Quelque Chose de Tennessee (Something of Tennessee)
“Quelque Chose de Tennessee” is a 1985 song recorded by Johnny Hallyday, written and produced by Michel Berger with Peter Frampton on guitar for the studio version. Berger wrote the song specifically for Hallyday, in recognition of Johnny’s fixation on the US and affection for Tennessee Williams. It appeared first on an album “Rock ‘n Roll Attitude” and then as a single. It anchored a rejuvenation of Hallyday's career.
Michel Berger & Johnny at work
The song’s ambiguous title is a tribute not to the American state but to playwright Tennessee Williams who died in 1983. (In a posthumous nod to the song's composer Michel Berger who died in 1992, Yves Bigot titled his biography of Berger: "Quelque chose en nous de Michel Berger"). In homage to Tennessee, the song is more mellow than Johnny’s characteristic rock-and-roll repertoire, which was heavily influenced by his early affection for Elvis Presley and US music. The song’s words contain reflections about Williams, who Britannica describes as an “American dramatist whose plays reveal a world of human frustration in which sex and violence underlie an atmosphere of romantic gentility.” In a 2011 Paris theater production of a Williams play, “Kingdom of Earth,” Johnny played a role as a character named Chicken: “a Stanley Kowalski type, brimming with masculinity and assertiveness and a few romantic plans of his own” (Goodreads).
The {whispered female} first stanza in the song echoes the structure of Berger/Hardy’s “Message Personnel” and is adapted from the final scene in Williams’ play “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”—they are Maggie’s last words to Brick. The voiceover is by Nathalie Baye, a singer/actress with whom Johnny had a 4-year relationship (1982-86) and a child. Backup vocalists are Michel Berger and France Gall. The poignant parallel between the troubled lives of Williams and Hallyday is acknowledged in the song’s title and both the first and last lines: We all have in us “Quelque chose de Tennessee.” The last words in all 27 lines of the song reverberate with the “ee” sound of William’s pen name, Tennessee.
The {whispered female} first stanza in the song echoes the structure of Berger/Hardy’s “Message Personnel” and is adapted from the final scene in Williams’ play “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”—they are Maggie’s last words to Brick. The voiceover is by Nathalie Baye, a singer/actress with whom Johnny had a 4-year relationship (1982-86) and a child. Backup vocalists are Michel Berger and France Gall. The poignant parallel between the troubled lives of Williams and Hallyday is acknowledged in the song’s title and both the first and last lines: We all have in us “Quelque chose de Tennessee.” The last words in all 27 lines of the song reverberate with the “ee” sound of William’s pen name, Tennessee.
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{whispered, female}
À vous autres, hommes faibles et merveilleux Qui mettez tant de grâce à vous retirer du jeu. Il faut qu’une main posée sur votre épaule Vous pousse vers la vie, cette main tendre et légère. On a tous quelque chose en nous de Tennessee, Cette volonté de prolonger la nuit, Ce désir fou de vivre une autre vie, Ce rêve en nous avec ses mots à lui. Quelque chose de Tennessee, Cette force qui nous pousse vers l’infini. Y a peu d’amour avec tellement d’envie Si peu d’amour avec tellement de bruit. Quelque chose en nous de Tennessee. Ainsi vivait Tennessee, Le cœur en fièvre et le corps démoli, Avec cette formidable envie de vie, Ce rêve en nous, c’était son cri à lui. Quelque chose de Tennessee Comme une étoile qui s’éteint dans la nuit À l’heure où d’autres s’aiment à la folie Sans un éclat de voix et sans un bruit, Sans un seul amour, sans un seul ami, Ainsi disparut Tennessee. À certaines heures de la nuit Quand le cœur de la ville s’est endormi, Il flotte un sentiment comme une envie, Ce rêve en nous avec ses mots à lui. Quelque chose de Tennessee. Quelque chose de Tennessee. Oh oui, Tennessee. Y a quelque chose en nous de Tennessee. |
{whispered, female}
"Oh, you weak and beautiful people Who show such grace, to withdraw from the game. You need a hand on your shoulder To push you towards life, this tender and light hand." We all have something in us of Tennessee This desire to prolong the night This crazy desire to live another life This dream in us with his own words Something of Tennessee, A force that pushes us towards infinity There's little love with so much desire So little love with so much noise Something in us of Tennessee Thus lived Tennessee The heart in fever and the body demolished With this tremendous desire of life This dream in us, it was his own cry Something of Tennessee Like a star that fades in the night A time when others love madly Without a burst of words and without sound Without a single love, without a single friend Thus disappeared Tennessee At certain hours of the night When the heart of the city is asleep There floats a feeling like a desire This dream in us with his own words Something of Tennessee Something of Tennessee Oh yeah Tennessee There's something in us of Tennessee |
NB:
- “ses mots a lui:” means “his own words.”
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