Vincent Delerm: Danser sur la table
Danser sur la table, (“Dancing on the table”), 2016
Album: À présent
The title of the song takes a grammatical form that we have seen before. The French language often employs verb infinitives like “danser” (“to dance”) as subject-nouns to begin a sentence or when following “preference verbs” (e.g. “to like”). In English, the verb infinitive "danser" in the title translates as “dancing,” which is a "gerund" or verb form ending in "-ing" and masquerading as a noun.
One observer called this song an “ode to discretion, to timidity.” It is an affirmation of Delerm's respect for humility and equilibrium or, conversely, dislike for exhibitionism. To put it in context, Vincent Delerm acknowledged that “Danser sur la table” is his personal version of Anne Sylvestre’s most popular song, the 1977 “Les gens qui doutent.” Sylvestre explained the origin of that song: “I found myself struggling with people filled with certitude and they annoyed me.” The first verse of her song therefore was (below on left):
J'aime les gens qui doutent
Les gens qui trop écoutent
Leur cœur se balancer
J'aime les gens qui disent
Et qui se contredisent
Et sans se dénoncer
I like people who doubt
People who listen too much
To their heart swaying
I like people who say things
And who contradict themselves
And without betraying themselves
Delerm has performed Sylvestre’s song occasionally on stage and, in 2007, he released a cover version with Jeanne Cherhal and Albin de la Simone. Then he decided to compose his own statement and, in 2016, he included “Danser sur la table” on his album “À présent.” Three years later, following Agnès Varda’s death in 2019, Delerm doubled down on his his appreciation for quiet reserve with a moving tribute to Varda in the song “Vie Varda,” which is featured elsewhere on this website. Agnès Varda is widely considered as a foundation of New Wave cinema. Delerm penned the following refrain, repeated 3 times in his tribute to her:
Si on peut vivre comme Agnès
Se parler à deux dans la pièce
Et ressentir une émotion
Si on peut vivre une vie Varda
Marcher sur le sable comme ça
Faire une vie hors compétition
If we can live like Agnes
Speak with each other in the room
And feel an emotion
If we can live a Varda life
Walk on the sand like that
Make a life outside competition
Le Rayon Vert
Words highlighted in bold italic are explained in notes following the lyrics.
Toi, tu dis il me manque
Tant de choses tu n'sais pas
Toutes les choses qui me manquent
Toujours je reste là
Effacé, incapable, de parler fort comme ça
De danser sur la table
Toi, depuis le départ
Tu as raté cent fois
Un amour, une histoire
Un geste maladroit
Un garçon inflammable
Et une autre que toi
A dansé sur la table
Toi, tu dis je préfère
Les étés sous les toits
La plage, le rayon vert
Je fais ça juste là
Pour retirer le sable
Ne me demandez pas
De danser sur les tables
Interlude
Toi, tu dis il me manque
Tant de choses tu sais toi
Toutes ces choses qu'il me manque
Et ma vie passera
Et ma vie incroyable
Et je vivrai comme ça
Sans danser sur la table
You, you say I’m missing
So many things, you don’t know
All the things I’m missing
Still, I stay there
Withdrawn, unable to speak out like that
To dance on the table
You, since the beginning
You’ve failed a hundred times
A love affair, a fling
A clumsy gesture
A fiery boy
And someone besides you
Danced on the table
You, you say I prefer
Summers under the rooftops
The beach, the green ray
I am doing that right here
To dispense with the sand
Don’t ask me
To dance on the tables
Interlude
You, you say I’m missing
So many things, you know
All these things that I’m missing
And my life will pass by
And my incredible life
And I’ll live like that
Without dancing on the table
1)Les étés sous les toits: this expression evokes the intense summer heat of the low-rent top floor of Parisian mansard-roofed dwellings. It also has some history in French literature (Emile Zola, “L’amour sous les toits,” 1865) as well as film (René Clair, “Sous les toits de Paris,” 1930).
2)La plage le rayon vert: this reference reflects the loading of Delerm’s songs with symbolism and esoteric allusions. As indicated above, “Le Rayon vert” (“The Green Ray/Flash”) is a 1986 film by New Wave director Eric Rohmer. It is one of 6 films in his cycle “Comédies et Proverbes.” Rohmer’s film depicts Delphine following a summertime breakup, isolated and lonely, flitting from place-to-place in seaside locations searching for a meaningful connection. Rohmer drew both inspiration and his film’s title from an 1882 novel by Jules Verne, “Le Rayon Vert,” that popularized an optical phenomenon that occurs occasionally at sunrise or sunset. Certain atmospheric conditions refract sunlight into different colors until a final green flash appears briefly above the sun. Jules Verne himself wrote: “when one sees the green ray….one is able to see into one’s own heart and that of others.” Subsequent cultural interpretations posited that discerning the green flash brings love and clarity. Green was the color of hope and the light at the end of Daisy’s dock in The Great Gatsby.
3)Je fais ça juste là: this common phrase means “I am doing that right here.” Spoken properly (with a pause after “ça” ), there is an internal rhyme between “ça” and “là” that provides extra affirmative strength.
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