Lost and Found: Catherine Lara

Here’s two records from Catherine Lara’s 1972 debut for Columbia/CBS.

The first one – Ad Libitum - helped me get through a recent illness. Lara’s beautiful voice balances well against the dark rich textures and a melancholy only the French can pull off. It has explosive arrangements, an out of tune piano, and quirky guitar licks – a la Bert Jansch – add a tinge of avant-garde to the mix. Fans of Renaissance, Pentangle and Jansch will likely enjoy this record. This is a true lost and found LP for me, as I had boxed it for removal from my collection and decided rather randomly to listen to it before it went out the door. The cover called out to me.

Catherine Lara – Ad libitum:

1) Ad libitum – Daniel Boublil / Catherine Lara
2) Dis-moi – Daniel Boublil / Catherine Lara
3) Avant le petit jour – Daniel Boublil / Catherine Lara
4) L’étranger – Daniel Boublil / Catherine Lara
5) Il a marché sur l’eau – Daniel Boublil / Catherine Lara
6) La pierre tombale – Daniel Boublil / Catherine Lara
7) Le reflet mauve des forêts – Daniel Boublil / Catherine Lara
8) Petit – Daniel Boublil / Catherine Lara
9) Morituri – Daniel Boublil / Catherine Lara
10) Tes yeux – Daniel Boublil / Catherine Lara
11) Ce n’était que tu temps perdu – Daniel Boublil / Catherine Lara

Orchestre et direction: Jean Musy (April Music).

Catherine Lara – Les années poussière:

1) Tu sais mieux que personne
2) Mais qu’y a t-il au fond de l’eau
3) Et le printemps
4) Marche dans le temps
5) Les années poussière
6) Laisse aller
7) Le soleil borgne
8) Fleur de sommeil
9) Si la ville
10) Ton âme se lit sur ton visage
11) L’hiver

It’s interesting that Ad libitum appealed to me while I was ill, as illness and death are part of the general theme. Here’s a loose translation of the song “Morituri” (Latin meaning those who are about to die):

Morituri te salutant, Miserere domine.

I salute those who are about to die. Misery dominates.

Demain, je serai devenue poussière, du fond de notre nécropole. Je t’envoie ces mots de ma prière comme l’obole d’un damné Écoute ce chant de la mort.

Tomorrow, I will have become dust, bottom of our nécropole. I send you these words of my prayer as the offering of a cursed one. Listen to this death song.

Morituri te salutant, Miserere domine, Morituri te salutant, Miserere domine.

I salute those who are about to die. Misery dominates.

Demain, je serai l’ombre de ma mort du fond de votre éternité. Je n’entends plus résonner de glas que portait comme un enfant. Le noir messager de la mort.

Tomorrow, I will be the shadow of my death of the bottom of your eternity. I no longer hear to resound the toll I carried as a child. The black messenger of death.

Morituri te salutant, Miserere domine, Morituri te salutant, Miserere domine.

I salute those who are about to die. Misery dominates.

Pour vous, je serai l’archange maudit du fond des eaux monte la nuit. Je ne sais plus écouter tout bas. Comme la fin d’un écho le sombre rire de la mort.

For you, I will be the archangel who curses the bottom of the waters…. brings up the night. I no longer know to listen all bottom. As the end of an echo the dark laugh of the death.

Morituri te salutant, Miserere domine, Morituri te salutant, Miserere domine Morituri te salutant, Miserere domine.

I salute those who are about to die. Misery dominates.