he married the actress Simone Signoret, and they co-starred in several films throughout their careers. The marriage was, by all accounts, fairly harmonious, lasting until her death in 1985, although Montand had a number of well-publicised affairs, notably with Marilyn Monroe, with whom he starred in one of her last films, Let's Make Love. During his career, Montand acted in a number of American motion pictures as well as on Broadway. He was nominated for a Cesar Award for "Best Actor" in 1980 for "I comme Icare" and again in 1984 for "Garçon!"
In the French dubbings of Looney Tunes, the character Pepé Le Pew is an Italian skunk named "Pépé le putois". The voice characterization was often based on Montand's performances.
In 1986, after his international box-office draw power had fallen off considerably, the 65-year-old Montand gave one of his most memorable performances, as the scheming uncle in the two-part film: Jean de Florette, co-starring Gérard Depardieu, and Manon des Sources, co-starring Emmanuelle Béart. The film was a worldwide critical hit and raised Montand's profile in the U.S., where he made an appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman."
Montand's only child, Valentin, his son by his second wife Carole Amiel, was born in 1988. In a paternity suit that rocked France, another woman accused Montand of being the father of her daughter and went to court to obtain a DNA sample from him. Montand refused, but the woman persisted after his death. In a court ruling that made international headlines, the woman won the right to have Montand exhumed and a sample taken. It subsequently showed that he was not the girl's father.
Montand embarked on an affair with Marilyn Monroe during filming of the ill fated film Let's Make Love. He had been personally recommended by Arthur Miller after Miller saw him acting in a foreign movie version of his play The Crucible called Les Sorcières de Salem. Montand always expressed regret over the affair as he considered Miller a "good friend".
In his later years he maintained a home in St Paul de Vence, Provence until his death.
Montand died from a heart attack. In an interview, Jean-Jacques Beineix said, "[H]e died on the set [of IP5: The Island of Pachyderms]... On the very last day, after his very last shot. It was the very last night and we were doing retakes. He finished what he was doing and then he just died. And the film tells the story of an old man who dies from a heart attack, which is the same thing that happened!"
He is buried next to Simone Signoret in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France.
In 2004, Catherine Allégret, Montand's stepdaughter and Simone Signoret's daughter from her first marriage, published a book titled World Upside Down (Un monde à l'envers ISBN 2-253-11442-1) in which she contended that Montand had abused her sexually since she was five years old.
Clopin clopant
Yves Montand Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Je suis né avec des yeux d'ange
Et des fossettes au creux des joues
J'ai perdu mes joues et mes langes
Et j'ai cassé tous mes joujoux
Je m'suis regardé dans une glace
Et j'ai vu que j'avais rêvé
Je m'suis dit: faudra bien qu' j'm'y fasse
Refrain
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant
Dans le soleil et dans le vent
De temps en temps le coeur chancelle
Y'a des souv'nirs qui s'amoncellent
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant
En promenant mon coeur d'enfant
Comme s'envole une hirondelle
La vie s'enfuit à tire-d'aile
Et ça fait mal aux coeurs d'enfants
Qui s'en vont seuls, clopin-clopant.
- 2 -
Tout l'bonheur qu'on a vu naître
Tes lèvres douces, parfum de miel
Nos deux fronts contre la fenêtre
Nos regards perdus dans le ciel
Le train noir hurlant dans la gare
Le monstrueux désert des rues
Tes mots d'adieu, tes mots bizarres
Depuis six mois, tu n'écris plus...
The song Clopin-Clopant by Yves Montand talks about the singer's childhood, the loss of innocence, and the passing of time. In the first verse, he explains that he was born with angelic eyes and dimples on his cheeks. He reflects on the fact that he has grown up and lost those features, broken his toys, and realized that life does not always go according to plan. He walks with a limp, a metaphorical representation of the scars that he carries from his past.
The chorus describes his journey through life, walking with a limp, as he reflects on his childhood memories. He acknowledges that his heart still falters, and he carries memories that pile up like a weight on his shoulders, but still, he moves forward, walking with his childlike heart, which occasionally feels weightless, like a bird in the sky. The second verse addresses a specific memory, where the singer remembers moments of happiness in a relationship that has since ended. He remembers looking out the window with his lover and watching a train pass by, but the relationship has since weakened, and the lovers have drifted apart.
Overall, Clopin-Clopant is a melancholic song, conveying a sense of nostalgia for the past, and a feeling of loss for the things that have passed. The singer's walk represents the progression of life, through the triumphs and tragedies.
Line by Line Meaning
Je suis né avec des yeux d'ange
I was born with innocent eyes and a cherubic smile.
Et des fossettes au creux des joues
My dimples appeared when I was young.
J'ai perdu mes joues et mes langes
I lost my baby fat and innocence.
Et j'ai cassé tous mes joujoux
I outgrew my toys and broke them.
Je m'suis regardé dans une glace
I looked into the mirror.
Et j'ai vu que j'avais rêvé
I realized that my childhood dreams were just that.
Je m'suis dit: faudra bien qu' j'm'y fasse
I said to myself, I must accept reality.
Tout finira par arriver.
Everything will eventually come to pass.
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant
I move forward with difficulty.
Dans le soleil et dans le vent
Amidst the sunshine and wind.
De temps en temps le coeur chancelle
My heart falters at times.
Y'a des souv'nirs qui s'amoncellent
Memories pile up.
En promenant mon coeur d'enfant
As I wander with my childlike heart.
Comme s'envole une hirondelle
Like a swallow taking flight.
La vie s'enfuit à tire-d'aile
Life flies by at breakneck speed.
Et ça fait mal aux coeurs d'enfants
And it pains the hearts of children.
Qui s'en vont seuls, clopin-clopant.
Who depart alone, limping along.
Tout l'bonheur qu'on a vu naître
All the happiness we witnessed.
Tes lèvres douces, parfum de miel
Your sweet lips, perfumed with honey.
Nos deux fronts contre la fenêtre
Our foreheads pressed against the window.
Nos regards perdus dans le ciel
Our gaze lost in the sky.
Le train noir hurlant dans la gare
The black train howling in the station.
Le monstrueux désert des rues
The monstrous desert of the streets.
Tes mots d'adieu, tes mots bizarres
Your strange, farewell words.
Depuis six mois, tu n'écris plus...
You haven't written in six months...
Writer(s): BRUNO COQUATRIX, PIERRE DUDAN
Contributed by Addison L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@avecaesar9934
LYRICS:
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant, dans le soleil et dans le vent
De temps en temps le coeur chancelle
Y'a des souvenirs qui s'amoncellent...
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant, en promenant mon coeur d'enfant...
Comme s'envole une hirondelle... La vie s'enfuit à tire-d'aile...
Ça fait si mal au coeur d'enfant qui s'en va seul, clopin-clopant...
Je suis né avec des yeux d'ange et des fossettes au creux des joues
J'ai perdu mes joues et mes langes et j'ai cassé tous mes joujoux.
Je me suis regardé dans une glace et j'ai vu que j'avais rêvé
Je me suis dit "faudra bien que je m'y fasse"...
Tout finira par arriver...
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant dans le soleil et dans le vent
De temps en temps le coeur chancelle...
Y'a des souvenirs qui s'amoncellent...
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant en promenant mon coeur d'enfant...
Comme s'envole une hirondelle... La vie s'enfuit à tire-d'aile...
Ça fait si mal au coeur d'enfant qui s'en va seul, clopin-clopant...
@PastPerfectVintageMusic
Buy CD from Past Perfect: http://www.pastperfect.com/product/la-vie-parisienne-french-chansons-from-the-1930s-40s/
@valgoldthorpe1377
Very pleased to find this on Youtube. I have the score and lyrics in an old music book called Songs from the 40's. Play it on the piano sometimes (and sing but have not got a good voice). Was relieved to find I'd got most of the French words right though. Not totally sure of all the meaning.
@Lea-np8rs
I like to listen to this whenever i feel anxious and stressed... His voice is so soothing and idk why but the way he says clopin-clopant sounds to me like someone is comforting me c:
@andrew_li
That's a really nice bass voice.
@christianedouschkadudan4322
ÉMOUVANT!
MERCI ❤❤❤
@robert_9295
Merci !
@SuperIliad
Clopin-Clopant, music by Bruno Coquatrix, lyrics by Pierre Dudan, first released by Henri Salvador in 1948. Used in the 1950 movie Golden Salamander with Trevor Howard and Anouk Aimée. (Clopin-Clopant: "And so I hobble" (my way through life).
@benjaminjohn6830
Great song!! Who is the guitarist?
@a7susb946
Henri Crolla
@avecaesar9934
LYRICS:
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant, dans le soleil et dans le vent
De temps en temps le coeur chancelle
Y'a des souvenirs qui s'amoncellent...
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant, en promenant mon coeur d'enfant...
Comme s'envole une hirondelle... La vie s'enfuit à tire-d'aile...
Ça fait si mal au coeur d'enfant qui s'en va seul, clopin-clopant...
Je suis né avec des yeux d'ange et des fossettes au creux des joues
J'ai perdu mes joues et mes langes et j'ai cassé tous mes joujoux.
Je me suis regardé dans une glace et j'ai vu que j'avais rêvé
Je me suis dit "faudra bien que je m'y fasse"...
Tout finira par arriver...
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant dans le soleil et dans le vent
De temps en temps le coeur chancelle...
Y'a des souvenirs qui s'amoncellent...
Et je m'en vais clopin-clopant en promenant mon coeur d'enfant...
Comme s'envole une hirondelle... La vie s'enfuit à tire-d'aile...
Ça fait si mal au coeur d'enfant qui s'en va seul, clopin-clopant...