"Nuages" is one of Reinhardt’s best-known compositions and became a jazz standard. In 1940, Django released an initial instrumental recording of Nuages. An avid improviser, he eventually recorded at least thirteen versions of the tune.
One can only speculate at his choice of name for the song. Although it is a stretch to imply any practical connection between Reinhardt and Belgian Surrealist artist René Magritte, there is perhaps a spiritual affinity that provides some insight. They were contemporaries, both were Belgian artists albeit working in different genres, both were captivated by clouds and, as explained below, at least with respect to clouds they appear to have shared a “surrealist” ethos of divining hidden meanings.
As an avowed Surrealist, Magritte explicitly sought to convey in his art what he called “splendid misapprehension:"
“Everything we see hides another thing,
We always want to see what
Is hidden by what we see.” René Magritte
For example, with the incongruous title of his numerous paintings of clouds, which he named “The Curse,” or “La Malédiction," Magritte challenged viewers to envision alternative interpretations of the physical reality of a conventional image of peaceful white clouds scuttling across a limpid blue sky. Although the most famous rendition of his “Curse” painting is dated 1963, the motif appears in his work as early as 1929. Magritte completed a whole set of cloud paintings in 1936-37, and the cloud motif re-appears over decades in many other works.
One can only speculate at his choice of name for the song. Although it is a stretch to imply any practical connection between Reinhardt and Belgian Surrealist artist René Magritte, there is perhaps a spiritual affinity that provides some insight. They were contemporaries, both were Belgian artists albeit working in different genres, both were captivated by clouds and, as explained below, at least with respect to clouds they appear to have shared a “surrealist” ethos of divining hidden meanings.
As an avowed Surrealist, Magritte explicitly sought to convey in his art what he called “splendid misapprehension:"
“Everything we see hides another thing,
We always want to see what
Is hidden by what we see.” René Magritte
For example, with the incongruous title of his numerous paintings of clouds, which he named “The Curse,” or “La Malédiction," Magritte challenged viewers to envision alternative interpretations of the physical reality of a conventional image of peaceful white clouds scuttling across a limpid blue sky. Although the most famous rendition of his “Curse” painting is dated 1963, the motif appears in his work as early as 1929. Magritte completed a whole set of cloud paintings in 1936-37, and the cloud motif re-appears over decades in many other works.
Rene Magritte, "La Malédiction" ("The Curse"), 1963
Reinhardt was anything but an intellectual but the facts are that he and Magritte were Belgian contemporaries and somehow in 1940 Reinhardt titled his instrumental piece “Nuages” (“Clouds”). Under the circumstances of German occupation of France that began June 1940, it is tempting to construe the title of this song as an effort to shift attention away from the ongoing realities of progressive and oppressive German control of the country to a more speculative but hopeful vision of the future. Clouds are pure, they are free--free to travel in an infinite sky.
In a way, Django Reinhardt himself was surrealism incarnate. He personified the surrealist incongruous pairing of commonplace images with names that provoke the imagination of alternative realities. Looking at Django with his Romani heritage, his modest physical stature and his 3-fingered left hand, one could hardly surmise the presence of one of history’s greatest guitarists who invented a new genre of music.
When Nazi Germany banned the French national anthem “La Marseillaise” in occupied France in July 1941, “Nuages” actually became an unofficial alternative French anthem. Its slow and methodical melody and visual imagery symbolized the need for endurance and hope for liberation. During a concert at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, a frequent venue for Hot Club performances, the appreciative audience insisted that Reinhardt replay it three times before moving on to the next piece.
Subsequent lyrical renditions saw things differently. Jacques Larue wrote French lyrics in 1942 which were sung by Lucienne Delyle. These lyrics recount a protagonist's sad departure by train, leaving behind a beloved partner and life. Spencer Williams wrote English lyrics in 1946 and, despite the evocative French name of the piece, Williams wrote simplistic lyrics and titled his adaptation "It's the Bluest Kind of Blues."
In a way, Django Reinhardt himself was surrealism incarnate. He personified the surrealist incongruous pairing of commonplace images with names that provoke the imagination of alternative realities. Looking at Django with his Romani heritage, his modest physical stature and his 3-fingered left hand, one could hardly surmise the presence of one of history’s greatest guitarists who invented a new genre of music.
When Nazi Germany banned the French national anthem “La Marseillaise” in occupied France in July 1941, “Nuages” actually became an unofficial alternative French anthem. Its slow and methodical melody and visual imagery symbolized the need for endurance and hope for liberation. During a concert at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, a frequent venue for Hot Club performances, the appreciative audience insisted that Reinhardt replay it three times before moving on to the next piece.
Subsequent lyrical renditions saw things differently. Jacques Larue wrote French lyrics in 1942 which were sung by Lucienne Delyle. These lyrics recount a protagonist's sad departure by train, leaving behind a beloved partner and life. Spencer Williams wrote English lyrics in 1946 and, despite the evocative French name of the piece, Williams wrote simplistic lyrics and titled his adaptation "It's the Bluest Kind of Blues."
The song was subsequently recorded by many American jazz artists. Perhaps the most famous rendition was Peggy Lee's (“Bluest Kind of Blues”) recorded in 1946 but not released until 2000. In 2004, Tony Bennett wrote and recorded another English lyric version of the same melody that he titled “All for You.” It was the first time in his career that Bennett actually wrote lyrics for a song. Much later, Willie Nelson wrote in his 2016 memoir about Django's influence: "This was a man who changed my musical life by giving me a whole new perspective on the guitar and, on an even more profound level, on my relationship with sound...I listened to Django's records, especially songs like 'Nuages' that I would play for the rest of my life.”
The contemporary French vocal version presented here was released in 2012 by the UK-based band Fleur de Paris that specializes in songs from the golden era of French “chanson.” It features Jacques Larue’s 1942 lyrics and contemporary French vocalist Lo Polidoro.
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Lentement dans le soir Le train s’en va Sur le quai son mouchoir S´enfuit déjà Dans la glace comme un songe Le mur gris de sa maison Sous le jour qui s´allonge S´estompe à l´horizon Un nuage s’étire Sur son toit bleu En passant il semble dire Un triste adieu Et tout ce que j’aimais Lorsque le train vire Dans un flot de fumée S´éfface à jamais Un nuage s’étire Sur son toit bleu En passant il semble dire Un triste adieu Et tout ce que j’aimais Lorsque le train vire Dans un flot de fumée S´éfface à jamais |
Slowly in the night The train leaves. On the quai his handkerchief Already disappears In the ice like a dream The gray wall of his house, Under the lengthening day, Fades into the horizon A cloud stretches On its blue roof While passing it seems to say A sad farewell And everything I loved When the train turns In a flood of smoke Disappears forever A cloud stretches On its blue roof While passing it seems to say A sad farewell And everything I loved When the train turns In a flood of smoke Disappears forever |
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