[2010-02-16] Les collines (New Song in French & English)

[Tupuz]

The lyrics have now been officially released through Alizée's Youtube channel. Here it is:

Poursuivie, j'ai gagné les collines
J'ai pris le maquis
Semé les chiens de chasse, effacé mes traces
Maquillé ma fuite
Mes valises sont vides, mon coeur léger
Léger

Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never ever wanna leave you
Never ever wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you

New York I'm sorry, I have to go
And I loved you so
Tes vitrines infinies, tes horizons dorés,
Je veux m'en passer
Auprès des Hespérides, j'irai panser
De grands félins timides, des cygnes blessés
Blessés

Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never ever wanna leave you
Never ever wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you

Mes valises sont vides, mon coeur léger
Léger

Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never ever wanna leave you
Never ever wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you
Never wanna leave you

Well, I did not catch all by hearing. French is quite difficult, but so cute language...

[Deepwaters]

"J'ai pris le maquis" -- interesting. A reference to Corsica? Again, then, not entirely about Ms. Sedgwick. One takes [to] the maquis meaning one escapes, touching on another expression in english, "take to the hills" or "head for the hills," "collines = hills," but I think Alizée is saying something self-referent here too.

Re the repetitious chorus, I think it works. It beats like a heart. I also think it works better for this to be in English. You could say the same in French and fit the meter ("veux te quitter jamais") but it wouldn't have that same boom . .. boom . . . boom quality to it.

The official lyrics are a bit off from what she sings. It's "New York I'm sorry, I really love you so, but I have to go" on the ear.

[Ben]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

Re the repetitious chorus, I think it works. It beats like a heart.

I also think it's a cultural thing. Keeps it simple for French speakers to understand and sing, and probably goes over much better there than here. Not that I mind it too much anyway. But overall I think the English lyrics are probably my biggest disappointment so far in both songs. They seem to be going for artistic minimalism (there are less words than in the past), but often just come off awkward or pretentious. Otherwise musically I really liked Les Collines right off the bat, and Limelight has grown on me.

[Tupuz]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

"J'ai pris le maquis" -- interesting. A reference to Corsica? Again, then, not entirely about Ms. Sedgwick. One takes [to] the maquis meaning one escapes, touching on another expression in english, "take to the hills" or "head for the hills," "collines = hills," but I think Alizée is saying something self-referent here too.

"Le maquis" also refers to the resistance groups during the World War II. And of course it is a typical bush in the Mediterranian area.

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

The official lyrics are a bit off from what she sings. It's "New York I'm sorry, I really love you so, but I have to go" on the ear.

Yeah, she sings this part in a bit different order.

[Ruroshen]

Originally Posted by Ben

I also think it's a cultural thing. Keeps it simple for French speakers to understand and sing, and probably goes over much better there than here. Not that I mind it too much anyway.

Exactly. We have to keep in mind that we're not her primary market...or even her secondary market for that matter. I definitely think that the English components of both songs were kept relatively simple on purpose, and though it might leave us a little wanting, I believe it's actually a very smart decision.

Otherwise musically I really liked Les Collines right off the bat, and Limelight has grown on me.

Yeah, Limelight has actually grown on me quite a bit, though the spoken word bit at the end still strikes me as extraordinarily goofy.

[Deepwaters]

Originally Posted by Tupuz

"Le maquis" also refers to the resistance groups during the World War II. And of course it is a typical bush in the Mediterranian area.

Right, but in context I don't think it can relate to the WWII resistance. "J'ai pris le maquis" = "I took the maquis" literally, and figuratively means the same as "I headed for the hills." But that choice of expression -- OK, consider the context of Sedgwick in NY. However common a Mediterranean shrub we're talking about, it doesn't grow in New York State. But it's archetypically Corsican, and that suggests to me that she's drawing all of this back to herself and her own life and situation.

There is some reason why she chose to produce a theme album about the life of Edie Sedgwick, some link or similarity or resonance between Sedgwick and Alizée herself. It can't be anything simple or obvious, because beyond rapid fame and sex appeal there's not much surface similarity at all. I'm going to be listening to the songs from this album with that in mind, and looking for what she's telling us about herself in the course of singing about the life of Ms. Sedgwick.

[Tupuz]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

Right, but in context I don't think it can relate to the WWII resistance. "J'ai pris le maquis" = "I took the maquis" literally, and figuratively means the same as "I headed for the hills." But that choice of expression -- OK, consider the context of Sedgwick in NY. However common a Mediterranean shrub we're talking about, it doesn't grow in New York State. But it's archetypically Corsican, and that suggests to me that she's drawing all of this back to herself and her own life and situation.

I agree on this. It will be very interesting to hear the whole album. I also believe that there will be a message referring to Alizée herself in it. Let's wait and see (hear actually )

[Ruroshen]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

"J'ai pris le maquis" -- interesting. A reference to Corsica? Again, then, not entirely about Ms. Sedgwick. One takes [to] the maquis meaning one escapes, touching on another expression in english, "take to the hills" or "head for the hills," "collines = hills," but I think Alizée is saying something self-referent here too.

Originally Posted by Tupuz

"Le maquis" also refers to the resistance groups during the World War II. And of course it is a typical bush in the Mediterranian area.

Wait, so you guys are saying it's not a reference to Star Trek? Really? Dang.

Oh well...I guess I still like the song, anwyay...

[FanDeAliFee]

Originally Posted by Tupuz

The lyrics have now been officially released through Alizée's Youtube channel. Here it is....

New York I'm sorry, I have to go
And I loved you so
Tes vitrines infinies, tes horizons dorés,
Je veux m'en passer
Auprès des Hespérides, j'irai panser
De grands félins timides, des cygnes blessés
Blessés

Let's translate those lyrics as follows, observing the lyrics actually sung (vs. published) with suggested improvements per <a href="http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?p=151974">Toc de Mac</a>
<blockquote>
New York, I'm sorry, I loved you so,
But I have to go,
Your endless shop-windows
Your golden skylines

I'll do without them,
Beside the Hesperides, I'll heal
The timid big cats, the wounded swans,
Wounded
</blockquote>
I'd like to at least start to explore the allegorical aspect of this passage. (I'm happy the improved translation now used does not effect the analysis originally offered here.) I'm not sure I have it quite right yet. It seems to emerge from Alizée's western Mediterranean origin.

Please recall that Alizée's New York (City) with the <i><big><big>golden</big></big> skylines</i> is commonly called the <i>Big <big><big>Apple</big></big></i>. Ihe Goddess Hera's orchard in the west was called <i>The Garden of the <big><big>Hesperides</big></big></i> - and just so happened to feature golden apples. These fruit were remarkable in that their consumption would endow immortality, and so were guarded from three resident women by a serpent. In contrast, in the Garden of Eden, the fruit of tree would endow <i>Knowledge of Good and Evil</i> and bring retributive death, with a serpent encouraging their consumption by a woman.

Note that Venus (Greek Aphrodite), the Goddess of erotic love (cf. "venereal"), when manifested as the Evening Star, was called Hesperus (Greek Hesperos), the same name used for the father of the Hesperides. This suggests an association between the Hesperides and erotic love, which is interesting when one looks upon them as the pagan counterparts to the Biblical Eve.

With this as background, it is interesting that the first track of <i>Une Enfant Du Siècle</i> is <a href="http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Alizee/news-69487.html">titled</a> <i>Eden Eden</i>.<table align="center" cellspacing="20"><tr><td width="244" align="center"><a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=HERCULES%20IN%20THE%20GARDEN%20OF%20T HE%20HESPERIDES"> <img src="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/Dictionary_Of_Roman_Coins/webimages/P456S0/M1_4.gif"></a>Garden of the Hesperides</td>
<td width="200" align="center"><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/thing?id=12982096"><img src="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=12982096" width="200" height="200"></a>Garden of Eden</td>
</tr></table>The hero Hercules (Greek Herakles) undertook a famous set of labors, the penultimate of these being to <a href="http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/apples_of_the_hesperides.html">pluck three such golden apples</a>. Prior to this, he had had violent encounters with both a big cat (the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemean_lion">Nemean lion</a>) and <a href="http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/cycnus.html">Cygnus</a>, who in various conflicting legends is turned into a swan, providing the etymology for the French word for that animal. Perhaps this explains why Alizée sings of both big cats and swans which seem most chastened.

Of course it remains a mystery how Alizée aspires to heal a <i>deceased</i> big cat like the Nemean lion, unless she <a href="http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?p=150366">really is the <i>Sang Réal</i></a>, mon Dieu!

But then maybe I'm all wet and this "timid big cat" is better known to all as <i>The Cowardly Lion</i>, making it an allusion to the famous "anatomically-correct" <a href="http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/o/docdtv/Alizee/2010Jan/">retelling of <i>The Wizard of Oz</i></a> in <i>Moi... Lolita</i>. This alternative hypothesis makes explaining the swan problematic. The most famous legendary wounded swan is that in a <a href="http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/lifebuddha/5lbud.htm">story about Siddhartha</a>, later the Buddha. But what all these guys were doing hanging out near Gibraltar is of course unaddressed!

Comical aside: In one genealogy, Cygnus is the son of the God Mars, and so is literally a Martian. I suppose this is why there are so many captioned single-frame cartoons in which a Martian swan steps out of a spaceship which has landed on planet Earth and demands "Take me to your Leda!"

[Fenris]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

Oh, that voice! I love to hear that voice whispering those words in my ear!

LOL, never looked at the refrain from this perspective...maybe i grow to like it more now!

Seriously, i would have preferred a shorter refrain and some additional lyrics instead, but it's nice to see that many people seem to love the song the way it is.
The combination of french and english is also a very good move, takes the best from two worlds, the beauty of the french language and the bigger audience english can provide.
If things go well, this album could give her a cult following of electro-lovers, but i also expect her to loose some old fans who are not into the new style.

So far, the reception the song gets in the net seems to be quite positive, remains to be seen how the radios and the greater public will take it...

All in all, i never expected our little Lilly to come up with such cool music, chapeau! My respect for her musical tastes has gone up a notch.
My love she already has..