☝️ Key Points
- 'Le Métèque' is a song about life as an outsider, particularly as a foreigner or stranger, as the title of the song (a derogatory term for foreigners) suggests.
- The singer, Georges Moustaki, uses his own experience as a Frenchman of Greek and Jewish descent to emphasize a sense of alienation and difference.
- The song also expresses a deep longing for love, despite or perhaps precisely because of the feeling of being an outsider.
- Another theme of the song is aging and transience, with Moustaki emphasizing that he doesn't want to make a story out of all the suffering endured.
- Overall, 'Le Métèque' is an anthem to humanity and the ability to find love and beauty despite adversity.
Interpretation
"Le Métèque" is a song by French singer
Georges Moustaki that speaks about the experience of the outsider and love. The title "Le Métèque" is a derogatory term for foreigners, especially people of Mediterranean origin. Moustaki, a Frenchman of Greek and Jewish descent, uses this term to emphasize his identity as a foreigner. The lines "Avec ma gueule de métèque, de juif errant, de pâtre grec" (With my face of a foreigner, a wandering Jew, a Greek shepherd) illustrate this feeling of being an outsider.
The song also speaks about love, especially in the lines "Je viendrai ma douce captive, mon âme soeur, ma source vive, Je viendrai boire tes vingt ans" (I will come, my sweet captive, my soulmate, my living source, I will come to drink your twenty years). Moustaki expresses that despite his outsider role, he finds love and affection.
Additionally, the song also touches on aging and transience, as in the lines "Avec mon coeur qui a su faire souffrir autant qu'il a souffert, Sans pour cela faire d'histoire" (With my heart that has caused as much suffering as it has suffered, Without making a story out of it). Moustaki expresses here that despite all the suffering he has experienced, he does not want to make a story out of it.
Overall, "Le Métèque" is a song about life as an outsider, the experience of love, and aging. It is an anthem to humanity and the ability to find love and beauty despite adversity.