Il me dit que je suis belle (He Tells Me I Am Beautiful)
This song’s title can lead to certain expectations of unmitigated love. For French people, those expectations might be grounded in cultural context. National cultures reflect collective consciousness based on shared experiences. In 1938, there appeared a classic French film “Le Quai des brumes” (officially translated as “Port of Shadows”). The famous poet Jacques Prévert wrote the screenplay and the director was Marcel Carné—both icons of French culture. Jean Gabin (as Jean) and Michèle Morgan (as Nelly) starred in the film. Its most famous lines were:
Jean: “T’as d’beaux yeux, tu sais” ("You have pretty eyes, you know")
Nelly: “Embrassez-moi.” (il l'embrasse) ("Kiss me." He kisses her)
Jean: “Nelly!” (Nelly!")
Nelly: “Embrasse-moi encore.” ("Kiss me again.")
Nelly: “Embrassez-moi.” (il l'embrasse) ("Kiss me." He kisses her)
Jean: “Nelly!” (Nelly!")
Nelly: “Embrasse-moi encore.” ("Kiss me again.")
People familiar with this film’s history could develop similar expectations from the title of Patricia Kaas’s song, which implies a statement similar to the first line above, such as: “Tu es belle, tu sais” ("You are pretty, you know").
But Patricia’s song follows its own narrative leading elsewhere. This song is a first-person narrative that depicts the gulf that the narrator experiences between the daily reality of a relationship and the dreams of perfect love that the lover’s empty words inspire. It depicts three progressive layers of experience: daily reality, his words, and her dreams. The two adjacent images from the song’s jacket-covers depict this bifurcation between gritty reality and starry-eyed dreams.
This progressive revelation starts in the first verse with the enumeration of experiences (from sorrow to mistrust, from tears to "never-again," from resentment to defiance) that lead to resignation. In somber hours, matters clarify and restorative dreams are invented. Structurally, this dialogue continues between verses describing reality and the refrains/choruses that lapse into an escapist dream-state that the narrator eventually qualifies as her personal movie script. All three pillars of the song: lyrics, melody and the interpretive vocals propel this interface between verses and choruses.
The song is a track from Kaas’s 1993 album named “Je te dis vous” (“I say you to you”). This title merits its own consideration. The album title carries an ironic linguistic tension that plays with the formal (“vous”) and informal (“tu”) versions of the second-person pronoun. In English, there is only one word for “you” so delicate nuances of politeness, respect, or social distance are lost. In French, the title suggests a transition in a relationship from informal intimacy to a more formal distant one, for whatever reason. That is precisely the reverse of the linguistic transition that characterizes a romantic relationship, which normally proceeds from the formal to the intimate. One might suppose that the transition in the song occurs as daily reality corrodes dreamlike expectations.
The song became a top-5 hit on the French singles chart. Jean-Jacques Goldman (aka Sam Brewski) wrote both the music and lyrics and Eric Benzi did the arrangement. Goldman reportedly used the Brewski pseudonym intentionally so the authorship by a celebrity songwriter would not impinge on Patricia’s emerging recognition. Bernard Tavernier used the song in his film “L'appât” (The bait). That film won the Golden Bear award in 1995 at the Berlin International Film Festival. It was about two boys and a girl who commit a murder, with the girl acting as the "bait."
This song has a classic poetic structure and melody that merits attention, as one might expect from J-J Goldman. Overall, there are 13 stanzas and each has 4 lines except the 13th, which has 5 lines (the last one repeating). Both Verses and Choruses have ABAB rhymes throughout.
The song had two studio versions and several live versions arising during concert tours. The studio versions were released in 1993 and the live versions emerged over time from performances. The song became a Kaas classic. The version shown below appeared live on an episode in October 1993 of a weekly French variety show hosted by Jean-Pierre Foucault named “Sacrée Soirée” that channel TF1 aired between 1987-1994.
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FRENCH LYRICS
Verse 1 Quand le temps se lasse De n'être que tué Plus une seconde ne passe Dans les vies d'uniformité Quand de peine en méfiance De larmes en plus jamais Puis de dépit en défiance On apprend à se résigner Pre-Chorus/Bridge Viennent les heures sombres Où tout peut enfin s'allumer Quand les vies ne sont plus qu'ombres Restent nos rêves à inventer Chorus/Refrain Il me dit que je suis belle Qu'il n'attendait que moi Il me dit que je suis celle Juste faite pour ses bras Il parle comme on caresse De mots qui n'existent pas De toujours et de tendresse Et je n'entends que sa voix Des mensonges et des bêtises Qu'un enfant ne croirait pas Mais les nuits sont mes églises Et dans mes rêves j'y crois Verse 2 Éviter les regards Prendre cet air absent Celui qu'ont les gens sur les boulevards Cet air qui les rend transparents Apprendre à tourner les yeux Devant les gens qui s'aiment Éviter tous ceux qui marchent à deux Ceux qui s'embrassent à perdre haleine Pre-Chorus/Bridge Y a-t-il un soir, un moment Où l'on se dit "c'est plus pour moi" Tous les mots doux, les coups de sang Mais dans mes rêves, j'y ai droit Chorus Il me dit que je suis belle Et qu'il n'attendait que moi Il me dit que je suis celle Juste faite pour ses bras Des mensonges et des bêtises Qu'un enfant ne croirait pas Mais les nuits sont mes églises Et dans mes rêves j'y crois Outro Il me dit que je suis belle Je le vois courir vers moi Ses mains me frôlent et m'entraînent C'est beau comme au cinéma Plus de trahison, de peine Mon scénario n'en veut pas Il me dit que je suis reine Et pauvre de moi, j'y crois Pauvre de moi, j'y crois |
TRANSLATION (PENDERGAST)
Verse 1 When time grows tired Of simply being killed Not another second passes, In conformist lives When from sorrow to mistrust, From tears to "never-again" Then from resentment to defiance You learn to resign yourself Pre-Chorus/Bridge The dark hours come Where everything can finally become clear When lives are no longer merely shadows Our dreams remain to be invented Chorus/Refrain He tells me that I'm beautiful That he was waiting only for me He tells me that I'm the one Custom-made for his arms He speaks like a caress With words that don't exist About forever and tenderness And I hear only his voice Lies and stupidities That a child wouldn't believe But the nights are my churches And in my dreams, I believe it Verse 2 Avoiding glances, Putting on a vapid expression The one that people wear on the boulevards An expression that makes them invisible Learning to look away Fromj couples who love each other Avoiding everyone walking together Those who kiss breathlessly Pre-Chorus/Bridge There is an evening, a moment When one says "it’s not for me anymore” All the sweet words, the outbursts But in my dreams, I am entitled to them Chorus He tells me that I'm beautiful And that he was waiting only for me He tells me that I'm the one Custom-made for his arms Lies and stupidities That a child wouldn't believe But the nights are my sanctuaries And in my dreams, I believe it Outro He tells me that I'm beautiful... I see him running towards me His hands brush my skin and pull me It's beautiful like a movie No more betrayal or pain My script doesn't want them He tells me I'm a queen And, poor me, I believe it Poor me, I believe it |
NB:
-Plus une seconde ne passe: “plus….ne” is a two-part negative construction that means “no more/longer” and emphasizes the definitive termination of something.
-Dans les vies d'uniformité: this evocative phrase characterizes monotone, uniform lives of conformity with little variation or distinction
-De larmes en plus jamais: this is an interesting arrangement of words that means “from tears to never-again.” “Plus jamais” means “never again.” The same words could be arranged in a different sequence, like: “en plus jamais de larmes” or “jamais de larmes en plus.” The three lines in this stanza express an emotional exhaustion leading to resignation.
-j'y crois: the use of “y” in this phrase refers to everything in the prior 3 lines. It is a phrase that expresses unfortunate credulity and is repeated in the song four times.
-Éviter and Prendre in the next line (as well as Apprendre below) are unconjugated verb infinitives. As such, in French they take the place of English gerunds (-ing forms) and are used here as noun/subjects.
-Cet air qui les rend transparents: “transparent” means see-through, but in this context I translate it as “invisible.”
-à perdre haleine: this phrase literally means “to lose breath” and translates as “breathlessly.”
-les coups de sang: this refers to sudden fits of anger or rages (when blood rushes to the head).
-pauvre de moi: the “de” in this phrase accentuates the sentiment: “poor little me,” “woe is me.”
NB:
-Plus une seconde ne passe: “plus….ne” is a two-part negative construction that means “no more/longer” and emphasizes the definitive termination of something.
-Dans les vies d'uniformité: this evocative phrase characterizes monotone, uniform lives of conformity with little variation or distinction
-De larmes en plus jamais: this is an interesting arrangement of words that means “from tears to never-again.” “Plus jamais” means “never again.” The same words could be arranged in a different sequence, like: “en plus jamais de larmes” or “jamais de larmes en plus.” The three lines in this stanza express an emotional exhaustion leading to resignation.
-j'y crois: the use of “y” in this phrase refers to everything in the prior 3 lines. It is a phrase that expresses unfortunate credulity and is repeated in the song four times.
-Éviter and Prendre in the next line (as well as Apprendre below) are unconjugated verb infinitives. As such, in French they take the place of English gerunds (-ing forms) and are used here as noun/subjects.
-Cet air qui les rend transparents: “transparent” means see-through, but in this context I translate it as “invisible.”
-à perdre haleine: this phrase literally means “to lose breath” and translates as “breathlessly.”
-les coups de sang: this refers to sudden fits of anger or rages (when blood rushes to the head).
-pauvre de moi: the “de” in this phrase accentuates the sentiment: “poor little me,” “woe is me.”
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