"Fais-moi une place" (Make A Place for Me), 1989
Julien Clerc composed the music for the short song (less than 3 minutes) “Fais-moi une place” in 1988 and invited Françoise Hardy to write the lyrics. As a singer and composer, Clerc has relied on many lyricists (“paroliers”) over the years to write words for his melodies. Fourteen years earlier, in February 1974, Hardy had presented Clerc with 5 gold records in Lyon, in recognition for exceptional sales of his earliest albums. The two artists were long-time friends and collaborated on his album “Les aventures à l’eau” in 1987 for which Hardy wrote 3 of the 12 songs. Although Hardy had renounced performing in public since 1968, she agreed to appear for a duet with Clerc in 1997 at the Palais des Sports to celebrate his 50th birthday.
Hardy obliged and promptly released her own recording of “Fais-moi une place” in December 1989 on her album “Vingt ans vingt titres” (Twenty Years Twenty Titles). Clerc released his version in 1990 on an album of the same name and in 1991 it was selected “song of the year” at the French Ministry of Culture’s annual award ceremony Victoires de la Musique. Hardy’s version also appears on YouTube.
Clerc and Hardy remained friends until her death at 80 in June 2024. Although Hardy had retired from performing many years before, he enticed her to appear on his 50th birthday celebration, along with many other artists, in a concert at the Palais des Sports in 1997. Upon her death, he posted a picture on Facebook with the following caption: “Quelqu’un que j’aimais infiniment vient de partir. Repose en paix chère Françoise tu vas me manquer beaucoup.” Julien Clerc
The subjunctive mood runs throughout this song. As we have seen before, in French the subjunctive is a “mood,” not a tense. It is required after certain verbs, expressions and phrases in the principal clause that express something counterfactual (not “indicative”), i.e. hypothetical, dubious, wished, recommended or required. It is widely used in French and involves specific verb conjugations. The specific occasions for the subjunctive in this song are when verbs in the main clause indicate wishes or desires (“je veux”) or when the main clause contains conjunctive phrases such as “pour que” (“so that,” “in order that”). In these cases, the main clause must be followed by the subjunctive verb mood in the dependent clause.
Like nips and tucks in a bespoke suit, the lyrics also include numerous word “elisions” (word contractions when letters are dropped and replaced with an apostrophe). These may arise to fit Hardy’s lyrics within the framework of Clerc’s previously written musical composition. Hardy reportedly cracked the whip after writing the lyrics and insisted that Clerc make no changes after the fact and then proceeded to release her version. As Clerc recalled in 2023: “Make a place for me’ is a kind of little miracle. I remember how we did it. She [Hardy] came to the house. I played her lots of music. I started playing and she said: ‘I want that, I like it.’ I recorded it and she went with it. She left me a message saying: ‘Don’t change anything you gave me since I wrote on it. … And I won’t rewrite.’ And there you have it, we did this song and she covered it, too.”
There are five 4-line verses, two 3-line refrains and a final 2-line outro followed by an instrumental closure. The verses maintain an AABB rhyme scheme while the refrains are AAB and the outro is AA.
In the song, the principal is basically pleading for a spot in the life and heart of the recipient and promises to retool himself as necessary to accommodate her needs. It is written in the familiar form “tu” for intimate discourse.
Clerc and Hardy remained friends until her death at 80 in June 2024. Although Hardy had retired from performing many years before, he enticed her to appear on his 50th birthday celebration, along with many other artists, in a concert at the Palais des Sports in 1997. Upon her death, he posted a picture on Facebook with the following caption: “Quelqu’un que j’aimais infiniment vient de partir. Repose en paix chère Françoise tu vas me manquer beaucoup.” Julien Clerc
The subjunctive mood runs throughout this song. As we have seen before, in French the subjunctive is a “mood,” not a tense. It is required after certain verbs, expressions and phrases in the principal clause that express something counterfactual (not “indicative”), i.e. hypothetical, dubious, wished, recommended or required. It is widely used in French and involves specific verb conjugations. The specific occasions for the subjunctive in this song are when verbs in the main clause indicate wishes or desires (“je veux”) or when the main clause contains conjunctive phrases such as “pour que” (“so that,” “in order that”). In these cases, the main clause must be followed by the subjunctive verb mood in the dependent clause.
Like nips and tucks in a bespoke suit, the lyrics also include numerous word “elisions” (word contractions when letters are dropped and replaced with an apostrophe). These may arise to fit Hardy’s lyrics within the framework of Clerc’s previously written musical composition. Hardy reportedly cracked the whip after writing the lyrics and insisted that Clerc make no changes after the fact and then proceeded to release her version. As Clerc recalled in 2023: “Make a place for me’ is a kind of little miracle. I remember how we did it. She [Hardy] came to the house. I played her lots of music. I started playing and she said: ‘I want that, I like it.’ I recorded it and she went with it. She left me a message saying: ‘Don’t change anything you gave me since I wrote on it. … And I won’t rewrite.’ And there you have it, we did this song and she covered it, too.”
There are five 4-line verses, two 3-line refrains and a final 2-line outro followed by an instrumental closure. The verses maintain an AABB rhyme scheme while the refrains are AAB and the outro is AA.
In the song, the principal is basically pleading for a spot in the life and heart of the recipient and promises to retool himself as necessary to accommodate her needs. It is written in the familiar form “tu” for intimate discourse.
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Verse Fais-moi une place au fond d´ ta bulle Et si j´ t´agace, si j´suis trop nul Je deviendrai tout pâle, tout muet, tout p´tit Pour que tu m´oublies Fais-moi une place au fond d´ ton cœur Pour que j´ t´embrasse lorsque tu pleures Je deviendrai tout fou, tout clown, gentil Pour qu´ tu souries Bridge J´ veux q´ t´aies jamais mal q´ t´aies jamais froid Et tout m´est égal tout, à part toi Je t´aime Verse Fais-moi une place dans ton av´nir Pour que j´ressasse moins mes souvenirs Je s´rais jamais eteint, hautain, lointain Pour qu´tu sois bien Fais-moi une place dans tes urgences Dans tes audaces, dans ta confiance Je s´rai jamais distant, distrait, cruel Pour q´ tu sois belle Bridge J´ veux pas q´ tu t´ennuies, J´ veux pas q´ t´aies peur J´ voudrais q´ tu oublies l´goût du malheur Je t´aime Instrumental Interlude Outro Une petite place ici, maintenant Car le temps passe à pas d´géant Je me ferai tout neuf, tout beau, tout ça... Pour être à toi Je me ferai tout neuf, tout beau, tout ça... Pour être à toi Instrumental/vocal |
Verse Make me a place at the bottom of your bubble And if I annoy you, if I'm too useless I'll become all pale, all mute, lifeless So that you can forget me Make me a place at the bottom of your heart So that I can kiss you when you cry I'll become all crazy, a clown, kind So that you can smile Bridge I hope that you're never in pain that you're never cold And everything looks the same to me except you I love you Verse Make me a place in your future So that I can rehash my memories less I will never be dull, haughty, distant So that you can be well Make me a place in your emergencies In your boldness in your confidence I'll never be distant, distracted, cruel So that you can be beautiful Bridge I don't want you to be bored, I don't want you afraid I'd like you to forget the taste of misfortune I love you Instrumental Interlude Outro A little place here, now Because time passes with giant steps I'll make myself all new, attractive, all that. . . To be yours I'll make myself all new, attractive, all that. . . To be yours Instrumental/vocal |
NB:
- “bulle” literally means “bubble,” but figuratively it can mean a chimera, speculation or illusion.
- “Pour que” means “so that” and requires the subjunctive mood in the dependent clause.
- J´ veux and J´ voudrais require the subjunctive mood in the dependent clause.
- Ressasser means to rehash or repeat over and over; “sasser” is “to sift” (as with flour).
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