Mieux qu’ici-bas (Better Than Here Below), 2000
Album: Mieux qu'ici-bas
The song “Mieux qu’ici-bas” appeared in 2000 on Isabelle Boulay’s album of the same name, along with “Parle-moi.” They were two of her most successful songs.
It is a struggle to translate the title of this song. “Ici” means “here,” in opposition to “là” meaning “there.” Both are adverbs of place. On its face, “bas” means “down,” “low” or “below” and implies a physical relationship with something that is “up” or “above.” When used together, however, the combination “là-bas” attenuates the specificity of “là” and means “over there” (somewhere). “Ici-bas” is less common but also attenuates specificity to mean “down here” or “here below” (somewhere). Additionally, it can mean “in this world” or “on this earth” (somewhere) in contrast with “heaven” or “the cosmos” (up above) or else “down under” referring to someplace below the equator. I have chosen to translate “Ici-bas” as “here below” to capture the poetic utility of its ambiguity.
While the term “ici-bas” is a bit unusual, it has some resonance in French literature and music that helps grasp its historic meaning. In 1845, Théophile Gautier published Poésies nouvelles et inédites, including a poem set in Istanbul titled “Dans un baiser, l’onde au rivage...” where he used the term “ici-bas,” clearly referring to the down-under Hellespont/Dardanelles region. Gautier was a poet, novelist, critic, and journalist whose writing was instrumental in prompting mid-century European interest in “orientalism.” In 1871, French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) set this poem to music in a song that he titled “Seule!” (Op 3 No 1), where Gautier’s “ici-bas” is typically translated as “here below.”
In 1866, René François Armand (Sully) Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), representative of the post-Romantic Parnassian movement, published a poem titled "Ici-bas" in his book Stances et Poèmes. Prudhomme’s “ici-bas” is commonly translated as “in this world,” clearly distinguishing it from some other world.
“ICI-BAS” by René François Prudhomme
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Ici-bas tous les lilas meurent,
Tous les chants des oiseaux sont courts, Je rêve aux étés qui demeurent Toujours... Ici-bas les lèvres effleurent Sans rien laisser de leur velours, Je rêve aux baisers qui demeurent Toujours... Ici-bas, tous les hommes pleurent Leurs amitiés ou leurs amours; Je rêve aux couples qui demeurent Toujours... Source: René François Prudhomme |
In this world all the lilies die,
All the songs of birds are short; I dream of the summers that abide Forever... In this world lips brush but lightly, And nothing of their velvet remains; I dream of the kisses that abide Forever... In this world every man is mourning His friendships or his loves; I dream of the couples who abide Forever... Translation: Richard Stokes |
In 1874, Gabriel Fauré set Prudhomme’s poem to music creating a song with the title “Ici-bas” (Opus 8, No. 3) that has been variously translated as “In This World” and “Down Here.”
Both Prudhomme’s poem and Fauré’s song present a melancholy lament on the fleeting nature of earth’s pleasures and express a profound sense of loss and impermanence. The first line sets the tone: “Ici-bas tous les lilas meurent...” (“Here below, all the lilacs die…”). The short poem traces the transient bloom of nature (lilacs, birdsong, summers) as well as of human relationships (kisses, love, friendships) and expresses a longing for greater permanence such as might be found in eternal life or some philosophical ideal.
Both men went on to become GOATS (greatest of all time) in French literature and music. Prudhomme was elected to the French Academy, the Legion of Honor and in 1901 he became the first poet to win a Nobel Prize in Literature (1901). Fauré was elected to the Institute de France, headed the Paris Conservatoire, and received the Grand Croix of the Légion d’Honneur.
This brief excursion into the evolution of the term “ici-bas” in French literature and music is useful because in Boulay’s song, composer Daniel Seff (b. 1949) and lyricist Didier Golemanas (b. 1961), in combination with the associated music video, take it in a radically different direction. In their hands, the song becomes not a lament about transiency and impermanence but a paean to life “here below.” That makes the title (“Mieux qu’ici-bas”) misleading since it suggests that the song is about something “better than here below.” Once into the lyrics, however, the song reiterates 8 times the full refrain which is “rien ne va mieux qu'ici-bas” (“nothing is better than here below”). This expresses a positivity that rings in contrast with Fauré and Prudhomme. That makes 8 lines in a song of 26 lines, plus two other appearances of an abbreviated “Mieux qu'ici-bas” without the preceding “rien ne va,” for a total of 10 iterations of the title.
The transformation in the meaning of “ici-bas” from lament to paean occurs because this song becomes a one-way internal set of musings by the young lady on a walkabout through Morocco and her unidentified lover who may be the aviator who ferries her from point to point. Or, perhaps her lover is actually far away in Paris--we don’t know and never find out. But in either case, “ici-bas” achieves its meaning by reference to the fact that she is down there on the ground in the desert living the dream while the pilot is in the air, or else her lover is “là-haut” up north.
The song is framed loosely like diary entries about the enjoyments of this trip to the Maghreb, with an angel here, an angel there, rainy days and rose skies. Some of it is a difficult to fathom, like the references in Verse 2 to wings that have birds and the connection between flames and executioners. It is so affirmative that one might construe it as an indirect invitation to share with her unidentified correspondent. Despite these ambiguities, the song clearly departs from the sentiments expressed by Fauré and Prudhomme a century before.
Seff and Golemanas are credited with two other songs on the same album and have many credits with other artists. Like Prudhomme’s poem, they employ spare, 3 and 4-line stanzas. The song’s structure is Intro-Verse-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Outro. Uncommonly, all lines in each stanza have the same end-rhyme (monorhyme). The melody is languorous with minimal orchestration that highlights the ample range and timbre of Boulay’s voice.
The song is framed loosely like diary entries about the enjoyments of this trip to the Maghreb, with an angel here, an angel there, rainy days and rose skies. Some of it is a difficult to fathom, like the references in Verse 2 to wings that have birds and the connection between flames and executioners. It is so affirmative that one might construe it as an indirect invitation to share with her unidentified correspondent. Despite these ambiguities, the song clearly departs from the sentiments expressed by Fauré and Prudhomme a century before.
Seff and Golemanas are credited with two other songs on the same album and have many credits with other artists. Like Prudhomme’s poem, they employ spare, 3 and 4-line stanzas. The song’s structure is Intro-Verse-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Outro. Uncommonly, all lines in each stanza have the same end-rhyme (monorhyme). The melody is languorous with minimal orchestration that highlights the ample range and timbre of Boulay’s voice.
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Intro Un ange par-ci, un ange par-là Un diable aussi quand tu es là Et rien ne va mieux qu'ici-bas Verse On change de vie on change de mois De jour aussi quand on se voit Et rien ne va mieux qu'ici-bas Verse Comme tout est fait pour aller haut Les ailes souvent ont des oiseaux* Comme tout est fait pour rester chaud Les flammes, les flammes ont des bourreaux* Chorus Et rien ne va mieux qu'ici-bas Et rien ne va mieux qu'ici-bas Mieux qu'ici-bas, rassure-toi Verse Un temps de pluie comme tant de fois Un ciel aussi rose que le bois Et rien ne va mieux qu'ici-bas Chorus Autant de nuits que de toi et moi Un lit aussi grand que tes bras Et rien ne va mieux qu'ici-bas Verse Comme tout est fait pour prendre l'eau Les îles, les îles ont des bateaux Comme tout est fait pour faire des mots Je t'aime tant, je t'aime trop Outro Et rien ne va mieux qu'ici-bas Et rien ne va mieux qu'ici-bas Mieux qu'ici-bas, rassure-moi |
Intro An angel here, an angel there A devil too when you are there And nothing is better than here below Verse We change lives, we change months Days as well when we see each other And nothing is better than here below Verse As everything is done to go high The wings often have birds As everything is done to stay warm The flames, the flames have executioners Chorus And nothing is better than here below And nothing is better than here below Better than here below, rest assured Verse Rainy weather like so many times A sky as pink as the wood And nothing is better than here below Chorus As many nights as of you and me A bed as big as your arms And nothing is better than here below Verse As everything is made to take water The islands, the islands have boats As everything is made to make words I love you so much, I love you too much Outro And nothing is better than here below And nothing is better than here below Better than here below, reassure me |
*These two lines are confusing unless the inversion of the subject and object is a deliberate affirmation
of poetic license.
of poetic license.
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