View Single Post
  #22  
Old 06-15-2007, 09:56 PM
Cooney's Avatar
Cooney Cooney is offline
Fidèle Toujours
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Tacoma, WA
Age: 42
Posts: 1,684
Cooney is on a distinguished road
Default

It's all thanks to cucumbers, really.



Like so many others, I ran across Alizée's clips on the net, while aimlessly browing a viral video site. The first I saw was the well known JEAM performance. Having some background in French, I tried to listen to it and understand parts, with minimal success as it had been years since I'd spoken French. I looked up the lyrics so I could do a dictionary translation. I had better success translating this way, but was having a bit of trouble with a few parts, most notably the word "Courgettes." I couldn't figure out what "Cucumbers" had to do with extremism and pessimism. I figured it must be some kind of slang, but didn't know what. My dictionary said nothing. Still, I was intruiged by something that unknowable, and went hunting for other clips, in case other songs had a clue to the mysterious meaning.

I found Moi... Lolita next, and rapidly acquired the lyrics to it as well. I got through translating almost all of it, though was curious about the phrase "donne ma langue au chat." It sounded like an idiomatic expression (specifically, one I didn't know), so I turned to the glorious internet for a clue. I found a web forum devoted to helping one-another out with French/English and English/French translation which had a thread on that exact phrase, and plugged the figurative meaning in to the song lyrics. It then occured to me that this would be a good place to ask about Courgettes. With the numerous native Frenchmen and fluent-level Anglophones, I was certain to find the answer I sought.

While awaiting replies there, I found the clip for ACC. This more mature Alizée, with the fully fleshed out music video, capitivated me. I found began translating it, and found a huge depth of meaning in the song. Nearly every line had double meaning (some triple!), many of which translated suprisingly well to English, and some lines were completely beyond me. I returned to the translation forum and found that the people there were just as confused by cucumbers as I was. Nobody was aware of any double meanings, slangs, or unusual implications.

Captivated by the complexity of ACC, and driven even harder to find meaning for those damnable courgettes, I went hunting for discussions of those particular songs. Much to my surprise and delight, I ran across a fan-site called moi-alizee.us, where things were in English, and there was a vast archive of videos and music information about this singer. I didn't register on the forums, lurking for several months instead. I did, however, see repeated references to "the Fun TV interview" and finally sat down to watch it, streamed from the site.

Watching the program, I was fascinated and delighted by how smart, sensible, witty, and generally pleasant Alizée was, and how unlike the ego-inflated American pop-stars she came across. I found myself falling in love with her laugh, with her smile, and the way she would become genuinely excited about this or that aspect of her life. I loved the way she credited her fans and her producers, was proud but humble, and seemed like the kind of person I would want to be friends with. Then, out of the blue, Lucas asked about the Courgettes. "I'm allergic" she replies. "Really" he asks. "Really" she says, with a huge rolled R on the beginning of the word.

Suddenly, Alizée makes sense to me. She isn't some creature from outer-space, or some strange incomprehensible being. She is a person, like you and me, and sings about her life, and the things that affect all of us. She's allergic to cucumbers, they make her vomit. Duh! Who needs slang and metaphor when you have plain and simple fact staring you in the face? I'm hooked, and I'm never going back.

I note similarities; Like Alizée, my top two front teeth are chipped off on the inner tips. Like her, I have a background in performing arts, with a major side interest in computer. Like her, cucumbers make me puke.


So, I'm a fan of Alizée, all thanks to those reprehensible green things called "Courgettes"


n.b. It was actually a discussion about the liquor called Alizé that resulted in me joining the boards here - I had just bought some due to its name, and couldn't resist signing up to join in :-)
__________________
Dans mon lit je rêve à Lilly Town

Last edited by Cooney; 06-15-2007 at 10:04 PM..
Reply With Quote