You should listen to this song if : You want to listen to a song where text and meaning prevail on melody.
About this song : This song met great success, the "wolves" being associated metaphorically with any kind of oppressive system. Nevertheless, the song has not been written in the first place with a political purpose. Serge Reggiani said :"c'est une chanson qui a été parfois mal interprétée, on a pensé résistance, on a pensé... mais c'était les loups, des vrais loups, qui arrivent dans Paris parce que les gens ont démissionné, de quelque chose, d'une certaine moralité, les gens avaient perdu le goût de vivre, ils se foutaient de tout. Alors, les loups ont senti ça, et ont senti la bêtise qui s'installait dans une ville, qui était Paris en l'occurrence, et ils sont venus envahir Paris. Et c'est l'amour qui conjure le fléau, comme toujours, le poète, il dit à la fin, l'amour et la fraternité..." [It is a song that was sometimes misinterpreted, it was thought to be about resistance, it was thought ... but it was the wolves, real wolves, arriving in Paris because people have resigned, something, a certain morality, people had lost the will to live, they did not care of anything. So the wolves have felt this, and felt the stupidity which settled in a city that was Paris in this case, and they came to invade Paris. And it is love that conjures the evil, as always, the poet, he said at the end, love and brotherhood.] About the author : Serge Reggiani was an actor, a writer, a painter and a singer. The separation with his wife, and the suicide of his son, led him to depression and alcoholism, which he tried to fight. He was a great interpreter , that's why it is sometimes better to look for his live performance, instead of his studio recording. Other famous songs are : Sarah, Le petit garçon, Il suffirait de presque rien, Ma vieille, Le déserteur, Ma fille, Votre fille a vingt ans... . To know more about him : Serge Reggiani.
Les paroles and their approximate translation :
Et si c'était une nuit And if it was a night Comme on n'
en connut pas depuis, like
there was none De vivre, et se foutaient de tout to live, and didn’t give a fuck about anything, Leurs mères, leurs frangins, leurs nanas Their mothers, their brothers, their chicks Pour eux c'était qu'du cinéma For them it was all pretense Le ciel redevenait sauvage, The sky was getting wild again, Le béton bouffait l'paysage... alors The concrete was eating the landscape…then Les loups, ououh! ououououh! The wolves, ououh ! ououououh ! Les loups étaient loin de Paris The wolves were far from Paris En Croatie, en Germanie In Croatia, in Germania Les loups étaient loin de Paris The wolves were far from Paris J'aimais ton rire, charmante Elvire I loved your laugh, charming Elvire Les loups étaient loin de Paris. The wolves were far from Paris. Mais ça faisait cinquante lieues But they were walking fifty leagues Dans une nuit à queue leu leu by night in single file Dès que ça flaire une ripaille once they smell a feast Deux morts sur un champ de bataille two dead bodies on a battlefield Dès que la peur hante les rues once fear haunts the streets, Les loups s'en viennent la nuit venue... alors the wolves are coming closer at night, then Les loups, ououh! ououououh! The wolves, ououh! ououououh! Les loups ont regardé vers Paris The wolves turned their gaze to Paris De Croatie, de Germanie From Croatia, from Germania, Les loups ont regardé vers Paris the wolves were looking at Paris Tu peux sourire, charmante Elvire You can smile, charming Elvire Les loups regardent vers Paris. The wolves are looking at Paris Et v'là qu'il fit un rude hiver And
then there was an harsh winter
Note : Why do I suggest different albums for different countries ? Well, strange as it may seems, there is sometimes a HUGE difference of price for the same album in different countries (supposing it's available) ; and what is a good bargain somewhere is a total rip-off elsewhere. So, for each country, I usually look for the two or three albums that have all (or most of) the "must have" songs, and then I compare the prices and carefully weigh the pros and cons... Exceptionally, for some countries I don't suggest the "CD format" album, but its equivalent as "mp3 download" album, because : - the original CD, when available, is sold by resellers at a very high price ; - the mp3 album is really a good bargain for its price ; - Compared to the other albums of this artist, the mp3 album has the advantage of being the original recording, remastered.
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