"Complainte de la Butte" by Rufus Wainwright

[Benedanti]

Ahh 240 we meet again

[82sparkle]

This is the best song from Moulin Rouge. Vive la France!!!!!!

[MikoMello]

I had no idea he sang this song!!

[monsieurcaro]

@MikoMello Mouloudji in 1955. Lyrics by Jean Renoir.

[angelheart757]

I learned to sing this song in french because I love it so much, which is a miracle because I was rubbish at french in school lol. I love moulin rouge to bits but it's a shame you don't get to hear this song in full during the movie.

[9sheriff]

this is one of my fav songs and i love this version! Brilliant work :-)

[agentapathy]

the other guy just had shaky start, however they pulled it off nicely. the song has a minimal quality to it - maybe thats why the harmony seems awkward.

[xorr177]

quelle horrible version d'une chanson pourtant si belle.... c'est vraiment sur-joué, quelle merde...

[Parker10997]

@xorr177 j'aime ça.... :/

[wintergreen]

Lol he's gay and the song is about him loving a woman. Oh the Irony. Lol his voice is dream ~

[gladw2c]

Canadian French is a low-class dialect. Rufus grew up in Montreal so id fluent in French. But he sounds like Bronx taxi driver to a snooty Parisian.

[Lylaa25]

@gladw2c Quite mature... and from a Parisian en plus ! Non mais je dirais.que ça manque de classe.

[bilbellexx]

Moi j'y suis accro ...

[MrRawalake]

I generally hate gays (ya, i know......whatever) but this song is simply amazing

[Teresa7087]

In terms of Rufus' background, he has dual citizenship - American and Canadian. He was born in Rhinebeck, NY, but moved to Montreal as a young child when his parents divorced. His father is American folk singer, Loudon Wainwright. His mother was Kate McGarrigle (a French Canadian) who died in January, 2010. He has lived in the US for many years now, in NYC. So he is as much American as Canadian, but spending his childhood in Canada accounts for his ability to speak and sing French so well.

[MissEmmJay]

non mais la, att cest trop beau!

[ersaamen]

so beautiful

[mandyretardif]

amazing!!

[pseidell]

for phil.... i hope your show in nyc went well..... and you sold everything you made....

[INXSist]

C'est une chanson de Michel Mouloudji au départ...

[alestane]

@INXSist

Il l'a chantee, mais je ne crois pas qu'il l'a ecrite.

Elle est chantee par Cora Vaucaire dans le film French Cancan de Jean Renoir.

watch?v=Ny0wChMLsQY

On trouve aussi l'interpretation de Mouloudji et d'autres sur youtube.

[zardozfrance]

@alestane exact. C'est d'ailleurs Jean Renoir qui l'a écrite, Cora Vaucaire est la première interprète. Dans cette version de Rufus W. , il manque les 2 premiers couplets de l'intro, et c'est bien embêtant parce-qu'on ne comprend plus rien: " En haut de la rue St-Vincent Un poète et une inconnue S'aimèrent l'espace d'un instant Mais il ne l'a jamais revue Cette chanson il composa Espérant que son inconnue Un matin d'printemps l'entendra Quelque part au coin d'une rue "

[brianconnery]

i dont understand how gay is an accent

[dkimuk]

mesmerising

[13laciotat]

Bravo. On aimerait entendre plus souvent les Américains chanter les chansons françaises.

[hellohelogirl75]

@13laciotat Il n'est pas Américain. Il a grandi à Montréal, qui est une ville francophone et anglophone.

[Hauuauuauuu]

@13laciotat

mais il est canadien aussi, je crois.

[izzardian09]

this song is beautiful. i love rufus and his adorable accents x

[lordnubbinz]

holy crap.. thank god he doesnt sing like he talks...

[artemisa92]

I know! That was the first thing I though...

[34Delphina]

J'adore cette chanson et Rufus... suis du Québec et lui aussi, son petit accent est un régal ! Bravo Québécois tu fais honneur à notre langue...

Manikoutai

[Gabriellebuffy]

love this song! don't understand it completly but love it

[pixi3angeldreamx]

Such a beautiful song

[Miaina77]

Mouloudji toi même !

[imunfathomable]

thank god he's gay, i'd hate to have to live up to that...

[miyaou]

i m french, he sining french very good, better than a french hahaha!! his prononciation is very good !! the R are so good ... well perfect !

[miyaou]

tu viens de France? moi aussi ça tombe bien, je trouve que comparé à beaucoup de chanteur français qui n'articulent pas, ou qui parlent mal il s'en sort très bien mais c'est sur on peut pas le comparer à Mouloudji

[MathiasMeziane]

@miyaou French is not his native language so I think he is doing well when singing this song,and I like  the ''drawling'' of his french accent Mouloudji est Francais, pour sure qu'il chante mieux en Francais, elementaire mon cher ..:)

[MathiasMeziane]

he speaks well french since he is from Montreal, Quebec....

[HindsiteTV]

yeah you speak well english

[psynema]

Damn, he sounds like Ewan McGregor singing - didn't know the difference LOL.

[RdKurama]

lol i know what you mean i actually spent weeks telling people it was Ewan McGregor.

[BlackCatCadillac]

Patrick Bruel does this song nicely.

his duet with Francis Cabrel was like this, but a bit more masculine.

[bubblz0314]

3:04 3:04 3:04 3:04 3:04 3:04 3:04 3:04 3:04 3:04 3:04

WOW That is the most beautiful 2 part Harmony I have ever EVER heard!

[Oreoshakespear]

@bubblz0314 i dont think they blend well together at all. Rufus stood just fine on his own. As a matter of fact, i cant quite pick out who it is, but one of them is definitely off key.

[ethalinia]

@Oreoshakespear I agree... it's better without the harmony- But I don't think one of them is off key, I think it's the harmony itself that sounds a bit strange:)

[MrTHEpf]

His voice is amazing , but i prefer the french version, it's soo much better! Watch " french cancan" version , it's the first version <3

[robodog777]

I have the Cora Vaucaire version on my Ipod, only because I couldn't get Rufus's. I like them all.

[microfoniko]

I can send you the Rufus's. I have both, french and french/english.

[robodog777]

That would be great.

[arimathie]

please listen french version by Mouloudji or Cora Vaucaire is better

but his accent is charming

[stockholmsyndrome14]

"There! I sounded so imposing!"

haha. I love this!

[filou933]

Jadore !

il chante tellement bien rufus et de plus dans Ma ville préféré MA deuxieme ville

on est demie lune mon cher

[draymond1024]

Pure perfection! I love this song & I love the way Rufus sings it. I could and do listen to it over and over again!

[misterbadguy23]

i think the performance is great, and wainwright's voice is perfect for this song. and french is definitely the language to be for this.

[deanolambo]

@misterbadguy23 Well it would be because it was written in french??

[Asupergirl09]

omg. Rufus Wainwright's voice sounds so amazing. What i like most about him is his voice sounds the same when he's in the studio or performing live. He's so AMAZING! He has RAW Talent. It's amazing. Their voices also compliment each others very nicely. AMAZINGLY WELL DONE!!!

[percphs]

Oh, just kidding. Mr. Wainwright went up. I withdraw that last comment. Not so bad.

[percphs]

Why would they both sing the melody the whole time? Haha. Pitch. Haha.

I like Mr. Wainwright. He's cool.

[nojentil]

chris still is half french and half american

[Echelonninja]

god, i wish i knew what he was saying, this is one of my favourite songs... so beautiful.

[CelebDeLorien]

Actually, the English parts mean almost the same as the French parts of the lyrics...

[GeeWayIero]

wow this is amazing

Rufus singing french is so sexy :)

[CaptainSamTodd]

O.O

ok, i have nothing against gay ppl but I didn't know that his voice sounded like that normally....

shocking

now I'm questioning....is he really French?

[CelebDeLorien]

He is. Unfortunately. (I guess you're talking about that Chris guy)

When he arrives, he pretends to have an accent speaking French, but he doesn't.

He's not the best of our singers... Try Sliimy. :-)

Or anyone else, but please don't think we don't have better than this ! :)

Love Rufus, anyway. And this song.

[andra0923]

I love French, I don`t understand why your Sliimy would want to aquire more by singing in English. I think that he should sing in French and he`d have succes. If I were French I`d hate him singing in another language than our own.

[CelebDeLorien]

I love English, and it's such a beautiful language compared to French... I mean... Singing.

Some French songs would be great, if only they were written in English, but singing it in our language is a disaster.

Most people don't catch a word of English songs, but for those who do, there can be no comparison.

French "singers" just can't write a good song in their language. I mean popular singers.

And I'm French too.

[luciole921]

je suis française aussi.

and french is definitly a great language for songs. try edith piaf, charles aznavour and even balavoine. their lyrics are powerful and it clearly isn't a disaster. y'a des chansons vraiment super en français et c'est les gens comme toi qui font penser aux chanteurs français que des paroles en anglais les meneront plus loin... dommage.

great song tough!

[CelebDeLorien]

Ce sont des gens comme toi qui font stagner la chanson dans notre pays, en rabâchant qu'il n'y a que ce qui est vieux qui est bien.

Ce n'est peut-être pas ce que tu as voulu dire, mais je me méfie de cette façon de penser...

Maintenant, j'ai énoncé une règle générale, et comme toute généralité qui se respecte, elle a des exceptions... Dont les interprètes que tu as cités... Qui ne sont pas forcément les auteurs de leurs chansons.

And of course, great song tHough...

[luciole921]

j'ai évoqué des chanteurs anciens parce que ce sont les plus connus! y'en a des plus récents qui font des chansons vraiment chouettes: julien doré est un bon exemple.

mais si tu traduis la plupart des chansons anglaises...les paroles sont vraiment stupides.

"sous mon paraplui-i-i-i-e"

"je veux faire du vélo" (queen)

ces chansons sont géniales (enfin surtout queen lol) mais les traductions sont juste...hilarantes. bref. still a great song. ah.

[CelebDeLorien]

Nous sommes parfaitement d'accord ;-)

[vamosmoya]

He was born and raised in Montréal, Québec, surrounded by bilingual parents in a bilingual and bicultural city. He is bilingual too.

[Squeaky1423]

He is.....*fabulous*

:-)

[Gaelicia]

Chris Stills' accent is amazing when he sings :-|

I understood everything

Rufus' accent is less understandable though but still I can catch some phrases. I think it's because of his particular way of singing.

(I'm French ;-) )

[peachbot]

i think rufus is french canadian, which might have something to do with that :3

but dont quote me on that hahaha

[CelebDeLorien]

He doesn't sound like a French Canadian, or a French...

But his way of singing really is particular.

[StoryeTime]

@Gaelicia

Chris is Véronique Sanson and Stephen Still's son, he's French American

Il a de qui tenir héhé !

[isthatacareer]

rufus is soooo sexy

its a shame he is gay cuz i would've been allll up on that!!! lolol

[sweetiepie2666]

i like it better without the toher guy, but i really do love this song a lot <3

[vikypunk]

waou !!!!! il a un exellent accent français !! c'est merveilleux ! très jolie !

[doctorcropcircles]

Il est canadien, c'est tres naturales pour Rufus.

I love it personally. Tres Sexy.

[immnice2]

Its beautiful. I know the odd word of French, so I don't even know what it is about! But it is so beautiful. They are both very talented.

[calimerette62]

That's about a guy whose heart has been broken. It's the evning, he's in Montmartre and he's seeing a beautifful girl who looks awesome under the moon, so he feels better.

They kiss and spent the night together on the stairways up to la butte. Then comes te morning, the girl goes away as the moon disappears, and all that remains is like a dream...

[sansjuhh]

Great song!

[mademoiselleaurelie]

C'est si beau ... et surtout : ROMANTIQUE !

I love it !

[JasmineBurlesque]

I wish I knew more french so I could understand the lyrics. Does anyone know who originally did the song? (I'm only assuming that Rufus didn't write it)

[ActingAl24601]

its an older french song about french dancers from the film French CanCan (which is great)

the original is usually much faster, in a brighter key and less lyrical. in my opnion, its less moving and sad as this version.

[JasmineBurlesque]

Thank you :)

This version is very beautiful :) I love Rufus.

[xadora]

Très belle chanson

J'adore son petit accent, c'est trop mignon :)

<3

[WillTavlin]

i love how his voice is deep when he singss but like the exact opposite when he talks

[StoryeTime]

They are both doing a good job, they both have a good French background, Chris's mom is a fantastic famous French singer songwriter who married Stephen Stills briefly and well, he's the natural fruit of their talents.

Check out some videos on youtube where Rufus speaks French pretty well, doing a good job, Martha is so cute speaking French too

Merci pour cette video

Thanks for this video

[dawnmarieb]

Actually Rufus is the son of Loudon Wainwright, is he not? His father is not Stephen Stills.

[StoryeTime]

You're right about Rufus, but Chris Stills IS Stephen Stills son.

Chris is the one singing along with Rufus in this video

[dudelydudela]

apprend donc a parler francais avant de chanter ta tune mon ptit criss de poser

[nojentil]

chris still is half french half american

[luiae]

J'adore cette chanson!!! Et avec son accent c'est adorable ^^

( il chante cette chanson dans moulin rouge)

[mailliw12]

one of my favourite songs! sung it for my gcse music solo

[zyan01]

"La complainte de la butte" is an old french song by Michel Vaucaire and Georges Van Parys.

This song was discover in the film "French Cancan" by Jean Renoir in 1954.

Un film magnifique en passant, avec un Jean Gabin splendide.

[annietk]

Did he write this song?

It's beautiful, I love it

[neobenny]

Rufus Wainwright is canadian; Chris Still is Véronique Sanson's son (a very famous french pianist-singer)

[Bowie281]

I am a French major,I just finished taking four years in high school and when I heard this song on the cd, I always assumed that rufus wainwright was french because of how beautifully he pronounces his french in this song, I was shocked to hear him talking at the beginning of this video sans accent lol

[1bunhead2]

I ALWAYS THOUGHT HE WAS FRENCH TOO! ;P

[coolioestuser]

I thought he was from Canada or something... Canadian heritage, and Canada has a large French speaking population so... maybe that's it? No idea for sure though

[Trudragon88]

nope, hes American he just liked the french language I guess, hes not proud that hes American btw

[dave62nick]

He's Canadian.

[Trudragon88]

canadian american

[cliffgregoletto]

He was born and New york, but raised in Montreal, Quebec.

Which is Bilingual, French And English.

That answer your question?

[mOrphiine76]

Magnifique version de cette chanson =')

[mily4]

French is a wonderful language and i am pround to be french =)

[rinkelfut]

LOL! the second guy's voice suddenly got REALLY high-pitched. sounded pretty good though

[Hairymaineguy]

Rufus is doing the upper harmony part I think. Thanks for posting this btw.

[acernegundo]

Yup, it's Rufus.  If you watch closely on the camera transition from Stills to Wainwright at the beginning of the second chorus, you'll see Stills briefly look down while Wainwright sings 'les' in the upper register. Stills then brings his head back up and comes in on 'escaliers.'

Annnd I'm done XD

[sassylilgurl29]

i absolutely love his voice

[RoryBodi]

tant de personnes pensent que cette chanson est par mcgregor ewan... ce qui est leur amour du problème... I il plus chaque fois que je l'entends

[stormcrowproductions]

I love this song, but this version has more vunerability than in the recorded track, which adds another dimension to the song.

[contresion]

merci merci merci a vous

[daniroxsx]

I gotta admit that is beautiful, my french teacher showed it to us today and it was totally awesome, It's just too good for words. It's just so deep, and meaningful

[RoryBodi]

c'est quelque chose que je souhaite que j'aie entendu quand j'apprenais le français

[Leanne60]

I love Rufus. This is a truly beautiful rendition.

[dracozone]

i love this song is just beautiful, i was crying while i was listen this melody, i just don´t know it´s beautiful.

[dracozone]

i love this song is just beautiful, i was crying while i was listen this melody, i just don´t know it´s beautiful.

[LifeisGood1990]

oui moi aussie je pense que cette chanson est meilleur avec seulement Rufus! Mais c'est tres belle donc je l'aime!

[jackietl]

mesmerizing...jackie trudel-lane

[mysteriouscow]

Je préfère la version radio :) C'est du charcutage en live !

[OhYeahMine]

i love that song

and his voice...

i just love it

[loro4755]

J'adore Rufus!!!! Mais je n'aime pas lse harmonie.....je pense cette chanson est meilleur avec Rufus seulement....mais cette chanson est tres tres belle! Il est de Montreal n'est-il pas ?

[gillesfrancois]

"Butte" means hill. The song is set in Montmartre.

It is a pity they get the lyrics wrong:

"Mais voilà qu'elle trotte la lune qui flotte la princesse aussi" (meaningless) instead of "mais voilà qu'il flotte, la lune se trotte, la princesse aussi" ("but now it's raining, the moon is vanishing, and so does the princess", then at the end instead of "mon rêve évanoui" (I cry in the mist for my lost dream)they say : "mon rêve épanoui" = my fulfilled dream!

The lyrics matter as much as the melody!

[lalla888]

what does BUTTE mean?

[sirie0stefie]

I think it's "ridge" in english.

[randall2020]

"butte" is a ridge, as mentioned, or a hill. In this case it is referring to the Butte Montmartre, the popular hill on the north of Paris which is a popular tourist destination. "butte" is in a fact a proper English word. You might remember even Butte, Montana.

Look up also the song by Fréhel, "Où est-il Donc?". That is also about Montmartre.

[TheMysteryMan94]

He's referring to the village that moulin rouge takes place in i think. It's on a hill!-

[DrSchadenfreude]

...not a village... as the above guy said once already its in MONTMARTRE in PARIS. in the Pigal, the prostitutes quarter

[DrSchadenfreude]

...not a village... as the above guy said once already its in MONTMARTRE in PARIS. in the Pigal, the prostitutes quarter

[smileynoir]

The first' s not french but the second's maybe as his accent 's perfect !!!

[Otustelija]

AAAAAAAAAA TRÈS TRÈS TRÈS TRÈS BIEN! cette chanson est très belle! j'adore j'adore! mais est-ce qu'il francais? qui sais? :OO je ne sais pas... si il a un accent à francais, je n'etends pas :DD et excusez-moi pour mon francais horrible! :DD

[saefdekimel]

Coucou ! je suis français et je peux te dire que le chanteur s'apelle Rufus Wainwright, il est americano-canadien,il chante une chanson extraite du film de jean renoir, French Cancan de 1955. Au fait ton français est charmant !

Cordialement cédric

[sirie0stefie]

Il est de Montréal au Québec. Il est anglophone mais il a cotoyé des francophonnes toute sa vie alors...

[wiloulele]

En revanche Chris Stills est franco-américain (fils de Véronique Sanson) ce qui explique qu'il n'a pas d'accent quand il chante! Et rassure toi, ton français est plus que correct! ;-)

[tukesinderhaus]

Oui, oui, c'est vrai.

[blackgargamel]

moi je suis jaloux de Rufus:-)

[SybilVane34]

Absolument magnifique... Et maintenant je suis amoureuse de Rufus ;)

[specialkalberta]

i know all the words to this song :) very very good i love rufus, this song is on moulin rouge if anyone was wondering the best movie ever

[jherrg]

HELL...YEAH!

best movie ever made,

we all shall praise baz lurhman

and rufus sings so beautifully

[Trudragon88]

i like this song but what is it saying?

[Alienshadow5]

I'm not quite fluent in french yet but it's talking about the pale moon placing a tiara upon her red hair and carressing the opals in her indifferent eyes. uhmmm... "my little beggar i feel your had=nd searching for mine, i feel your chest and slim waist.." uhm... something about an underfed kid and then "under your caress i sense a drunkenness that kills me" and the chorus is "the stairway up to the butte is hard on the wretched and windmill wings of the moulin protect those who love"

[yarivalimar]

For the big picture, this song is about a poor writter who met for one night a prostitute and have done a song to her.

The prologue have been cut from the original version, here it is :

En haut de la rue St-Vincent,

Un poète et une inconnue,

S'aimèrent l'espace d'un instant,

Mais il ne l'a jamais revu,

Cette chanson il composa,

Espérant que son inconnue,

Un matin l'entendra,

Quelque part au coin d'une rue.

[Imsotired07]

can you please translate? big favor.

[Leanne60]

beautiful!

[Trudragon88]

this isnt spam

[laska5801]

magnifique :')

[melik911]

Wow

vraiment une bonne toune que j'ai connu dans moulin rouge

j'ADORE ^^

[ghettogrl300]

I LOVE THIS SONG!

[oONodokaOo]

so do I ... so beautiful . The lyrics are totally awesome too !! :)

Bien joué, c'est vraiment génial !

[Cwolfgal]

Wow he pronounces perfectly! flawless!!

[3t0ile]

MAGNIFIQUE :)

[maximeliot]

trop beau ... je dis OUI !

contrairement a vous jtrouve qu'ils tout a fait habités et WAW

[ericisme16]

Moulin Rouge i love that song Complainte de la Butte

[cilourock]

This guy is very good-looking!

And he sings...too well!

[UBoat120]

is this dude a homo?

[Trudragon88]

yeah he is lol u diddnt know that? i'm not gay but this song is tite

[pannamarzanna]

love it! wonderful.

[audreypotter123]

What is wrong with him being gay? I don't understand people's problem with homosexuality! It bugs me so much. I love this song! He actually sounds French ^_^

[Pauline105]

Vous êtes trop cooon !!

The problem isn't because he's actually but cos now we know that us, girls, didn't have a chance with him ! Putain la susceptibilité ça met vraiment dla merde dans les yeux

[kikoff101]

he is so gay, f*uck..i didn't know...love his songs though

[ghani666]

what do u mean "though"? Being gay apparently affects your songwriting or something? Guess what ppl? Being gay affects one thing and one thing ONLY! And we never even see the sexual part, so ppl need to stop having such a problem with it! Goddamnit!