☝️ Key Points
- The song lyrics emphasize the importance of music and poetry
- Ferré emphasizes the importance of nuance and clarity in music
- He urges the poet to master rhetoric and use it creatively
- There is controversy over rhymes, Ferré criticizes false rhymes
- In the end, Ferré once again emphasizes the importance of music and poetry
Interpretation
The lyrics of the song "Art poétique" by
Léo Ferré are based on a poem by Paul Verlaine and describe the meaning of music and poetry. Ferré emphasizes the importance of music above all else. He says that music should be especially odd in order to dissolve easily in the air and not have heavy or fixed elements.
Ferré also emphasizes the importance of nuance and clarity. He says that music needs nuance, not color, to connect the dream with the dream, the flute with the horn. He warns against using sharp words and cruel humor, as they can destroy the beauty of music.
Ferré urges the poet to use rhetoric, but to master it and use it creatively. He says that rhetoric must be tamed to improve poetry and calm the rhymes.
The lyrics also highlight the controversy over rhymes. Ferré poses the question of who made the mistakes of rhymes and calls them a cheap, hollow object. He urges the poet to stay away from these false rhymes.
At the end of the text, Ferré emphasizes once again the importance of music and poetry. He says that the verse should be like something that flies away from a soul that has already departed and seeks other love in other worlds. He concludes the text with the words: "And everything else is literature".