Francoise Hardy practices at home. Paris, 1963.
I find this unsettling on some level, possibly because that cat looks suspiciously like Sebastian. Given Sebastian’s penchant for scratching at the most precious of my dresses, I suspect he is somewhat inclined towards cross dressing.
Brett Anderson and Jane Birkin - Les Yeux Fermes
Sais tu ce que c’est d’aimer (Do you know what it is to love)
Quand la vie vous décourage? (When life discourages you?)
Mais il n’y a de marécages (But there’s no swamp)
Impossibles a traverser (You couldn’t cross)
Sais tu qu’après les orages (Do you know that after the storm)
Le ciel s’envahit de rose? (The sky turns to pink?)
Passent les bleus, les ecchymoses (Pass the bruises)
Et avec eux les nuages (And with them leave the clouds)
Mais surtout les yeux fermés (But above all, closed eyes)
Il n’y a rien que l’on voie (There’s nothing you can see)
Et même si c’est mieux comme ça (Even if it’s better like this)
Vouloir tout garder pour soi (Keeping all for yourself)
On a beau savoir les choses (However hard we know)
On ne s’habitue pas (We never get used)
Au silence qui s’impose (To the compelling silence)
Au silence qui s’impose (To the compelling silence)
Je sais ce que c’est d’aimer (I know what it is to love)
Quand l’amour vous est égal (When you don’t care about love)
Je sais les feux de Bengale (I know the “Bengale fires”)
Impossibles à rallumer (You can not light again)
Je sais qu’après les naufrages (I know that after shipwrecks)
Du sable fin se dépose (Thin sand settles down)
Pour que les bateaux reposent (For ships to rest)
Et s’endorment sur la plage (And get asleep on the beach)
Mais aussi les yeux fermés (But also, with closed eyes)
Je ne verrai toujours que toi (I’ll ever see only you)
Et tant que ce sera comme ça (And as long as it’s like that)
Je ne les rouvrirai pas (I won’t open them up again)
On a beau savoir les choses (However hard we know)
On ne s’habitue pas (We never get used)
Au silence qui s’impose (To the compelling silence)
Au silence qui s’impose (To the compelling silence)
Sais-tu ce que c’est d’aimer (Do you know what it is to love)
Quand l’amour se fait volage (When love goes fickling)
Dresser d’infinis barrages (Setting up infinite barrages)
Quand la vie part en fumée (When life flies away like smoke)
Que savons nous des voyages (What do we know about trips)
Quand les portes restent closes (When doors stay closed)
Que les mémoires s’enkilosent (When memories fade away)
Qu’on en oublie les visages (When we forget the faces)
Alors que les yeux fermés (While closed eyes)
Je ne verrai toujours que toi (I’ll ever see only you)
Et tant que ce sera comme ça ( And as long as it’s like that)
Je ne les ouvrirai pas (I won’t open them up again)
On a beau savoir les choses (However hard we know)
On ne s’habitue pas (We never get used)
Au silence qui s’impose (To the compelling silence)
Au silence qui s’impose (To the compelling silence)
À ce silence qui s’impose (To this compelling silence)
À ce silence qui s’impose (This compelling silence)
plain text denotes jane birkin’s lines
bold text denotes brett’s lines
bold italic text were sang together
Belle and Sebastian- Fuck This Shit
a.k.a. the soundtrack to my Chemistry practical exam (GCSE). No idea why it turned out that way, but it was this song and the leaked songs from First Impressions of Earth (I still maintain that some of those leaks are better than the eventual album tracks).
Anyway. This song is good and it has no words.
Even though very little (six minutes to be exact) of the Storytelling album ended up in the Todd Solondz film of the same name to which it was supposed to be the soundtrack, that does not speak to the quality of the tracks themselves. It contains some of my favourite Belle & Sebastian tracks like this one and I Don’t Want To Play Football and is in my opinion massively underrated, being perhaps their most consistently brilliant lyrically and in terms of the gorgeous orchestrations. Catch me on the right day and I might even say it is my favourite Belle & Sebastian album if one can put aside the more natural inclination towards the indie pop legend that isTigermilk.
When good Americans die they go to Paris.
— Oscar Wilde (via fuckyeahparis) (via weloveandthenwedie) (via likeghosts)
