Using three different examples, Jean-Yves Ragot explains how songs can evolve and where they can come from.
The song version 1991/1992
I was an active member of the association Aide à Toute Détresse (ATD) (Help in Need) Quart-Monde for a long time. For a certain period, I was one of the animators of the Wednesday Club for children.
In response to a call for a competition, launched by the national headquarters of ATD, inviting me to compose a song for the World Day Against Poverty, I composed “Une dalle de pierre”.
Peut-on parler des droits de l’homme Quand la misère touche tant d’hommes Quand ils ont faim, quand ils ont froid Et qu’ils n’ont même plus un toit Même en plein cœur de nos richesses Même à deux pas de nos avenues Des familles vivent dans la détresse Des hommes meurent comme des exclus UNE DALLE DE PIERRE CONTRE LA MISÈRE UNE DALLE D’ESPOIR SOUS TOUS LES REGARDS AU COEUR D’UN PARI(S) CONTRE LA MISÈRE SUR TOUTE LA TERRE UNE DALLE DE PIERRE CONTRE LA MISÈRE POUR UN MONDE NOUVEAU LA DALLE DU TROCADÉRO Chaque fois qu’un homme est humilié Bafoué, rejeté ou méprisé En fait c’est toute l’humanité Qui perd un peu sa dignité Peut-on parler des droits de l’homme Quand la misère touche tant d’hommes Quand ils ont faim, quand ils ont froid Et qu’ils n’ont même plus un toit REFRAIN | Can we talk about human rights When misery affects so many people When they are hungry, when they are cold And they don’t even have a roof over their heads Even in the heart of our wealth Even just a stone’s throw from our avenues Families live in distress Men die as outcasts A SLAB OF STONE AGAINST MISERY A SLAB OF HOPE UNDER ALL EYES IN THE HEART OF A BET AGAINST MISERY ON THE WHOLE EARTH A STONE SLAB AGAINST MISERY FOR A NEW WORLD THE SLAB OF THE TROCADERO Every time a man is humiliated scorned, rejected or despised In fact it is all of humanity Which loses a little of its dignity Can we talk about human rights When misery affects so many people When they are hungry, when they are cold And they don’t even have a roof over their heads REFRAIN |
Copyright Jean-Yves Ragot
It is a text about the slab inaugurated on the Trocadero Square, in Paris, on October 17th, 1987. The founder of the ATD movement, and the initiator of this World Day, was Father Joseph Wresinski. You can see this slab in detail in the video, with the central phrase which is so important.
The young people who had gathered at the ATD national centre in Noisy-le-Grand chose my song for this World Day Against Poverty. It was officially recognised in 1992 by the UN and is now held every 17th October.
The song is still in our repertoire. You will discover it, with pictures, with my accomplice Chris on the guitar here. :
The song version 2015/2017
Some years later, a faithful friend who knows who is meant, and for whom this music was “my best music”, urged me to rework it and to open it to a wider public with a less specialized theme.
So, I wrote a completely different text to the same music.
In the heading, I wrote “two totally different sound worlds”. Of us seven children, five wrote or still write songs. For “Je reviens de si loin”, which is the title of this second version, it was my big brother Michel, from Paris, who did all the orchestration.
I have placed it on my website, which, thanks to you, for sharing, I have started to update.
You can listen to it here link
J’ai traversé tous les abîmes Dans des vertiges de déprimes J’ai traversé toutes les tempêtes Quand toutes les fuites sont des défaites J’ai traversé tous les déserts Et tous les cercles des enfers J’ai traversé toutes les souffrances Et jusqu’aux portes de la démence Je reviens de si loin Mais je te reviens Du fin fond de moi-même De tous les extrêmes Impatient de vivre Chaque seconde De ton cœur Je reviens de si loin Mais je te reviens Du fin fond de moi-même Comme un tout premier je t’aime J’ai traversé tous ces cauchemars Qui nous déchirent dans le noir J’ai traversé toutes ces angoisses Qui nous submergent et qui nous glacent Mais durant toutes ces traversées C’est ton visage que je voyais C’est ta présence qui me portait C’est ton amour qui me guidait Refrain PONT MUSICAL Je reviens de si loin Je reviens de si loin Je reviens de si loin Mais je te reviens La tendresse dans les yeux Et le corps en feu Je te reviens plus fort Pour t’aimer mille ans Et bien plus encore Je reviens de si loin Mais je te reviens Du fin fond de moi-même Comme un… tout premier… je t’aime Je reviens de si loin De si loin | I have crossed all the abysses In dizzy spells of despondency I’ve been through all the storms When all escapes are defeats I’ve crossed all the deserts And all the circles of hell I’ve been through all the sufferings And to the gates of insanity I’ve come back from so far But I come back to you From the depths of myself From all extremes Eager to live Every second Of your heart I’ve come so far But I come back to you From the depths of my being Like a very first I love you I’ve been through all these nightmares That tear us apart in the dark I’ve been through all these anxieties That overwhelm us and freeze us But through it all It was your face that I saw It was your presence that carried me It was your love that guided me Refrain MUSICAL BRIDGE I’ve come back from so far I’ve come back from so far I come back from so far But I come back to you The tenderness in my eyes And my body on fire I come back stronger To love you for a thousand years And much more I come back from so far away But I come back to you From the depths of my being Like a… very first… I love you I’ve come back from so far away From so far away |
Copyright: Jean-Yves Ragot.
Creation is magic!
Take a block of stone or a piece of wood and make an animal or a statue out of it. Buy an old, dilapidated farmhouse and turn it into a superb and pleasant place to live. With old clothes or brand-new fabric cuts, you can make surprising and elegant clothes. One can multiply the examples endlessly and in all fields.
Now, add to this: having a phrase or the beginning of a melody in your head, or under your fingers, making a complete song out of it, orchestrating it, recording it and being able to share it. At each level we are craftsmen. And the creation keeps its magic side each time.
So, in keeping with the spirit of what I wrote earlier, it was my big brother Michel, from Paris, who again did all the orchestration and came up with a valuable remark.
He pointed out to me that I should leave more breathing space and music between my words, and inside my stanzas and refrains.
“Breathe when you sing.” I had the first sentence. A new song was in gestation. This is the one you are about to discover.
For those of you who prefer to listen to the song without looking at the pictures, I would like to point out that in this montage, there are more texts than pictures.
And you can even breathe as the song unfolds, or even experience this “mindfulness breathing”, which has rightly been well publicised recently.
Here is the link:
Wishing you good health and stimulating projects.
Jean-Yves