The lyrics of "Vitalie" - Rimbaud Spectacle Musical - (ENGLISH)

日本語版はこちらです。 

It's already a while ago (almost half a year ago!), but French Musical Concert was held in Japan (Tokyo) last October. Few days before the concert, I learnded that "Vitalie" would be presented in  the concert. "Vitalie"is  one of the songs from "Rimbaud Spectacle Musical" which was created by Richard Charest and co-written with Arnaud Kerane. Richard was one of the guest singers and I was so pleased that the songs that he had dedicated his passions and energies for so long would be finally shown to the Japanese public. I myself listened to this song at the Sejong Centre two years ago while I had watched Victor Hugo Gala Concert.  At that time my French comprehension ability was quite rudimentary so I only remembered the tensed psycho drama between the two characters: Arthur Rimbaud and his teacher/mentor Georges Izambard.  But I could not forget about the sensation of this song. I was really curious about this musical and later I asked Richard about his musical and his songs including Vitalie (See the blog post here.). 

So it was the second time that I listened to the entire song. This time I was able to understand  French a little bit better but... again I couldn't understand every detail of this song. So I asked Richard to give me the lyrics of this song. He was kind enough to give me a permission to share his song on my blog, so here, I post the original French lyrics and translation (English).

I can't post the photo on stage but you can find official photo on the FB page of Theatre Orb). 

Poster of the concert
 In the concert, "Vitalie" was performed by Richard Charest (Rimbaud) and
 Matt Laurent (Georges (The teacher of Arthur Rimbaud)).

Richard writing the lyrics of Rimbaud on my book about Vitalie

Arnaud Kerane, a co-writer of Rimbaud Musical
I saw him last December in Paris and talked a little bit about Rimbaud.

Vitalie - a mother of the Great Poet

http://youtu.be/QG0RuX4A8MY?t=32s

"Vitalie"You can listen to the song partially from 00：30

*****************************************  
VITALIE

Lyrics: Arnaud Kerane - Richard Charest 
Music : Richard Charest
(* All rights reserved by Richard Charest and Arnaud Kerane )

(G: Georges (The teacher of Arthur Rimbaud)、A: Arthur（Rimbaud）)

GEORGES : Vitalie erre petite femme en noir　　
Discrète et fière et sans histoire　　　　　　　　　　　
Vitalie erre sombre et fragile　　　　　　　　　　　　

Entre Mézières et Charleville　　　　　　　　　　　 

ARTHUR : Vitalie sème ses faux sourires　　　　
Jusqu’au marché jusqu’à l’église　　　　　　　
Vitalie reine d’hypocrisie　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

ARTHUR : Vitalie traîne son coeur de pierre　
De marbre froid de cimetière　　　　　　　　　　　

GEORGES : Vitalie pleure le soir venu　　　　　
Ce fils qu’elle ne reconnaît plus　　　　　　　　

ARTHUR : Vitalie elle je la méprise　　　　　　

GEORGES : Mais qu’a t-elle fait de si terrible ?

ARTHUR : Vitalie elle détruit ma vie　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

GEORGES : Vitalie elle tu la détestes　　　　

ARTHUR : Dans chaque vers dans chaque geste　

G+A : Vitalie elle détruit (ta) ma vie　　　　　　　　　　　

G+A : Vitalie perd fils et mari　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

ARTHUR : Sut-elle vraiment nous retenir　

G+A : Vitalie c’est (ta) ma déchirure　　　　

GEORGES : Ta mère Jean Nicolas Arthur　
　　　　　　　 Ta pauvre mère　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
GEORGES : Ta mère　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

ARTHUR : Mon ombre　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

G+A : (Mon) Ton sang　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

G+A : Complice　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

G+A : Vitalie saigne se sacrifie　　　　　　　　　
         En nous toujours sommeille　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

A : Un mauvais fils　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

G : Un mauvais fils　

**********************

(Translation)
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Gerges：　
Vitalie wanders*
A small woman in black**
Discreet and proud and ordinary

Vitalie wanders 
Somber and fragile***

Between Mézières and Charleville

　　　　　　　

*The verb "errer" means wander (walk around without any specific purpose) and I believe this word is used possibly because of the rhyme (erre / elle), but this word signifies that the mother walked around everywhere to search for whereabouts of her estranged son or also possibly means mentally "wanders" because of the strains or sufferings which were caused by Arthur.

**Description of Vitalie's conservativeness. She was from a family of farmers and lost her mother when she was little. And she had to support her family from very early age and she endured many difficulties. Therefore, she believed in the virtue of modesty, however, her son Arthur despised her pursuit of "normal peaceful life (life without any story)".

*** As explained above, she grew up in a very harsh environment, which made her a very strict and strong woman on the surface. However, at the same time, she also had "sombre (somber / gloomy) and fragile"aspect inside. For example, when Arthur ran away, she was really upset about this incident. I believe Richard and Arnaud try to elicit her dual nature in this verse. After this verse,  these "hidden sides of Vitalie"were told in the verse of Georges.

Arthur: 

Vitalie spreads her false smiles*

From the market to the church**

Vitalie, the queen of hypocrisy  

* It's said that Vitalie was really concerned with herself and her family's reputation. She supported her four children on her own (meaning she was a single mother because Arthur's father left home when Arthur was little.) and as you can imagine, at that time, it was much more difficult to be a single parent and I imagine that it was a big pressure for her to maintain the image of "good family". Perhaps, in a way, this fact pushed her to behave as described in this verse. But again Aruthur harshly condemns her superficial and often hypocritical attitude.   

**Vitalie was conservative and pious Christian woman. So she was a kind of person who put absolute confidence in the church, that is, her life just goes around very small universe: the church or market. Again one can perceive Arthur's strong detestation of the way of life of his mother. 

Arthur： 
Vitalie drags her heart of stone*
Of cold marble of cemetery


*"traîner" means drag so I interpreted that she always had a heart like a tomb stone of the graveyard. Like in this verse, she was quite contrary to the typical "mother like figure". But considering the fact that after her husband left her, not only did she play a role of mother, but also she had to play a role of "father" in her family. Therefore, she had to be an authoritative figure and it can be said that there was no choice for her to be a loving and affectionate mother. 

Georges： 
Vitalie cries when the night comes
This son that she no longer knows

Arthur： 
Vitalie, I despise her

Georges： 

But did she do something that terrible?*

*It seemed that Georges knew that Vitalie oppressed her son and felt sorry for him (Indeed Gerges was once accused by Vitalie because she believed that her son behaved badly because of the bad influence of the progressive teacher Georges.). Nevertheless as a quasi-father/brother figure, he might have a wish that the two would reconcile. But for Arthur, this ambiguous behavior might be just irritating.

Arthur： 

Vitalie, she destroyed my life

Georges：
Vitalie, you detest her

Arthur：In every word, in every gesture

A+G： Vitalie, she destroyed my (your) life

A+G： Vitalie loses son and husband*

* The son is of course Arthur, so I think perdre (lose) in this verse means runaway (physical) and the rupture (mental/emotional) with his son. And she also lost her husband, Frederic. Frederic was an army officer and didn't get along with Vitalie. She had been "absent husband" and left their home indefinitely (After her husband's leaving, she lived as a widow.). I feel a bit sorry for her. There is no one who can rely on and the talented son for whom she had a great expectations turns his back on her. 

Arthur： Did she believe that she could keep us*?

*Nous (us) means probably Arthur and his father Frederic. This is a rhetorical question so in this verse, one can sense strong irony and strong feelings of accusation of Arthur.

G+A： Vitalie, she is the one who tears me (you) apart

*"déchirure" literally means crack or tearing up. But the meaning here is I guess Vitalie was the source of sufferings or agony for Arthur. Again strong hatred of his mother...

Gerges： 

(It's) your mother, Jean Nicolas Arthur*

Your poor mother
Your mother

*Arthur's full name.

Arthur： My shadow*

*This probably means his mother always shed a shadow over his life. Besides according to Wikipedia, Arthur called his mother "bouche d'ombre (The mouth of Shadow)" secretly.

G+A： (My) Your blood*

*"sang" in this verse means I think family ties / blood relation, that is, this verse has the connotation that "blood will tell." So Gerges might imply that "no matter how much you hate your mother, she is your mother and her blood is running through your vein." And Arthur cursedly admitted this fact. 

G+A：Accomplice*

* The French original word "Complice" has a number of meanings. But I believe this word precisely describes the relationship between Arthur and Vitalie. In French, complice means, as in English, a person who works with or helps someone who is doing something wrong or illegal. But at the same time, complice also has the meaning of partner and friend in French. So, I assume that these two persons seemingly antagonize each other but in fact these two are much alike and almost inseparable and moreover possibly they need each other. 

I read a book about Vitalie ("Vitalie Rimbaud : Pour l'amour d'un fils"), and the author of this book says that Vitalie chose not to accompany her husband (Being in a army means that one has to constantly move around the country or foreign country and family has to move around with him.) and stayed in her land. She was a very keen on educating her four children and even though she was probably a conservative woman, but at that time she was probably a pioneer of being a feminist / independent woman and the precursor of the epoch. Therefore, in this sense, she herself might be a rebel against the tradition or authority of that time and it can be said that this trait was passed down to his son Arthur. 

So you could probably say that the two are so much alike, that all the better for it, they hate each other. In short, they know each other too well and they love each other too much. 

I really love this choice of word by Richard and Arnaud :) Lovely little twist at the end. What a profound insight!

  

G+A： Vitalie is bleeding* for sacrificing herself

*"saigner" literally means bleed but in this verse, I think it's used as figuratively. She put everything she had to Arthur. 

G+A： A bad son is always hidden within us 
        

After the show, I asked Richard to write his favorite verse of "Vitalie".
He kindly wrote the last line of the song. Now I understand why
he chose this line. It's very philosophical and unversal as well.

The last verse. After reading the entire lyrics, I finally understood why Richard chose this verse when I saw him in October. "Sommeille" literally means "doze off" but in this context I believe it's used as "hidden but easily surface / emerge". And as indicated in the word "en nous (within us)", this story detaches from the specific story between Arthur and Gerges and in the end, it is shown that this story is actually universal; each one of us has the aspect of bad son / daughter.

I myself have been often considered as a "good girl" ever since I was a little kid. But I always felt my wickedness or inner rebel within myself (and this wickedness surfaces from time to time... ). So when I listened to lyrics, it clicked in my mind and said to myself: "it's so true!".

What I love about this song is #1, the profound universal theme like I've discussed above and #2, the fact that Richard and Arnaud try to express the complexity of a person; they try to express not only the bright side but also the dark side of a person and vice versa.

I love the French word "humain(e)". This word literally means "being a human", and I believe this adjective explains the "esprit" of French culture very well; there is no one who is 100% hero or 100% "bad guy", which makes us more beautiful (I think French culture appreciates this concept very much; they are not judgmental and try to embrace a person's life wholeheartedly.). Everyone has virtues and flaws or bright side and dark side, morality or immorality and in fact, these pairs are always complementary; both traits are essential for making who you are. All the better for it, I believe, a person or the life of a person can be much richer and more meaningful.

So in the case of Vitalie, as shown in the depiction in the song, she was not a total bad mother or authoritative figure who oppressed the literary prodigy. Beneath such apparent cold-heartedness, she was a lonely  fragile woman. In fact she loved his son very deeply, but in her own way. So this multi-faceted depiction (what is more, it's told through Georges's dialogue and not herself. This is also interesting...) helped the audience to understand her complexity and that is I believe it's like an attempt to "humanize" her. And if we think about Arthur, he was also not a 100 % "angel". I do understand how he feels as a rebellious teen (yes, I went through such epoch too! it's sort of like a rite of passage.), but his way of despising her is a bit too harsh and cruel.

And lastly the "human drama" in this song is so interesting. Of course it's a story about the son and mother who seem to be quite opposite and the hatred that Arthur embraced toward her mother was so deep that the rupture is seemingly almost irrevocable, but like I have discussed above, the relationship is not that simple.  And this complexity can often be seen in our life too. Especially the relationship between the children and their parents are often very complicated (love / hatred / envy / expectation / disappointment / disagreement etc...) and perhaps the meanings of "love" can be as different as the number of household.

I think we would find more this kind of interesting stories in their musical.  And in this senses, I think their songs are artistically very sophisticated. 

I can't wait to listen to other songs and hopefully see their musical in near future!