Listen to it here #
Intro #
I must have been on a random playlist binge on Amazon when I first came upon Klô Pelgag. The name of the album “L’alchimie des monstres” (The Alchemy of Monsters) caught my attention right away. Funnily enough, this song “Les Corbeaux” (The Crows) was NOT the song that led me to listening to 3 of her albums and falling into sonic love with them. The original song I heard is for another post on another day.
Klô Pelgag #
A lot of the French artists I like seem to be from Canada. Lisa Leblanc, Louis-Jean Cormier, Les Cowboys Fringants…and now another joins their ranks, Klô Pelgag. Her name is pretty unique. Her first full album “L’Alchimie des monstres” was released on 2013 which means it took 10 years for me to discover it somehow. Imagine all the wonderful artists from Quebec that I won’t know about for another 10 years. I gotta get better at discovering great music!
Favorite Lyrics #
The moon is full! The moon is full! The moon is full!
The moon is full! And it’s filled with clouds of crows
and all the islands, and all the islands, and all the islands
cut apart by my scissors
I try to get a glimpse of the full moon each time it rolls around and makes an appearance. After this song, I don’t think I’ll ever by able to look at the full moon again without humming this. I’ll likely sing the French version of course, but still.
I sought the comfort of the light years up above
Watched the lives of those around me but all backwards
This lines up with my own personal life experience regarding a search for meaning in the stars or in religion or in philosophy or in other people, or hobbies, or in myself. All the while I looked at others’ lives as well…and the more I saw the more backward things felt. That likely means nothing for anyone that reads this, but that’s fine. We can talk about it in person if you want. Otherwise, this blog is for much more for me than for you.
I see the torment, I see the torment
I see the torment of a secret to the grave
I see the heartache, I see the heartache
I see the heartache in the pores of your skin
The last 4 lines of the song could all be translated into English with the same word but I used two different words. The first two lines are interesting and remind me of seeing someone and understanding they have a heavy weight they will carry to the grave.
And then, the last 2 lines show how that torment can leak out of the person’s own skin and seep into everything that is around them.
I don’t want to carry anything to my grave. I don’t want to have heartache leak out the pores of my skin. So far so good.
Lyrics #
This song was hard to translate for me. I learned some new phrases, the metaphors in it are great to think about, and the imagery is amazing.
[1er couplet]
Au clair de la brume, j’ai pris ta photo
Comme la nuit brûle ton ombre dans l’eau
Offre-moi l’écume de ces jours au port
Où les bateaux fument tes cendres au départ
In the misty fog’s light, I took your photo
How your shadow burns in the night’s murky waves
Offer me the foam of these days in port
Where your ashes are burned by the boats when they leave
J’ai pris la pilule celle qui fait dormir
Changé ma cellule en un point de mire
D’où je vois les monstres lentement mourir
Revenir au monde, les entends-tu dire ?
I took the pill, the one that leads to sleep
Changed my prison cell into a vantage point
From where I see the monsters ever slowly die
Come back to the world, do you hear them say?
[Refrain]
La lune est pleine ! La lune est pleine ! La lune est pleine !
La lune est pleine, elle est remplie de corbeaux
Et l’archipel ! et l’archipel ! et l’archipel découpé par mes ciseaux
The moon is full! The moon is full! The moon is full!
The moon is full! And it’s filled with clouds of crows
and all the islands, and all the islands, and all the islands
cut apart by my scissors
[2ième couplet]
Le jour est noir comme la nuit, je m’oublie, je m’oublie
Mange mon coeur et prie
Pour que toutes les abeilles sentent mon sang qui gèle
Changent ma mort en miel
The day is dark like the night, I forget, I forget
Swallow my heart and pray
So that all the buzzing bees feel my blood turn to ice
And turn my death to honey
Moi, j’ai cherché le confort des années-lumière
J’ai regardé la vie des autres mais à l’envers
Et j’ai trouvé la pluie dans le désert :
Me réveiller dans le ventre de la mer
I sought the comfort of the light years up above
Watched the lives of those around me but all backwards
And I found rain in the driest desert
Woke up in the deepest cave of the sea
[Refrain]
La lune est pleine ! La lune est pleine ! La lune est pleine !
La lune est pleine, elle est remplie de corbeaux
Et l’archipel ! et l’archipel ! et l’archipel découpé par mes ciseaux
The moon is full! The moon is full! The moon is full!
The moon is full! And it’s filled with clouds of crows
and all the islands, and all the islands, and all the islands
cut apart by my scissors
[3ième couplet]
Je vois la peine, je vois la peine
Je vois la peine du secret dans le tombeau
Je vois la peine, je vois la peine
Je vois la peine dans les pores de ta peau
I see the torment, I see the torment
I see the torment of a secret to the grave
I see the heartache, I see the heartache
I see the heartache in the pores of your skin