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.
Trois Petites Notes De Musique
Yves Montand Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ont plié boutique
Au creux du souvenir
C'en est fini de leur tapage
Elles tournent la page
Et vont s'endormir
Mais un jour sans crier gare
Toi, tu voulais oublier
Un p'tit air galvaudé
Dans les rues de l'été
Toi, tu n'oublieras jamais
Une rue, un été
Une fille qui fredonnait
La, la, la, la, je vous aime
Chantait la rengaine
La, la, mon amour
Des paroles sans rien de sublime
Pourvu que la rime
Amène toujours
Une romance de vacances
Qui lancinante vous relance
Vrai, elle était si jolie
Si fraîche épanouie
Et tu ne l'as pas cueillie
Vrai, pour son premier frisson
Elle t'offrait une chanson
A prendre à l'unisson
La, la, la, la, tout rêve
Rime avec s'achève
Le tien n'rime à rien
Fini avant qu'il commence
Le temps d'une danse
L'espace d'un refrain
Trois petites notes de musique
Qui vous font la nique
Du fond des souvenirs
Lèvent un cruel rideau de scène
Sur mille et une peines
Qui n'veulent pas mourir
The song "Trois petites notes de musique" by Yves Montand talks about the power of music and how it has the ability to bring back memories and emotions that were thought to be long forgotten. The three little notes of music referenced in the song have closed up shop and retired into the depths of memories. The noise they made is done and they are turning the page in their story, falling asleep. However, without warning, they can come back to haunt you and re-enter your thoughts and feelings.
The song goes on to recount a story of a person who wanted to forget a simple tune that was often heard in the streets during the summer. The tune and the memory of a girl who hummed it remain with him despite his efforts to expel them from his mind. The lyrics express how despite the simplicity of the tune, it had a profound effect on the person's emotions and how he will never forget the girl and the summer when he heard the melody.
The last verse talks about how the dream is over for the person and how the music is mocking him, reminding him of the past and the things he missed out on. The cruel stage curtain is lifted, revealing a thousand unending sorrows that refuse to die, tied to the power of music.
Overall, the song's message is about how music has a way of capturing emotions, events, and memories into sound, and how the notes can take us back in time even when we are hoping to move on.
Line by Line Meaning
Trois petites notes de musique
Three little notes of music
Ont plié boutique
Have closed shop
Au creux du souvenir
In the depths of memories
C'en est fini de leur tapage
Their commotion is over
Elles tournent la page
They turn the page
Et vont s'endormir
And go to sleep
Mais un jour sans crier gare
But one day, without warning
Elles vous reviennent en mémoire
They come back to your mind
Toi, tu voulais oublier
You wanted to forget
Un p'tit air galvaudé
A tired little tune
Dans les rues de l'été
In the streets of summer
Toi, tu n'oublieras jamais
You will never forget
Une rue, un été
A street, a summer
Une fille qui fredonnait
A girl who hummed
La, la, la, la, je vous aime
La, la, la, la, I love you
Chantait la rengaine
Sang the old song
La, la, mon amour
La, la, my love
Des paroles sans rien de sublime
Words without anything sublime
Pourvu que la rime
As long as the rhyme
Amène toujours
Brings something
Une romance de vacances
A holiday romance
Qui lancinante vous relance
Which painfully drives you to recall
Vrai, elle était si jolie
True, she was so pretty
Si fraîche épanouie
So fresh and blossoming
Et tu ne l'as pas cueillie
And you didn't pick her
Vrai, pour son premier frisson
True, for her first thrill
Elle t'offrait une chanson
She offered you a song
A prendre à l'unisson
To sing in unison
La, la, la, la, tout rêve
La, la, la, la, every dream
Rime avec s'achève
Rhymes with comes to an end
Le tien n'rime à rien
Yours doesn't rhyme with anything
Fini avant qu'il commence
Finished before it started
Le temps d'une danse
The time of a dance
L'espace d'un refrain
The space of a chorus
Trois petites notes de musique
Three little notes of music
Qui vous font la nique
That make a fool of you
Du fond des souvenirs
From the depths of memories
Lèvent un cruel rideau de scène
Raise a cruel curtain
Sur mille et une peines
On a thousand and one pains
Qui n'veulent pas mourir
That don't want to die
Contributed by Hudson M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Christian Mora
Très belle vidéo et une chanson inoubliable. C'est une mélodie qui détend et chasse les mauvais souvenirs.
Yvelise Van Cautenberg
Qu'elle plaisir d'écouter les chansons d'une époque plus douce que maintenant, et qui fait partie de ma jeunesse.
Isabelle Drouin
Toujours une immense émotion quand j'écoute cette chanson ! C'est ça le talent, communiquer, partager, avec les autres. Quel texte, quelle interprétation ! Intemporel ! Un chef d'œuvre ...
magicsenna34
C'était une riche idée d'avoir choisi quelques images de " Une place au soleil" avec les inoubliables Montgomery Clift et Élisabeth Taylor pour illustrer cette gentille ballade..Merci infiniment.
gluups
Magnifique vidéo ! La réunion de deux moments magiques : des extraits d'un film "A safe Place" en hommage à la beauté des deux étoiles du cinéma et d'une chanson bouleversante chantée par Yves Montand.
Brigitte Robert
Beaucoup d'émotions en écoutant, et en regardant ces belles images...
Claudine Méry
C'est juste divin ! J'en ai la chair de poule, Wouah.!!! ❤️
Fabienne PRUNIAUX
un moment de bonheur ! une voix inoubliable ! merci pour tous les souvenirs liés à cette magnifique chanson qui reviennent en mémoire .
Chanou Bert
Magnifique chanson et superbe montage, merci !!!
Patricia Fre
Belle mélodie , superbe interprétation, une chanson qui n'a pas pris une ride ......