22 replies to this topic

[jonnnnx]

Ok, so as I'm sure is the case with most of us, I absolutely love listen to, and singing to, Un Peu Plus Haut with Ginette. But, there's one part of the song which I can't find the lyrics for ANYWHERE : (

It's at 6:10 on this video here
She says "Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin. Je veux aller encore plus loin." then Ginette sings, and after Celine sings "... Je t'aime quand même". Does anyone know what she says before "Je t'aime quand même"?

Thanks a lot : )

[calmar]

Peut-être bien, peut-être bien, je t'aime quand même.

[Lou555]

calmar, on Oct 19 2008, 08:12 PM, said:

Peut-être bien, peut-être bien, je t'aime quand même.

"Maybe so, maybe so...I love you anyway."

It's funny you should ask about this part. Those particular lyrics aren't part of the original song you know.  Either Céline made it up on purpose because she wanted to say this to Ginette(who didn't do an international career and always had some regrets in a way) or she made it up because she messed up being too emotional and tearing.    It could be either, I like to think it was sang by Céline on purpose, who knows really? Only Céline could tell.  
Because you know this song has many meanings. Every meanings the listener understand are the right ones in my opinion. You take it the way you want, that's the beauty of lyrics in a song. You get to make up your own images and story. Originally it's about a breakup I think listening JP talking about it over the years. But between Céline and Ginette I thought it brought a different meaning, to me it was talking about wanting to get to the top, doing everything to get there and then asking how to come down without hurting yourself.  My guess is this is something Céline has thought about more in recent years and still is; she talked about it with JP in his afternoon interview with her (coming down the ladder and still be healthy as a person and be able to lead a healthy life still).  Céline has talked about those things many times recently.  So my guess is this was also one of many reasons why Céline was SO emotional during that song. In that part where Ginette is asking maybe a little higher a little farder...and Céline answers maybe so, maybe so...I love you anyway.

I thought I'd share how this duet made me feel, what I understood of it and why it was very emotional for me too to hear them telling and responding to each other in that song.

[Lou555]

Quote

In that part where Ginette is asking maybe a little higher a little farder...and Céline answers maybe so, maybe so...I love you anyway.

Some more explanations are needed I guess to be understood.  

When Ginette sings for example "maybe a little higher, a little farder I will find other paths..."(like she was saying maybe I could still find other ways to make it even in a bigger way in my carreer). And then Céline answering "maybe so, maybe so"(but there's no need to do that to prove to me, to us how great you are)...I love you anyway".

Hope I made more clear my way of understanding those lyrics by putting in (  ) what wasn't sang but what I thought it meant for them to sing those words. That's what it meant to me anyway and it made it even more a unique and emotional meeting to witness.

[jonnnnx]

Thank you guys! It makes sense now, haha : )

Wow, you're insightful. I just like the sound of her voice. Well, not only but you know what I mean : )
Thanks again! : D

[VintageCeline]

Is is possible for someone to translate the lyrics because with the internet translations the meaning is lost.

Thanks.

Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin
Je veux aller un peu plus loin
Je veux voir comment c'est, là-haut
Garde mon bras et tiens ma main

Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin
Je veux aller encore plus loin
Laisse mon bras, mais tiens ma main
Je n'irai pas plus loin qu'il faut

Encore un pas, encore un saut
Une tempête et un ruisseau
Prends garde! Prends garde: j'ai laissé ta main
Attends-moi là-bas: je reviens

Encore un pas, un petit pas
Encore un saut et je suis là,
Là-haut, si je ne tombe pas...
Non! J'y suis! Je ne tombe pas!

C'est beau! C'est beau!
Si tu voyais le monde au fond, là-bas
C'est beau! C'est beau!
La mer plus petite que soi
Mais tu ne me vois pas

Un peu plus loin, un peu plus seul
Je n'veux pas être loin tout seul
Viens voir ici comme on est bien
Quand on est haut, oh! comme on est bien

Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin
Je n'peux plus te tenir la main
Dis-moi comment j'ai pu monter,
Comment r'descendre sans tomber

Un peu plus loin, un peu plus fort
Encore un saut! Essaye encore!
Je voudrais te tendre les bras;
Je suis trop haut, tu es trop bas

Encore un pas, un petit pas
Tu es trop loin! Je t'aime!
Adieu! Adieu! Je reviendrai
Si je redescends sans tomber

C'est beau! C'est beau!
Si tu voyais le monde au fond, là-bas
C'est beau! C'est beau!
La mer plus petite que soi
Mais tu ne la vois pas

Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin
Je veux aller encore plus loin
Peut-être bien qu'un peu plus haut,
Je trouverai d'autres chemins

[SensationalCeline]

I'm a huge Celine fan but (don't kill me) I have never heard that song before until now and I totally loved it! Thank you for needing help with it because if you didn't, I would never have heard it.

[Jacqui]

This thread is interesting. It actually made me want to hear the song again. That's cool what you said, Lou, about the different meanings I'm curious though, do you mean that Celine is worried about living a healthy life outside of show business? I never thought that was an issue for her, being so grounded. Anyway, I'm gonna listen to the song again now and see if I can make myself like it. (I totally appreciate how special this moment was for Celine, it just happened to really hurt my ears and I hated it in the past.)

[VintageCeline]

I think both of their voices really go well together. And you can see that it is such a special moment for Celine.

I just wish I could know what they were both saying....

[tonybower]

Here is a translation of the song according to the lyrics you posted


A little higher

A little higher, a little further
I want to go a little further
I want to see what it's like, up there
Take my arm and hold my hand

A little higher, a little further
I want to go further still
Let go of my arm but keep hold of my hand
I won't go any further than is necessary

Just another step, another leap
A storm, a stream
Look out! Look out: I let go of your hand
Wait for me there; I'll come back

Another step, a small step
Another leap and I'm there
Up there, if I do not fall
No! I'm here! I will not fall

It's beautiful! It's beautiful!
If you could see the world way down there
It's beautiful! It's beautiful!
The sea is smaller than the self
But you do not see me

A little further, a little more alone
I don't want to be far away, all alone
Come and see how wonderful it is here
When you're high up, oh! how wonderful it is

A bit higher, a bit further
I can't hold your hand anymore
Tell me how I was able to climb up here
How to get back down without falling

A little further, a little stronger
Another leap! Try again!
I want to reach my arms out to you
I am too high, you are too low

Another step, a little step
You're too far away! I love you!
Farewell! Farewell! I will come back
If I get back down without falling

It's beautiful! It's beautiful!
If you could just see the world way down there
It's beautiful! It's beautiful!
The sea is smaller than the self
But you can't see it

A little higher, a little further
I want to go further still
Maybe a bit higher up
I will find another path

Edited by tonybower, 12 April 2009 - 07:33 PM.

[VintageCeline]

Thankyou!!!!

[Snowhite]

tonybower, on Apr 13 2009, 04:20 AM, said:

Here is a translation of the song according to the lyrics you posted


A little higher

A little higher, a little further
I want to go a little further
I want to see what it's like, up there
Take my arm and hold my hand

A little higher, a little further
I want to go further still
Let go of my arm but keep hold of my hand
I won't go any further than is necessary

Just another step, another leap
A storm, a stream
Look out! Look out: I let go of your hand
Wait for me there; I'll come back

Another step, a small step
Another leap and I'm there
Up there, if I do not fall
No! I'm here! I will not fall

It's beautiful! It's beautiful!
If you could see the world way down there
It's beautiful! It's beautiful!
The sea is smaller than the self
But you do not see me

A little further, a little more alone
I don't want to be far away, all alone
Come and see how wonderful it is here
When you're high up, oh! how wonderful it is

A bit higher, a bit further
I can't hold your hand anymore
Tell me how I was able to climb up here
How to get back down without falling

A little further, a little stronger
Another leap! Try again!
I want to reach my arms out to you
I am too high, you are too low

Another step, a little step
You're too far away! I love you!
Farewell! Farewell! I will come back
If I get back down without falling

It's beautiful! It's beautiful!
If you could just see the world way down there
It's beautiful! It's beautiful!
The sea is smaller than the self
But you can't see it

A little higher, a little further
I want to go further still
Maybe a bit higher up
I will find another path

Οh thank you so very much!!!

[sazzlepop123]

Thank you for the translation!

I just have one question....

The sea is smaller than the self
But you can't see it


What do these lyrics imply???

That the sea down below is smaller that you are (because you are so high) but then it says but you can't see it. huh?!

[VintageCeline]

sazzlepop123, on Apr 14 2009, 09:19 PM, said:

Thank you for the translation!

I just have one question....

The sea is smaller than the self
But you can't see it


What do these lyrics imply???

That the sea down below is smaller that you are (because you are so high) but then it says but you can't see it. huh?!

I don't get that line....

Is it supposed to be like..
I'm so high up, reaching my goals that the sea and everything around looks smaller than what it really is, but you don't really see it...

Gah?!?! I'm confusing myself!  

[sazzlepop123]

Yes I think that is what it is saying but the meaning is perplexing!  I think it's a bit tricky because it is a translation from French so we lose a bit of the meaning.  

From what I can gather it is basically implying - yes the sea seems small and it looks beautiful because you are so high and you have the ability to see it from a great height.  However, despite having the chance to view such a beautiful thing.....you are actually not able to 'see' it because you are so high up in fame that you are unable to see the earthly things that really matter.

Maybe???

[VintageCeline]

Yeahhhhhh, thats what I thought...

Complex song!!

[tonybower]

The French soi always causes problems because sometimes it's very abstract and conceptual and other times it is rather quite concrete; the English 'one' or 'oneself' is therefore rarely an appropriate equivalent but this will be the only translation given in the dictionary. In Enlgish we just don't use 'one' in the same way as in French... historically it was quite common but now it is actually quite heavy and even conspicuously pretentious... Of course, it is still used but in qiute specific circumstances.

Here I chose the 'self' partly because it is less striking than the English 'one'/'oneself' but also because it can be as abstract or as concrete as the reader wants it to be. I have been thinking about it for a while and I would agree with the interpretatoins above:

Poetically, the 'sea', an enormous, almost unquantifiable mass is often treated as something impressive, dangerous and beyond the grasp of human comprehension but here, ironically, the sea is suddenly much smaller than 'the self'... There is no definitie article in the French which raises all kinds of questions that the translation just cannot convey... But I would say that the elevated, famous speaker has suddenly become bigger and a much more significant force than the sea. The use of the abstract soi could indicate that the speaker has developed an elevated sense of self (like those annoying people who refer to themselves in the third person or, worse still, the first person plural; I have heard that Margaret Thatcher once referred to herself as 'we'!)

Anyway, the song is obviously about the dizzy heights of fame, and the unending thirst for more. The self loses a sense of proportion - either as a result of excessive admiration from others or inflated egoism or both! I do not think the speaker is being portrayed negatively or even being criticised but rather the song is about the negative effects of fame, the illusion and precarious nature of it all...

In the first instance, the line reads that 'the sea is smaller than the self/but you can't see it': this could mean that the admirer or speaker cannot see how skewed their perception of reality has become; later the song reads 'you cannot see me' which I would argue is a suggestion that the admirer has actually become so involved that they have stopped seeing the speaker as another person but some greater force and therefore the speaker loses a real sense of identity... This would justify the use of the abstract soi / 'self' which serves to efface the figure of admiration.

[Davey84]

hmm I read somewhere that it was about a person wanting to die, to go to heaven, but the other one is asking him/her to stay... but that wasn't right? I think it can be interpreted like that...

I finally saw the song last Friday, it really, really was amazing!

[SensationalCeline]

Now that you mention it supposed to mean that....it makes sense to me.

[Melody]

Can anyone tell what the choir says at the very end of the song, right before celine and ginette's last 'c'est beau'?????


I think it could be this  'Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin'
Or maybe,   Un peu plus loin, un peu plus fort




But I'm not sure

[Lou555]

Davey84, on Jun 14 2009, 05:25 PM, said:

hmm I read somewhere that it was about a person wanting to die, to go to heaven, but the other one is asking him/her to stay... but that wasn't right? I think it can be interpreted like that...

I finally saw the song last Friday, it really, really was amazing!

JP Ferland who wrote this song said that it was originally written about the breakup of a love relationship but that night with Céline and Ginette it took another meaning as they sang it like a dialogue, talking to one another with emotion.  To him, it was the best tribute made to one of his song EVER in his lifetime!!

Anyway people can understand what they want in a song, that's the great thing about it!

At the end the choir sings :  "Encore un peu plus haut" - A little higher once more" (or still or again)

Edited by Lou555, 07 July 2009 - 09:20 PM.

[Melody]

Lou555, on Jul 7 2009, 08:47 PM, said:

Davey84, on Jun 14 2009, 05:25 PM, said:

hmm I read somewhere that it was about a person wanting to die, to go to heaven, but the other one is asking him/her to stay... but that wasn't right? I think it can be interpreted like that...

I finally saw the song last Friday, it really, really was amazing!

JP Ferland who wrote this song said that it was originally written about the breakup of a love relationship but that night with Céline and Ginette it took another meaning as they sang it like a dialogue, talking to one another with emotion.  To him, it was the best tribute made to one of his song EVER in his lifetime!!

Anyway people can understand what they want in a song, that's the great thing about it!

At the end the choir sings :  "Encore un peu plus haut" - A little higher once more" (or still or again)

But I don't see how they could draw out 'encore' an extra syllable.
It sounds like there's one more word before 'encore', or after?

[tonybower]

I really like this interpretation of the song. It hadn't even occured to me but in many ways, it makes more sense than the interpretation I suggested. It reminds me of
Si dieu existe where the dying person looks down from above at the lifeless body and the upturned faces...

It's simpler and more poignant than my suggestion...

I like it...

Davey84, on Jun 14 2009, 10:25 PM, said:

hmm I read somewhere that it was about a person wanting to die, to go to heaven, but the other one is asking him/her to stay... but that wasn't right? I think it can be interpreted like that...

I finally saw the song last Friday, it really, really was amazing!

Edited by tonybower, 18 July 2009 - 08:49 AM.