Lara Fabian – The Nue Album – Honesty And Integrity In The Purest Form

Lara started her career with a self-titled album, showing to the world that she is the essence of her own music. Her “Pure” album also contains the theme of honesty, pure music means honest music. Her English career also started with a self-titled album that contained a track called “I am who I am”. Lara stated that this would have been the title of the album if it wasn’t self-titled. Being the person who she is and being true to herself means that her music will always portray honesty and integrity to her audience. Nue followed after her self-titled English album and in 2005 came an album entitled 9. 9 was the rebirth of Lara’s music, a process coming to full circle. Again you could witness her honesty and the purity of her music throughout this album. Now Lara is working on a multilingual album. Lara has always emphasised that music (and to me especially her music) is a universal language that can’t be barred by language gaps. I believe that Lara will prove this philosophy with the release of her next album.

I have illustrated to you that Lara applies the central theme you find in the Nue album in most, if not all, of her music. Lara is one of the very few artists I know who is able to develop an album where almost every track is a smashing number one hit. So many artists these days focuses on one single track to promote their album with, that they tend to spend less time with the other tracks on the album, which results in an album failure. This is what makes people hesitant to buy albums from unknown artists. You might have heard one or two songs from the album over the radio, but you have no idea what to expect from the rest of the album. Once you buy it, you find that the other songs are not nearly as good as the singles you heard over the radio. When this is the case you will most certainly not buy another album of this artist again. Lara has the ability to keep her audience interested in her music by making each song on her albums a special song, as if each song is an advertisement of her music. After going through a whole album you cry for more when you finish the last song. This is why fans never can wait for her next release, there is always something new, something pure, something honest to look forward too.

Allow me to walk with you through each song on the Nue album and show to you how wonderful this album really is. To me, this is Lara’s best French album. I think my motives for rating this album as the best so far, is because of the success of her Nue concert. This was an amazing show with passion, power, excitement and one of the best performances by a band I have ever seen. Although the show was about her Nue album she also combined it with songs from her Pure album. This is what made this show a winner.

J’y Crois Encore (English: I Believe It Again).

On her album “A Wonderful Life”, Lara wrote an English version of this song entitled: “I’ve Cried Enough”. Lara is an amazing songwriter. When you compare the lyrics of the French version to the English version, you will see that the content of both songs are identical even if the lyrics are not a literal translation of each other. The song speaks of pain and despair and dealing with it through faith and endurance. The song brings you to the realization that you cannot change what happened in the past. Lara sums it up beautifully in the English version of the song when she sings: “Though I believe in the future, I keep in mind all the past, now that I live in the present I don’t care about the rest…”

Aimer Deja (English: To Love Before).

Lara loves to write about love. She has the ability to emote love so beautifully through her lyrics and choice of melodies. This song has so many themes, it speaks of love, betrayal and escaping from your pain to places where only you can find peace and calmness. The image of peace and calmness are beautifully done through Lara’s choice of melody, one that has a very calming and soothing tone to it.

S’en Aller (English: To Go Away).

This song is packed with captivating contrasts. I think you can have several interpretations about this song, but one interpretation that kept coming to mind was one of taking your own life into perspective by removing yourself from your current circumstances (to go away) and returning to make a fresh new start. In Lara’s own words: “And to go away, as one returns”.

Silence (English: Silence).

An English version of Silence is also featured on Lara’s “A Wonderful Life” album. Like most of Lara’s English translations from her French albums, you will find that the English and French version of Silence is very similar to each other in terms of lyrical content. The meaning of Silence is straightforward. Silence is your best friend in tough situations where it is better to keep your mouth shut. But it also refers to the moments of silence where you are not distracted by the noise of the world. In the heat of the moment it is always easier to make decisions when there is silence.

Parce Que Tu Pars (English: Because You Leave).

There is so much passion in this song that you get goose bumps when you listen to Lara singing it. It speaks of being left alone, solitude causing you to fade away. No one wants to be lonely. The song speaks of someone looking for a saviour to break the chains of loneliness.

Je Suis Mon Coeur (English: I Am My Heart).

Although Lara did not write this song, she must have identified something in it that she wanted to add to this album. Lara never includes a song in an album just for the sake of the song. The song speaks of fear of rejection from a loved one, the longing of the heart that brings pain when you cannot fulfil that need. It also speaks of the fear of losing the happiness you are experiencing, the uncertainty of the future and never knowing when it will be taken away from you. All this fits in with the title of the album. Being naked means you are exposed, stripped from all your securities and protection, which explains the fear illustrated in this song.

Tango (English: Tango).

Lara uses a Tango dancer and a matador as a lovely metaphor for lovers who can’t find each other, the one lover rejecting the other. Belonging to the matador is the challenge like the bull challenges the matador. The dancer dancing towards the matador, but the matador rejects her love by fighting back like fighting a bull. It is a beautiful image supported by a lovely and captivating melody. It is simply a joy to listen to and even better to see Lara perform it on stage.

Imagine (English: Imagine).

Lara seems to have a soft spot for tribal music. She whispers the song, with tribal drumbeats and bagpipes as the backdrop. Lara plays with your imagination while singing the song, creating a picture of a paradise of simplicity, peace, honesty, joy and everything that is good. She paints such a pure picture in your mind that you realise it is completely unreal and impossible in our present world.

Tu Es Mon Autre (English: You Are My Other).

A wonderful duet with Maurane. The duet supports the theme of the song and I think it will never have the same effect if it sung in solo. The song speaks of two persons so closely connected to each other that they are inseparable. You can interpret it as two close friends, two close family members or two lovers very close to each other. The image of two interconnected persons is strongly portrayed though the last line of the song: “And if the one of us two fell”. Closing the song with this rhetorical statement emphasises how close the two persons really are.

Rio (English: Rio).

Playing games with your imagination. Lara paints the picturesque landscapes of Rio with this song. You simply lie back, close your eyes and listen closely to the lyrics (if you understand French) and experience the atmosphere Lara creates through this song. Lara’s performance of this song during the Nue concert is simply amazing. But even if you don’t understand the words you still enjoy the vibrant music, the joyful melody and most importantly Lara’s beautiful voice.

Bambina (English: Little Baby).

Lara co-wrote this song with Janey Clewer. I’m not sure what motivated Lara to write this song, but I guess it is her motherly instinct that inspired her. The song can be interpreted in two ways, a mother that lost her baby or a mother of a full-grown child thinking back to the days when her child was a little one. This is one of those songs that easily bring a lump in the throat.

Immortelle (English: Immortal).

This song is a masterpiece in every aspect. The lyrics, the voice of the artist, the music of the orchestra, everything is perfect. Again Lara makes use of a contrast to emphasise an idea. She describes herself as immortal but she dies from her lover, her lover makes her mortal. The song speaks of a person being strong and indestructible to everyone but totally vulnerable to someone special, that one person who is able to break through all his/her defences and reaches the deep chambers of his/her heart. I like the way Lara writes her songs in such a universal way that you can interpret it in several ways. The fact that someone can break through your defences can be good and bad. It is good when the person is reaching out to you, but bad when someone uses it to their advantage.

Le Roi Est Une Femme (English: The King Is A Woman).

I believe Lara’s motivation for including this song, another one not written by her, is her mother. I believe she dedicated the song to her mother because of the references to Sicile in the song. But you can also see it as Lara making a tongue in the cheek statement here in an industry mainly dominated by men. She showed everyone with this album that she can also make a success of the music she produces, not because she is a woman, but because she is an exceptional talented artist.

Lara co-wrote most of the songs of this album with Rick Allison who also contributed very much to this album. Lara and Rick did an extremely good job with this album and in my opinion they made a killer of a team when they produced music together. The album is concluded with a piano medley of all the songs on the album. To me the choice of adding a piano medley at the end was a perfect one. I could not have chosen a better way to conclude such a rich and invigorating album.