Translator: Elisabeth Buffard Reviewer: Camille Martínez
(In spoken verse) From time to time,
Would you mind
Taking me away from it all, just ...
Going to the sea, just ...
Letting it lick our feet, just ...
Pretending to forget,
Feeling every grain of sand touch our palms and soles
Feeling each piece of algae caress our ankles
Feeling the whole sky in our hair
Blowing.
From time to time,
Would you mind
Surprising me at a street corner
Forgetting I asked you, saying I'm astonished,
Pleasantly surprised,
And after a start I jump
into your arms
And after looking deep into your eyes indiscreetly
to find something,
I steal a kiss from you
to put in my pocket and keep for when you're gone
And because I'd feel alone with all these people around.
Then I'll take it slowly in the palm of my hand
And slowly put it on my cheek, there.
See?
Can you feel how soft it is?
Can you feel it?
From time to time,
Would you mind
Carrying me on your back,
Whisking me away lightly, far from the earth
Where everything is so beautiful,
Like the traces of your back, like the curves of your back,
Melody of my senses, you can see how I think
And my feet are so heavy and my verses are so fleeting
My "if's" and my syllables grind me and plow me
I leave ink footprints on the sidewalk.
So just for once,
Could you carry me?
From time to time,
Would you mind letting me caress you
With the tip of my pen,
With my fingertips?
I'll redraw your face
The way one sketches a landscape.
I'll do it on a misty day to hide my emotions a little
And my "what-about-me's"
My "I's," my games,
Just for you, just for the two of us.
You know,
It's so easy.
I just have one last request
I won't keep you much longer
I just wanted to ask you
If from time to time you wouldn't mind
Saying "You and me,"
Like in the movies
saying, "We," that's all.
Saying, "You send me,"
saying, "You shake me,"
saying, "You intoxicate me," saying "You inspire me,"
Saying "you" again and again at the top of your lungs
because deep in my head you're overflowing.
Saying, "Your kisses burn me, carry me,"
Saying, "I like you,"
And more, yes.
From time to time,
Would you mind taking me away from it all, you know, just ...
(End spoken verse)
(Singing) Going to the sea
Letting it lick our feet, just ...
Pretending to forget
For between you and me
The one I prefer
is you.
(End singing)
(Speaking) It's with those lines
that I won The French Slam Championship in 2005.
It's true!
(Applause)
Thank you.
You probably weren't expecting a slam champion to look like this, right?
So what is "slam"?
It's an open stage where anyone in the audience can express themselves.
You have three minutes to do whatever you want.
No props, music or set decoration -
just words, voice, body.
A field of free expression,
where rappers, poets, storytellers, singers
or simply word lovers
can meet, share.
It's rather similar to what we're doing here today,
although TEDx is not a slam scene.
It isn't! You can't come onstage after me, sorry!
Well, except for the people hidden backstage, waiting for their turn.
I've always been attracted to the stage,
since childhood.
I'd sing all the time
and imagine doing super-dramas in costume for my parents.
I thought only other people could make a living out of it.
It was a childhood dream.
Today, I'm a singer-songwriter
and performer.
That's my job.
Discovering slam at 17 was a catalyst.
That's when I realized
how I really wanted to climb onstage,
I also realized I wanted to write to be ...
heard.
Suddenly everything became possible!
And when, at 20, I left everything to make a record,
I wasn't afraid at all, that much was clear.
Today, I refer to that time as the most spontaneous summer of my life.
I released my first album in 2009,
then a second one in 2015.
Between the two releases, the world of music changed a lot.
I self-produced the second album, "Une."
The songs were ready, and I didn't want to wait
for a record company to decide whether to produce it.
I ended up being an entrepreneur,
a ship captain.
Within that period of movement, of transition,
I had to learn a new trade --
in fact, many trades:
producer, head of marketing,
project manager, community manager,
caught in a whirlwind of emails, of logistics,
a flurry of goals and mandatory codes that you have to follow
when you want to make a record.
Gradually,
I lost control,
forgetting that, hidden under the multiple hats,
I was an artist,
first and foremost.
(Singing) All around,
thoughts dancing back and forth
All around, thoughts dancing back and forth
I put them
I put them on
my boat
I put them
I put them on
I put them onto my boat
My paper boat
And I let them sail away
(End singing)
(Applause)
My record was released.
I managed to find help, partners to accompany me,
I received a lot of praise but …
something was wrong.
I felt disappointment,
frustration
and even guilt.
I felt I had somehow failed
when, at my level, it was quite the opposite.
How did I get there?
I compared myself.
I constantly compared my project to other people's.
I felt they managed better than me;
I was fooled by all the images of success
that you see on social networks, on the Internet.
In fact, many people must have thought the same about me
when visiting my Facebook page, always full of good news.
We only highlight the positive.
We almost never talk about our trials.
And suddenly, we feel we are the only one facing difficulties.
But of course that's not true.
We all face them.
We might be better off talking about them more often, right?
Me, I never did enough.
Though I worked from morning to night seven days a week -
never enough.
I spent my time on the phone or on my computer.
I wasn't spending any time writing.
For me, the captain,
it was a terrible inner storm.
And a downpour.
I was - am - so proud of this album.
I loved every bit of it!
And despite that, I saw my glass as half empty.
I focused on what remained to be filled,
rather than on the road already traveled.
I'd get up in the morning with this question looping in my head:
What's the point?
It was time to sound the alarm
and respond to it.
At one point, I just couldn't enjoy my success anymore,
even though my childhood dream
was right there, before very my eyes.
I released 2 CD’s, I won prizes.
I sang at major festivals in beautiful venues like the Olympia,
took part in many wonderful projects
and above all,
I make a living out of my art.
How lucky I am! It should be absolute bliss!
But at one point,
I forgot who I was and why I was doing all those things.
But the important thing is to realize it, right?
It's normal to doubt.
It's not a straight road.
It's hectic. It's a journey.
Today, I want to look at my glass,
see it as half full,
and love this half, find it beautiful.
I want to continue to write,
cultivate my singularity
and stop comparing myself to others,
because that's what paralyzes me.
Most of all, I don't want to lose sight of that one reason so fundamental,
that it's the answer every time I ask, "What's the point?" -
because I love what I do more than anything else.
Because I love looking for the right words,
listening to how they sound.
Because I love sharing them onstage with my voice,
my hands, my face and my bare feet!
Because it is vital for me
and I can't imagine doing anything else with my life.
That's why I make music,
not to achieve this vision of success
that the world wants to impose on us.
I have succeeded.
And it's icing on the cake if, within my words,
people recognize themselves.
(Singing) When silence screams
It becomes deafening
Tiny sounds
Become a giant's cries
Our words are compasses, our guides on the ocean
Words as continent
That's what we'll keep
When the clouds speed by and we can't touch them
On the tender island blue impossible to land
Our words are three-masted ships sailing in these clouds
Our words like sailboats
That's what we'll keep.
And when the sky weeps, darkening with sobs
So the sounds, the colors, get caught in the scrolls
Our words at arm's length are our weapons, our torches
Our words as flags
That's what we'll keep.
When the doors are closed and we're left outside
Knocking helplessly with our hands, our bodies,
Our words will remain there, etched into the decor
Our words like treasure
That’s what we'll keep.
When my lips are sealed and I don't know what to say
When I don't know what to do but cry, even though I want to smile
My words softly slide to avoid the worst
My words like sighs
That's what I'll keep.
When we'd like to keep every memory, every name
To remember everything, every feeling
Words are our struggles,
Words are ...
emotion
Our words like songs
That's what we'll keep.
(Applause)
Thank you.
That's it,
that's all I want to keep,
this little taste of being onstage,
this need to convey with my voice,
sharing words that inspire.
It's kind of what we've done together this afternoon.
That's what matters to me.
And I'm sure that you, too, know the answer
to your "What's the point?" -
that one idea stronger than any other,
that will always be there to guide us when we lose our way.
Mine, the work of 20 years,
my dream since I was a little girl,
I don't want to forget it anymore
or all of these victories that belong only to me,
and to my path full of twists and turns.
As long as they remain, I will be able to go on,
despite the doubts and obstacles,
the rough sea.
Perseverance and passion are my allies.
So let's raise our half-full glasses
and rejoice that so much room remains to keep on filling them.
To us!
(Applause)