Le Paradis Blanc (The White Paradise), 1990, Ça ne tient pas debout (That’s Nonsense)
Michel Berger wrote and released this song on an album in 1990. The album’s title Ça ne tient pas debout is a French expression that translates literally as “that does not remain standing” and conventionally means “That’s nonsense,” “It doesn’t make any sense,” or “It doesn’t hold up.” It was Berger’s 9th studio album and followed a 4-year hiatus while writing music for his wife France Gall. This song was the last “tube” (“hit”) before his subsequent death in 1992 following a tennis match at his home in Ramatuelle near St. Tropez in the Var, southern France.
The song’s lovely melody made it a consensual hit and many people enjoy the song without closely reading the words. The lyrics are another story. Because of the song’s décor of whale songs and arctic imagery, it is often seen as a plea for conservation, sustainability and the preservation of whales, penguins, snow and ice. That is consistent with Berger’s general concern for the environment. Others see it as a simple longing for purity and simplicity. Still others feel the song reveals a fascination with, or premonition of, death or perhaps suicide. Still others on the fringe have pegged it as a drug-fueled hallucination. The ability of a song’s sounds and words to evoke such diverse interpretations is a measure of artistic success.
The song exhibits a somber tone and disaffection from worldly experiences. These are described as “tant de vagues et de fumé” (“so many waves and smoke”) and “des regards de haine et des combats de sang” (“looks of hate and bloody battles”). The result is that one can no longer tell “le blanc du noir” (“black from white”) or “le faux du vrai” (“true from false”).
In this sense, Berger expresses an aura of profound alienation from the general human condition and/or elements of his specific situation. Certainly, his humanitarian concerns and the untimely death of friends like Daniel Balavoine and Coluche (both in 1986), and other more proximate circumstances that he alludes to in the song (“des claviers usés” and “vouloir tout essayer”) (“wornout keyboards” and “trying everything”) may have contributed to burnout and a despondent perspective. In any case, Berger’s envisions an escape to “dormir dans le paradis blanc” (“sleep in the white paradise”) and a reversion to the simplicity and innocence of his childhood dreams (“mes rêves d'enfant”).
After a brief whale song and instrumental Introduction, the song’s first 4 stanzas fall into the two segments described above that can be likened to “reality” and “dream.” The structure of the song is Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Coda. The first and third “reality” Verses have similar beginnings (“Y'a tant de vagues...”) and depict varied dimensions of the ills of mankind. The second and fourth Choruses, by contrast, envision an alternative future in the “paradis blanc” and begin with the same refrain (“Je m'en irai dormir dans le paradis blanc”). Each of those two Chorus stanzas elaborates different but complementary and sometimes phantasmagorical elements of that vision. After an instrumental interlude, the song concludes with a 4-line Coda, another instrumental interlude, and whale songs.
There are distinctive rhymes in the endings of last words in each stanza and each of the two groupings of stanzas has its own distinct sounds. Almost all rhyming sounds of the first and third “reality” Verses are mostly “ay” sounds (“er,” “ée,” “ai”) and they are quite different from the rhyming sounds of the second and fourth “dream” Choruses (“ent,” “ans,” “ant,” “anc”).
The song’s lovely melody made it a consensual hit and many people enjoy the song without closely reading the words. The lyrics are another story. Because of the song’s décor of whale songs and arctic imagery, it is often seen as a plea for conservation, sustainability and the preservation of whales, penguins, snow and ice. That is consistent with Berger’s general concern for the environment. Others see it as a simple longing for purity and simplicity. Still others feel the song reveals a fascination with, or premonition of, death or perhaps suicide. Still others on the fringe have pegged it as a drug-fueled hallucination. The ability of a song’s sounds and words to evoke such diverse interpretations is a measure of artistic success.
The song exhibits a somber tone and disaffection from worldly experiences. These are described as “tant de vagues et de fumé” (“so many waves and smoke”) and “des regards de haine et des combats de sang” (“looks of hate and bloody battles”). The result is that one can no longer tell “le blanc du noir” (“black from white”) or “le faux du vrai” (“true from false”).
In this sense, Berger expresses an aura of profound alienation from the general human condition and/or elements of his specific situation. Certainly, his humanitarian concerns and the untimely death of friends like Daniel Balavoine and Coluche (both in 1986), and other more proximate circumstances that he alludes to in the song (“des claviers usés” and “vouloir tout essayer”) (“wornout keyboards” and “trying everything”) may have contributed to burnout and a despondent perspective. In any case, Berger’s envisions an escape to “dormir dans le paradis blanc” (“sleep in the white paradise”) and a reversion to the simplicity and innocence of his childhood dreams (“mes rêves d'enfant”).
After a brief whale song and instrumental Introduction, the song’s first 4 stanzas fall into the two segments described above that can be likened to “reality” and “dream.” The structure of the song is Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Coda. The first and third “reality” Verses have similar beginnings (“Y'a tant de vagues...”) and depict varied dimensions of the ills of mankind. The second and fourth Choruses, by contrast, envision an alternative future in the “paradis blanc” and begin with the same refrain (“Je m'en irai dormir dans le paradis blanc”). Each of those two Chorus stanzas elaborates different but complementary and sometimes phantasmagorical elements of that vision. After an instrumental interlude, the song concludes with a 4-line Coda, another instrumental interlude, and whale songs.
There are distinctive rhymes in the endings of last words in each stanza and each of the two groupings of stanzas has its own distinct sounds. Almost all rhyming sounds of the first and third “reality” Verses are mostly “ay” sounds (“er,” “ée,” “ai”) and they are quite different from the rhyming sounds of the second and fourth “dream” Choruses (“ent,” “ans,” “ant,” “anc”).
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Y'a tant de vagues et de fumée Qu'on n'arrive plus à distinguer Le blanc du noir Et l'énergie du désespoir Le téléphone pourra sonner Il n'y aura plus d'abonné Et plus d'idée Que le silence pour respirer Recommencer Là où le monde a commencé Je m'en irai dormir dans le paradis blanc Où les nuits sont si longues qu'on en oublie le temps Tout seul avec le vent Comme dans mes rêves d'enfant Je m'en irai courir dans le paradis blanc Loin des regards de haine Et des combats de sang Retrouver les baleines Parler aux poissons d'argent Comme, comme, comme avant Y'a tant de vagues et tant d'idées Qu'on n'arrive plus à décider Le faux du vrai Et qui aimer ou condamner Le jour où j'aurai tout donné Que mes claviers seront usés D'avoir osé Toujours vouloir tout essayer Et recommencer Là où le monde a commencé Je m'en irai dormir dans le paradis blanc Où les manchots s'amusent dès le soleil levant Et jouent en nous montrant Ce que c'est d'être vivant Je m'en irai dormir dans le paradis blanc Où l'air reste si pur Qu'on se baigne dedans À jouer avec le vent Comme dans mes rêves d'enfant Comme, comme, comme avant Parler aux poissons d'argent Et jouer avec le vent Comme dans mes rêves d'enfant… Comme avant |
There are so many waves and smoke That we can no longer distinguish White from black And energy from despair The telephone could ring There won't be any subscribers And no more ideas Only silence for breathing Begin again There where the world began I will go to sleep in the white paradise Where nights are so long that we forget time All alone with the wind Like in my childhood dreams I will go to run in the white paradise Far from looks of hate And bloody fights To find the whales To talk to silver fishes Like, like, like before There are so many waves and so many ideas That we can no longer determine False from truth And who to love or condemn The day when I will have given all When my keyboards will be worn To have dared To always wish to try everything And to begin again There where the world began I will go to sleep in the white paradise Where penguins enjoy with the rising sun And play while showing us What it is to be alive I will go to sleep in the white paradise Where the air remains so clean That we bathe in it To play with the wind Like in my childhood dreams Like, like, like before Talking to silver fishes And play with the wind Like in my childhood dreams… Like before |
NB:
vagues et de fumée: a straightforward translation is “waves and smoke” but the French word “vague” can also suggest indistinctness (vagueness) and even when it does mean “waves,” they are not necessarily water. A “wave” is a recurrent swell or oscillation of some form of energy and matter, sensation or behavior.
Que le silence pour respired: “Que” in this phrase means “only.” This line is paradoxical—“only silence for breathing?” Not air? In such a case, suffocation is the outcome, which is perhaps the meaning.
vagues et de fumée: a straightforward translation is “waves and smoke” but the French word “vague” can also suggest indistinctness (vagueness) and even when it does mean “waves,” they are not necessarily water. A “wave” is a recurrent swell or oscillation of some form of energy and matter, sensation or behavior.
Que le silence pour respired: “Que” in this phrase means “only.” This line is paradoxical—“only silence for breathing?” Not air? In such a case, suffocation is the outcome, which is perhaps the meaning.
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