The Fifty // Sixty lyrics, translation, theme, explanation, and interpretation thread

[Tye]

Originally Posted by MesGourmandises

YOU WISH!

I want Lili to be happy, and if her and Jeremy are having problems that is not something I want. I am fine not being with Lili as long as she is happy.

[Deepwaters]

Originally Posted by dan

The superficial meaning of the title is explained by "Né en cinquante, Sexy soixante".

Actually it's not. I've been thinking about that recently. What does that line mean? Edie Sedgwick was born in the '40s, not the '50s (and Alizée in the '80s). She never reached age 60, although I guess that could refer to her being sexy in the '60s, i.e. the 1960s. Or it might be a pun on "seize ans" (16 years old). Also, on reviewing Sedgwick's career, the opening phrase "pretty sixteen" couldn't apply to her because her career only got started when she was in her early 20s, although it could apply to Alizée. There are some interesting puzzles here.

Tye: Don't worry about it, there's no call to take it that way. My sense at the moment is that everything's OK.

[dan]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

There are some interesting puzzles here.

There are definitely some puzzles there. Was Edie sexy at 60 (doesn't make sense since she didn't live that long), were the 60s sexy (makes sense since there was a sexual revolution), or was Edie sexy during the 60s? Without understanding the nuances of French I won't pretend to understand how most French people will interpret this line.

Anyway, I'm just glad that there's enough nuance to Alizée's new songs to keep us guessing, even without Mylene writing the lyrics.

[Cooney]

Ya know, sometimes it's fun to live under a rock (AKA, be out of town for a week, and be so exhausted as to not read the forums for another week after that). Other times it's not.

Would you all believe that, while I'd heard rumors, I hadn't actually heard any of the discussion surrounding this clip, and hadn't heard the clip itself, until today? :-D

Woot for Lili.

At any rate, as usual, I did my best to put together a translation (at least of what we have) without reading what others have done first. This helps me get my head around certain ideas and phrases without bias. On the other hand, it means sometimes I miss things that have already been extensively discussed and explained by native speakers.

So, for better or for worse, here's a "raw" translation attempt from me. No doubt the same in some places as what's accepted, and different in others. Don't beat me too hard!

Pretty sixteen
Beautiful heroine of the sixties
You swing your hips,*
You are divine
When you dance
In the eyes of Andy...

Good-bye bee-bop, more than anything
It's pop-art
That preps you
for the exit,
Popcorn and Hoola-hoop

A dream of glory and of fortune
Chic in Chanel, love is always glamorous
At expos you pose and expose yourself,
For 400ASA you dare every pose.

Fifty Sixty
Born in the fifties
Sexy sixties
So exciting
It's ecstasy.**
Naively she believes everything that Andy,
That Andy says to her,
That she is the most beautiful
Of all the models.


I'm interested at this point that it's all in present tense. Also, the verses are in 2nd person, while the refrain is 3rd person. Time to go back and read the thread and see what others have said about those facts (and see where I've messed up in my translation attempt above).


*Editted after original post to include feedback on the verb "dandiner" suggesting a non-standard usage is acceptable.

**Editted after original post to say "It's ecstasy" instead of "Her ecstasy." I'm hearing "C'est extasie" instead of the originally transcribed "S'extasie."

[Cooney]

Originally Posted by dan

Anyway, does anyone know what the significance of the double slashes is in France? And who started writing the song title this way in the first place?

Well, in generally I read // as meaning "does not equal," but I'm not French. Most places I've seen write the title as Fifty-Sixty,

Originally Posted by Toc De Mac

PS: I feel like I'm nitpicking, but I just want the lyrics to be as correct as possible. If the line "né en cinquante" is referring to Edie, then "né" should have one more "e" on the end.

Easily enough corrected if necessary - the lyrics we have printed here aren't "official," they're just a transcription by ear. Hence also the difference between version that say "l'amour est toujours glamour" and "l'amour et toujours glamour."

Originally Posted by Hylas1896

I'm still looking around, but quick question: where did we get any of the lyrics beyond those that appear in the 20 second clip?

That's not the only clip out there... I currently have a 1:04 clip on continuous loop (and have had it going for about an hour now :-P).



Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick's relationship really doesn't strike me as being all that similar to Mylène and/or Lauraunt and Alizée's, honestly. Other than it being a case of an established person bringing up an unknown, they're pretty different. For those who say Mylène "neglected" Alizée, and that MCE wasn't a success, I'm a bit shocked. I know there is a popular desire to find somebody to blame for our fée disappearing for a while, but really, MCE was successful, Mylène did a great deal for Alizée. MCE wasn't *as* successful as Moi... Lolita, but very few things are.

Also, Mylène isn't just a producer, she's a singer, and she has a career and legions of fans to attend to. I'm personally very thankful to Mylène for all she did for Alizée, and will remain so unless I hear something straight from Alizée's mouth that says otherwise.

[fsquared]

Originally Posted by Cooney

Pretty sixteen
Beautiful heroine of the sixties
You waddle about,
You are divine
When you dance
In the eyes of Andy...

As I mentioned in AF, dandiner does translate to "waddle" in some online dicts but in my experience it's used mainly for ducks and heavily pregnant women. I would probably guess we're looking for something like "sashay" (if RMJ's interpretation of "movement of a fashion model", e.g. down a catwalk, is correct)

[Cooney]

Originally Posted by fsquared

As I mentioned in AF, dandiner does translate to "waddle" in some online dicts but in English it's used mainly for ducks and heavily pregnant women. I would probably guess we're looking for something like "sashay" (if RMJ's interpretation of "movement of a fashion model", e.g. down a catwalk, is correct)

Not just in online dictionaries, my Larousse refers to it specifically as the movement of a duck, or a person moving like a duck. :-P I'm going to see if I can locate it as a backwards translation from anything like "sway" or "bandy," but for now it's duck walking :-P

--Edit--

I'm guessing it may refer to a certain akwardness in the social circles she was suddenly thrust in to, rather than literally saying she moved like a duck. Still hunting other reverse translations, but I'm pretty confidant "waddle" is about all I'm going to find.

[fsquared]

Hmm...very interesting.
Maybe a French dictionary would shed some light. French encarta says:

balancer le corps d'un côté et de l'autre de façon gauche et disgracieuse
(elle se dandine en marchant)

It also shows up in some other song lyrics out there, like
in a song called "Strip Pour Moi":

Sexy t'es mon héroïne Tu te dandines C'est spectaculaire Mime l'hélice d'un hélicoptère Ces prémices m'indiquent que tu sais y faire ...

Doesn't sound like they're talking about something ungainly and awkward to me .

But I'm guessing it's some sort of idiom that's going to require a native French speaker to divine....

EDIT: I guess "sashay" has its own French equivalent btw.

[espire]

Cooney, nice translation. I won't change anything in mine for the moment, unless there's something I did that you think you've corrected. Not that I need to change anything...

In terms of //, it doesn't mean "does not equal to," which is represented by "!=". However, it can mean same-sex pairings in romantic role-playing, and in mathematics it represents parallel lines.

The reason I call it Fifty // Sixty and nobody else does is simply because the original album art (which we can't verify the verity of) happens to show it this way. I'm one to keep things the way they are unless it's logical to change them, so I call it Fifty // Sixty.

[Ellesime]

Its all speculations though from this one part of the song. The rest of the song could show what it really means since we will gain more to the song. so we can only have fun and speculate what it means until it comes out.