“Savoir aimer” ("Knowing How to Love"), 1997
Album: "Savoir Aimer"
“Savoir aimer” was the lead song in an album of the same name released in November 1997. It rapidly captured the No 1 spot on the French singles chart and stayed there for several weeks. Ultimately, it became the 11th highest selling single song in French history with 1997 sales of 1,500,000 copies. Pascal Obispo composed the music and Lionel Florence wrote the lyrics, with Florent Pagny performing.
Pascal Obispo (1965-) is a singer-songwriter whose peak years fell during the 1990s. During that time, he performed and released a steady stream of hit singles and albums, wrote songs and collaborated with many other artists (Florent Pagny, Johnny Hallyday, Patricia Kaas), and engaged in charity work (especially AIDS and Les Enfoirés). His birth name is an anagram of Pablo Picasso, and he populated many of his songs with references to other famous French artists that influenced him. He is known for such antics as naming his seventh album in 2006 (“Les Fleurs du Bien”) after Baudelaire’s “Les Fleurs du Mal.” Lionel Florence (b. 1958) is a French lyricist (“parolier”), painter and photographer who collaborated frequently with Pascal Obispo in writing songs for other artists including Florent Pagny and for Pascal Obispo himself. Of the Pagny songs featured on this website, Obispo and Florence wrote the music and lyrics for “Savoir aimer,” “Chanter” and "Et un jour une femme" as well as other Pagny songs (e.g. “Ma liberté de pensée) that are not included here.
“Savoir aimer” (“Knowing How to Love”) is a great title for this song because the title sets side-by-side two almost antithetical words (one cognitive, the other emotional) and places “savoir” solidly in the dominant position. This is not a description of “love” as some sort of ecstatic emotional state of losing one’s mind (e.g. “Je n'ai plus vraiment toute ma tête et je ne suis plus d'ici,” as Véronique Sanson sings in “Amoureuse”). Instead, this song resembles a clinical “how to” guidebook of choices, decisions and behaviors appropriate to selfless love. It is highlighted by an unexpected component “Et s'en aller” (“and leaving”) that ends each chorus, the last line of the final verse, and comprises the entire outro. The song’s take on love is detached in a rational, Cartesian way. The lyrics continue the antipodal verbal depiction begun in the title: loving (without expectation), giving (without taking or exclusion), learning (to smile, to wait, to give, to suffer, to dream, to stay) and finally to leave (“Et s'en aller”). It definitely struck a chord in the collective French consciousness.
Without being too clinical, the song’s vocabulary reveals its interpretation of how to “love” (“aimer”). The cognitive words “savoir” (“knowing”) and “apprendre” (“learning”) are used 9 and 15 times, respectively. The operative behavioral verbs “aller” (“to leave”), “donner” (“to give”), “attendre” (“to wait” or “expect”) and “sourire” (“smile”) have 7, 6, 4 and 4 appearances.
As mentioned in the Note on Pagny’s songs in his Profile, the verb infinitive “savoir” in the title of this song is treated as a noun (“Knowing how…”). In English, we call them gerunds and we append "-ing" to the root of the verb. Gerunds generally describe activities and this sense of activity carries through into the music of these songs with their upbeat tempo. Similarly, the phrase “et s’en aller” (“and leaving”) is also an infinitive used as a noun and appears 6 times. It not only rhymes nicely with “Savoir aimer,” but its meaning (“leaving”) initially appears paradoxical as a component of “knowing how to love.” This particular song has 62 such gerund-like infinitives sprinkled throughout the lyrics.
The song structure and rhyme scheme are as standard and rational as the lyrics: Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Verse/Outro. Verses have 4 lines, Choruses have 11 lines. The simple but engaging melody carries shifts of instrumentation and tempo between Verses and between Verses and Chorus. Instrumentation includes keyboard, bass, violin, acoustic and electric guitar, and drums.
The version shown here was performed live in May 1998 at the “Zenith de Paris” concert venue in the Parc de la Villette, half a year after the song’s initial release. It appeared on the first live album (“Pagny en Concert”) that Pagny recorded of that concert. In the background on stage, one can see film clips taken from the official music video that shows Pagny performing the song in sign language, the full version of which can be found on YouTube.
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Verse Savoir sourire À une inconnue qui passe N'en garder aucune trace Sinon celle du plaisir Savoir aimer Sans rien attendre en retour Ni égard ni grand amour Pas même l'espoir d'être aimé Chorus Mais savoir donner Donner sans reprendre Ne rien faire qu'apprendre Apprendre à aimer Aimer sans attendre Aimer à tout prendre Apprendre à sourire Rien que pour le geste Sans vouloir le reste Et apprendre à vivre Et s'en aller Instrumental Verse Savoir attendre Goûter à ce plein bonheur Qu'on vous donne comme par erreur Tant on ne l'attendait plus Savoir y croire Pour tromper la peur du vide Ancrée comme autant de rides Qui ternissent les miroirs Chorus Mais savoir donner Donner sans reprendre Ne rien faire qu'apprendre Apprendre à aimer Aimer sans attendre Aimer à tout prendre Apprendre à sourire Rien que pour le geste Sans vouloir le reste Et apprendre à vivre Et s'en aller Verse Savoir souffrir En silence sans murmure Ni défense ni armure Souffrir à vouloir mourir Et se relever Comme on renaît de ses cendres Avec tant d'amour à revendre Qu'on tire un trait sur le passé Chorus Mais savoir donner Donner sans reprendre Ne rien faire qu'apprendre Apprendre à aimer Aimer sans attendre Aimer à tout prendre Apprendre à sourire Rien que pour le geste Sans vouloir le reste Et apprendre à vivre Et s'en aller Verse Apprendre à rêver À rêver pour deux Rien qu'en fermant les yeux Et savoir donner Donner sans rature Ni demi-mesure Apprendre à rester Vouloir jusqu'au bout Rester malgré tout Apprendre à aimer Et s'en aller Outro Et s'en aller Et s'en aller Et s'en aller |
Verse Knowing how to smile To a stranger passing by Without keeping any sign Except that of joy Knowing how to love Without expecting any return Neither respect nor great love Not even hope of being loved Chorus But knowing how to give Giving without taking Doing nothing but learning Learning to love Loving without expecting Loving, all things considered Learning to smile Only for the deed Without expecting anything else And learning to live And leaving Instrumental Verse Knowing how to wait Tasting this full happiness That one gives you as though by mistake So much it was unexpected Knowing how to believe To lull the fear of emptiness Rooted like so many wrinkles That tarnish mirrors Chorus But knowing how to give Giving without taking Doing nothing but learning Learning to love Loving without expecting Loving, all things considered Learning to smile Only for the deed Without expecting anything else And learning to live And leaving Verse Knowing how to suffer In silence, without a word Nor defence, nor armor Suffering unto wishing death And getting up again Like rising from one's ashes With so much love to spare That one draws a line through the past Chorus But knowing how to give Giving without taking Doing nothing but learning Learning to love Loving without expecting Loving, all things considered Learning to smile Only for the deed Without expecting anything else And learning to live And leaving Verse Learning to dream To dream for two Only by closing the eyes And knowing how to give Giving without exclusion Nor half-measure Learning to stay Wanting until the end Staying despite everything Learning to love And leaving Outro And leaving And leaving And leaving |
NB:
1)Et s'en aller: this is the line in the song that many people who listen carefully can’t forget. It is repeated 7 times and occupies the closing line in all choruses, the final verse, and the outro. It is an infinitive used as a noun and translates as “and leaving.” The entire idea of “leaving” as an expression of love probably rocks people and its repetition 4 times at the end of the song leaves them in quiet contemplation.
2)tire un trait sur le passé: “draw a line on” means to forget, abandon (the past); close a chapter; move on.
3)à tout prendre: “all things considered,” “on the whole”
4)sans rature: without correction, deletion, alteration, exclusion
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