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==Spelling of the title== ==Spelling of the title==


Note that the title incorporates an intentional misspelling (''contéee'' instead of ''contée''). It may or may not incorporate an intentional dropping of ]s in ''Sibérie/Siberie'' and ''m'était/m'etait''. Note that the title incorporates an intentional ] (''contéee'' instead of ''contée''). It may or may not incorporate an intentional dropping of ]s in ''Sibérie/Siberie'' and ''m'était/m'etait''.


The grammatically correct title would be ''Sibérie m'était contée''. The title as written in ]s on the album cover is ''SIBERIE M'ETAIT CONTÉEE'' . To interpret this, it is necessary to understand that the ] usually drops accents (]s) on capital letters, but nevertheless very often retains the accent for capital É (E with acute accent) when it occurs in a word-final or near word-final position, because in this position it could be mistaken for silent "e" and the word could be mistaken for another word: eg, ''conté'' (told ), ''conte'' (tale). The grammatically correct title would be ''Sibérie m'était contée''. The title as written in ]s on the album cover is ''SIBERIE M'ETAIT CONTÉEE'' . To interpret this, it is necessary to understand that the ] usually drops accents (]s) on capital letters, but nevertheless very often retains the accent for capital É (E with acute accent) when it occurs in a word-final or near word-final position, because in this position it could be mistaken for silent "e" and the word could be mistaken for another word: eg, ''conté'' (told ), ''conte'' (tale).

Revision as of 21:10, 19 September 2005

Sibérie m'était contéee or Siberie m'etait contéee ("Siberia was told/recited to me") is the first French language-only album by Manu Chao, released in 2004. This album features, along with a CD, an oversized book with lyrics to songs from the album and previous Manu Chap albums, aswell as illustrations by Jacek Woźniak. Hit singles include "Petite blonde du Boulevard Brune" ("Little blonde from Brunette Boulevard").

Spelling of the title

Note that the title incorporates an intentional misspelling (contéee instead of contée). It may or may not incorporate an intentional dropping of acute accents in Sibérie/Siberie and m'était/m'etait.

The grammatically correct title would be Sibérie m'était contée. The title as written in capital letters on the album cover is SIBERIE M'ETAIT CONTÉEE . To interpret this, it is necessary to understand that the French language usually drops accents (diacritics) on capital letters, but nevertheless very often retains the accent for capital É (E with acute accent) when it occurs in a word-final or near word-final position, because in this position it could be mistaken for silent "e" and the word could be mistaken for another word: eg, conté (told ), conte (tale).

Thus, nearly all French language references interpret the title as Sibérie m'était contéee (Amazon.fr, album reviews, etc). However the official Manu Chao website manuchao.net gives the title as Siberie m'etait contéee (without accents on Sibérie or m'était) even though Sibérie appears elsewhere on the same webpage with the accent. It is not known if this dropping of accents in Sibérie and m'était actually reflects the singer's intentions or was merely done by the site's webmaster.

Puns and wordplay

The title is a pun or wordplay. There are many books or articles in French with the title "Si X m'était conté" or "Si le X m'était conté" (for masculine nouns X) or "Si X m'était contée" or "Si la X m'était contée" (for feminine nouns X). These translate literally as "If X was told to me" or figuratively as "What X is all about" or "An introduction to X". Thus in Sibérie m'était contée the first syllable of Sibérie (Siberia) could be interpreted, in wordplay, as the word si (if): "If 'bérie' was told to me" (whatever "bérie" might be).

Note also a 1974 album by Melina Mercouri with the title Si Melina m'était contée.

The album cover also includes the words (in capital letters): "…A TOUS LES PECHEURS DU FLEUVE AMOUR…", which is also a pun. It can be understood as either "to all those who fish the Amur river" (a river in Siberia), or as "to all the sinners of the river Love". The French words pécheur (sinner) and pêcheur (fisherman/fisher) are spelled the same way when the accent is dropped in capital letters.

Track listing

  1. "Le P'tit jardin"
  2. "Petite blonde du boulevard Brune"
  3. "La valse à sale temps"
  4. "Les 1000 paillettes"
  5. "Il faut manger"
  6. "Helno est mort"
  7. "J'ai besoin de la lune"
  8. "L'automne est las"
  9. "Si loin de toi, je te joue"
  10. "100 000 remords"
  11. "Trop tard, trop tard"
  12. "Te tromper"
  13. "Madame banquise"
  14. "Les Rues de l'Hiver"
  15. "Sibérie fleuve amour"
  16. "Les petites planètes"
  17. "Te souviens tu..."
  18. "J'ai besoin de la lune remix"
  19. "Dans mon jardin"
  20. "Merci bonsoir..."
  21. "Je suis fou de toi"
  22. "Les yeux turquoise"
  23. "Sibérie"
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