☝️ Key Points
- The song lyrics are about the transience of life and time.
- It describes how everything disappears and fades away with time.
- Love and memories fade and vanish.
- It speaks of lost trust and betrayed years.
- With time, one feels lonely but left in peace.
Interpretation
The lyrics of the song "Avec le temps" by
Léo Ferré are about the transience of life and time. Ferré describes how everything disappears and fades away with time. He says that faces and voices are forgotten and that it makes no sense to go on if the heart no longer beats. One should just let things happen.
Ferré also speaks of love that disappears with time. He describes another person whom one loved and searched for in the rain. But now that person is gone, only a thought remains that can be sensed between the words and the lines. Love has faded away and bid farewell in a night.
Memories also vanish with time. Ferré says that even the most beautiful memories can have a sad face when one rummages through the shelves of death. Tenderness disappears on a Saturday night alone.
Ferré also speaks of other people one trusted. People to whom one gave wind and jewelry. People for whom one would have sold their soul for a few cents. But now they are gone and one feels like a worn-out horse, lonely but left in peace. One feels betrayed by the lost years.
At the end of the song, Ferré says that with time one no longer loves. Passions and voices that whispered the words of the poor in a hushed tone are forgotten. One should not come home late or catch a cold. With time, one feels faded and frozen in a bed of chance. One may feel alone, but left in peace. One feels betrayed by the lost years.