Hello everyone, I haven't been around for a while and I don't have much time to write but I thought it would be a good idea for me to introduce this wonderful French singer to you. I guess you mostly know her as Johnny Depp's girlfriend and mother of this children, but she is very much more than that, she's a real artist. So if you're curious to know her a little more, I'll do my best to present this album which is, I think, her best live show and there are a lot of songs from all different periods of her carreer.

**********WHO IS SHE?**********

Vanessa Paradis was born in 1972 in France. She started to sing in 1987 (yes, 20 years ago!!) and her biggest hit of that year was "Joe le Taxi". She worked with Lenny Kravitz, Serge Gainsbourg (I hope you know him because he was an amazing singer and song writer...) and more recently with Johnny Depp (of course!) and with a very famous French singer but I doubt you know him, his name is Mathieu Chedid (known as "M"). He's very popular. Vanessa is also an actress and she made about 10 movies, I know this is not a lot, but ever since she's been with Depp, she's been very rare on screen or on the radio.
This album is a concert recorded in 2001 (her last tour). Thank God, she's finally back and we are starting to hear her new song on the radio, we've been waiting for her return! She also made publicity for Chanel, you may have seen her in that occasion. Now that you know her a little more, let us see what this album is about...

**********THE ALBUM**********

----------Intro----------

This first track is an introduction with only the musicians playing, they are very good, throughout the whole concert they are just...Amazing to hear! After the intro, Vanessa appears...

----------L'eau et le vin----------

This first real song is a very good song, recorded in her last studio album and written by a French singer, Alain Bashung. The text is very interesting because it makes the difference between water and wine, and how much we prefer drinking wine rather than water, even though wine is a poison... A small extract...

"L'eau et le vin
je veux l'eau et le vin
la terre et le venin
je veux l'eau des marins
Aussi bon que le pain
le vin qui me parle
et l'eau qui ne dit rien
Poisson dans l'un
poison dans l'autre
... l'eau et le vin..."

----------Sunday Mondays----------

This song is from the album she made with Lenny Kravitz in the beginning of the 90s. I don't know if anyone knows this song, I must say that I'm not really fond of this song. It really sounds like a Lenny song.

"The sun is out
The clouds are slowly going
And now my heart is growing fast
So let's get up
Put on you hat and clothing
Let's take a trip and lose our minds
Let's go walking through the park today
I love sunday mondays any day
When the skies are blue and it's not grey
I'll take sunday mondays any every day..."

----------Dans mon café----------

This is a great song, the lyrics are really weird when you listen to it for the first time because there are a lot of metaphors. The themes are love and destruction. A man entered in her life and destroyed it all.

"Tu es le clown dans mon café
Le ballon rouge sur mon nez
Le magicien auditionné
Au plus grand cirque jamais monté
Des trapezistes s'sont ramassés
Des lionnes, des tigres dépareillés
Tu es le seul dans mon café
L'seul numéro qu'j'peux pas sucrer
Mais qu'as-tu fait des plus futés
De ceux qui me faisaient du thé
Du lait dont j'aurais du douter
Le bel autodafé
Le bel autodafé
Que t'as fait là
Dans mon café..."

----------Walk on the Wild Side---------

You probably know this song, it was a Lou Reed song and it was reaaly controversial when it was released. He talked about transsexuality and people who really existed (actresses who were originally men) and also talked about drugs. Vanessa sings it very well and her original sound of voice is wonderful in this song. The backgroung vocals are great on this track.

"Holly came from miami FLA
Hitch-hiked her way across the USA
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her leg and then he was a she
She says, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
Said, hey honey, take a walk on the wild side
Candy came from out on the island
In the backroom she was everybodys darling
But she never lost her head
Even when she was given head
She says, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
Said, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
And the coloured girls go
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo..."

----------Dis lui toi que je t'aime---------

A song written for her by Serge Gainsbourg in the beginning of the 90's. The text is very beautifully written, it is about a girl who wants the boy she loves to tell her current boyfriend that she loves him and not the boyfriend (to make it simple : "tell him that I love you"). It's a good song but not my favorite. A lot of images and metaphors...

"Dis-lui toi que je t'aime
Ou programme-moi sur I.B.M.
Je n'aimerais pas le blesser
Je m'rends compte que pour compte nous l'avons laissé
Dis-lui toi que je t'aime
Et qu'il se branche sur la F.M.
Alors il pourra me capter
Ou bien c'est qu'il est complètement disjoncté..."

----------L'eau à la bouche----------

A tribute to Gainsbourg (who died in 1991), this is his song and the rythm is very joyful, the text is great. He invites a woman to abandon herself to him, to forget her fears and just love him. Vanessa's voice is great on this track. Excellent song...

"Ecoute ma voix écoute ma prière
Ecoute mon cœur qui bat laisse-toi faire
Je t'en pris ne sois pas farouche
Quand me viens l'eau à la bouche
Je te veux confiante je te sens captive
Je te veux docile je te sens craintive
Je t'en prie ne sois pas farouche
Quand me viens l'eau à la bouche..."

----------Joe le Taxi----------

Her first hit, a classic in France. The song talks about Joe, a taxi driver who travels throughout the streets of Paris in the night. It presents him, his passions, etc... This version is much better than the original one because her voice has changed (she was a teenager when she recorded it) and she sounds better now. Great rythm, it makes you wanna dance.

"Joe le taxi
Y va pas partout
Y marche pas au soda
Son saxo jaune
Connaît toutes les rues par coeur
Tous les p'tits bars
Tous les coins noirs
Et la Seine
Et ses ponts qui brillent
Dans sa caise
La musique à Joe
C'est la rumba
Le vieux rock au mambo..."

----------St Germain----------

It's a song she wrote for her daughter and Depp put it in music. She says how happy she is as a mom and how wonderful her baby is (the center of their universe). Very beautiful words...

"Pour un exil
Ce petit bout de femme t'emmèneras loin
Tout est permis
J'ai mis mes pas dans les siens
Elle est bien le soleil
Puisque tout tourne autour d'elle
Petite merveille
Pas si facile
D'être aussi pure dans un monde qu'il est moins
Mille et une symphonies
Qu'elle inventera en un rien
Enfin le bonheur
C'est toutes les couleurs
De son cœur..."

----------Requiem pour un con----------

Another tribute to Gainsbourg. A great song, he talks to a man he calls a jerk who died, he says that this is a song he made for him, a requiem for the jerk he was. Great rythm and once more a very good version from miss Paradis.

"Écoute les orgues
Elles jouent pour toi
Il est terrible cet air-là
J'espère que tu aimes
C'est assez beau non
C'est le requiem pour un con
Je l'ai composé spécialement pour toi
À ta mémoire de scélérat
C'est un joli thème,
Tu ne trouves pas, non
Semblable à toi-même
Pauvre con..."

----------Que fait la vie?----------

A song written by M, she wonders what life is about, she questions the aim of what we do everyday, and destiny. A very good song here.

"Mais que fait la vie
que fait la vie
que fait la nuit de nos bébés
qui dois-je annoncer
Faire le pressing ou repasser
j'hésite
je m'etais déjà repliée
des pompes ou des apnées
j'hésite
un mille-bornes, plutôt crever..."

----------La la la Song----------

A song she wrote herself, tribute to her love for her boyfriend. It is very beautiful to hear and her voice is interesting because it's very low. Great song.

"There is no substitution
for the way I feel
didn't know this could be real
don't want no explanation
for what is on my mind
cause I'm doing fine
if it's a dream then let me sleep
only wake me when
you're in my arms again
I've been waiting for a while
now you gave me the reason why
I was holding on singing la la la la la
if it's an illusion let it flow
right or wrong I don't wanna know
keep it coming baby la la la la la..."

----------This will be our year----------

A song written and originally sang by a band calles 'the Zombies" I don't know them at all. I don't really like this song.

"The warmth of your love's
Like the warmth from the sun
And this will be our year
Took a long time to come...
Don't let go of my hand
Now the darkness has gone..."

----------Pourtant---------

Another M song. Beautiful words. She explains that she just enjoys life and only takes the good things of life, including the love of her man. It's her vision of happiness.

"Tu demandais hier
mon avis sur le bonheur
l'air de rien voilà que tu t'inquiètes
la paix te ferait donc peur
je l'attise cet amour
les brindilles volètent
tu n'y vois que du feu
c'est sa vie secrète
pourtant...pourtant...pourtant..."

----------Tandem----------

Written by Gainsbourg for her. One of her biggest hits ever, Gainsbourg plays with words and rhymes in a magnificent way, he was a real genius, a wonderful poet. The theme of this song is love, of course! Nice rythm and once more, excellent musicians.

"Dans le mot "je t'aime"
Trop de M
Et jamais jamais un seul N
Dans amour toujours
C'est le pour
Ou le contre c'est souvent la haine
On m'dévisage
On m'envisage
Comme une fille que je ne suis pas
Je m'exile
Trop fragile
Mille et une nuits m'éloignent de moi..."

---------Commando---------

The first single of her last studio album. Great rythm and amazing musicians. It's a description of a man that she calls a commando, how great he is. Very good song.

"Un commando, ça saute aux yeux
C'est pas cadeau, c'est pas qu'à deux
Ça prend des ponts aux amoureux
Et ça répond aux vaniteux
Un commando
C'est résistant..."

----------Marilyn et John----------

Vanessa always liked the American actress Marilyn Monroe and this song is about the secret relationship between Marilyn and John Kennedy. OK, not that secret! She describes Marilyn dreaming of a beautiful romance with John, waiting for him. Wonderful song.

"Marilyn amoureuse
Elle appelle John... John
De secretaires en ministeres
Au telephone elle attend
C'est un amour mystere
Un secret d'etat
Marilyn change sa voix
Elle s'invente des prenoms
Et le mariage d'une etoile et d'un lion..."

She made an English version of this song, though it's not the translation of the French words.

"Marilyn was an alien
And she called John
Home...
Admiration, frustration
Just an L.A.
Fast song
Just perfume, just flesh
And from there he knew
Marilyn was alone..."

It is a bit weird in English...

----------Bliss----------

A song she wrote with Depp. The beautiful romance they're living. It's great to see that two people and moreover, two Famous people can love each other that much... Very beautiful song and her voice is perfect on this track.

"Dear smoky room
Stardust in the eyes
Anything will rise
Our bellys bloomed
Sunset red fly toes
Haunted mind
Where I go there it goes
Your soul within mine
I'm a book in my dreams
See what I love you means
Far for the ground
Below the sky
No way around
Is where we hide
Between the sound
Before the light
My love and I live in never to be found..."

-----------Les acrobates----------

Last song but not the least. This is a song Vanessa wrote for her family (parents and sister, Alysson). She thanks them for always having been there and still being the great people they are. Just...BEAUTIFUL! She plays guitar on this track, it's just her and the guitar, the audience is fascinated, they tell her that they love her and that she's wonderful. Great voice!

"Ils vont pleurer, peut être
je guette
ils vont sourire, je crois
ils savent tout ce qui m'apaise et du reste
veillent au juste équilibre en moi
je suspends les acrobaties
l'espace
d'un geste amoureux
d'un merci
ce léger bonus de trac
est pour ma mère, mon père, ma soeur
tout simplement..."

**********MY OPINION**********

As you may have understood, I really love this singer, I think she deserves to be known as the artist she is. In France, she's very popular as a person, but people like her more as an actress than as a singer. The common point between most of her songs is her love for beautiful words, she usually sings songs where the texts are written as poems, in an intelligent way. She's a wonderful artist. If you want to discover her, buy this live album because it contains her biggest hits. She's very rare and she's not the kind of artists we call "commercial", who just sing the things people like to hear. Her main aim is not selling, but making the music she likes, and the result is great.

Thank you very much for having read this review and once more, I'm very sorry about the language mistakes, I'm doing my best!! Enjoy Vanessa's music now! ;-))