I can’t remember exactly when, I must have been quite young, but when I discovered the meaning of this song, it always left a strong impression on me.
Talking about death brings a certain gravity, but it turns into cynicism when the song keeps repeating, over and over : “Is this world serious?”
Yes, let’s cut short this little mystery. The song is called “La Corrida”, and it was written by Francis Cabrel in 1994.
Its uniqueness lies in putting us in the place of the bull, condemned to a “spectacular”death.
It is a tradition that appeared around the 1700s and still continues today.
I haven’t really followed Francis Cabrel’s work — I mostly know him for Petite Marie, L’encre de tes yeux, Je l’aime à mourir, and of course Je t’aimais, je t’aime et je t’aimerai.
But La Corrida captures the distress of the final breath — of those last blows we give, those last hidden tricks, without realizing they won’t change anything, and on the contrary, are just a part of the show.
They say that art is “to lie in order to tell the truth”.Indeed, we cannot know the mind of a bull, but it can bring out our own humanity through the empathy we feel for it.
Human beings are torn between those who see the corrida as a “property of cultural interest”, a ceremonial tradition that plays a major role in the economy, and others who see it as an injustice — for the one who did not choose its fate, must endure suffering, and fight for its life.
(“I rumble”refers to thedeath rattle, this harsh, rattling sound heard in breathing, indicating that the body has entered its profess of dying)
Beyond the fences and the arena, this song invites us to question the legitimacy of our choices.
But in a world where nuances are disappearing, standing against the course of the world might become a crime…
Is it a crime to simply seek for a reason, a purpose…
a purpose that is beyond us.
Francis Cabrel is a monument of French musical culture, and his songs have been widely covered. To conclude this article, let me show you three videos that I really liked, they’re reinterpretations of the famous track La Corrida.
My little tip : don’t watch the videos right away, listen to them first.
1) For the harmony
2) For the risk-taking, and techno ???
3) For the interpretation
As a bonus:
Je l’aime à mourir, sung by Shakira.
Je t’aimais, je t’aime et je t’aimerai, sung by Anne Sila.
That’s it, I hope you enjoyed this article. Tell me what you think by DM on my Instagram, and if you want to know when I’m posting another thing then don’t hesitate to follow ! I love talking about topics that I find interesting.
Finally, I invite you to check him out, the original Francis Cabrel ^^
See you next time.