Songs for Arthur
Mid-March 2023
Songs for Arthur
The love of Camille Richarde for her colonel, Arthur Boucher Carmichael, is expressed through two songs whose sentiments figure prominently in THE DAWN.
Chapter 36 of Book 4, Operation Nottingham, presents the first parachuted entry of SOE agent Arthur Boucher Carmichael into wartime France in January 1941. This American Army colonel has been recast as “Artur Boucher”, a veterinarian of small animals.
The drop zone is in Forcalquier, near the Durance River. There, Arthur experiences a mystical sense of déjà vu. Whether he knows it or not, he’s bound for fascination and the unexpected moments of kismet with a Frenchwoman named Camille. Through chance or by fate, these two strangers meet in Pascal’s Restaurant, and they soon set about to create their own version of “Where or When.”
That song was composed for the 1937 musical “Babes in Arms” by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Its otherworldly sensations are keenly felt by Arthur Carmichael during his time in Provence which constitutes his journey to true love.
The second song, “Parlez-moi d’amour”, was written by Jean Lenoir in 1930. This charmingly touching and sweet composition appears as a motif of delicate passion in THE DAWN. This music underscores the poignant love that Pierre Richarde, the father of Camille, still profoundly feels for his dearly departed wife, the Breton mother of this Frenchwoman.
In her own way, a path that is gradual, determined, and doleful, Camille arrives at the womanly joy of fully comprehending this musical entreaty to Arthur, her grand amour.
Where or When
Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart
It seems we stood and talked
like this before
We looked at each other
in the same way then
But I can’t remember
where or when.
The clothes you’re wearing
are the clothes you wore
The smile you’re smiling
you were smiling then
But I can’t remember
where or when.
Some things that happen
for the first time
Seem to be happening again.
And so it seems
that we have met before
And laughed before
And loved before
But who knows where
or when?
And so it seems
that we have met before
and laughed before
and loved before
But who knows
where
or when?
Parlez-moi d’amour
(Jean Lenoir)
Parlez-moi d’amour
Redîtes-moi des choses tendres
Votre beau discours
Mon cœur n’est pas las de l’entendre.
Pourvu que toujours
Vous répétiez ces mots suprêmes :
Je vous aime.
Vous savez bien
que dans le fond
je n’en crois rien
Mais cependant
je veux encore
Écouter ces mots que j’adore.
Votre voix aux sons caressants,
qui les murmure en frémissant,
me berce de sa belle histoire
et malgré moi je veux y croire
Parlez-moi d’amour
Redîtes-moi des choses tendres
Votre beau discours
Mon cœur n’est pas las de l’entendre.
Pourvu que toujours
Vous répétiez ces mots suprêmes :
Je vous aime.
Il est si doux,
mon cher trésor
d’être un peu fou.
La vie est parfois trop amère
si l’on ne croit pas aux chimères.
Le chagrin est vite apaisé,
et se console d’un baiser,
du cœur on guérit la blessure
par un serment qui le rassure.
Parlez-moi d’amour
Redîtes-moi des choses tendres
Votre beau discours
Mon cœur n’est pas las de l’entendre.
Pourvu que toujours
Vous répétiez ces mots suprêmes :
Je vous aime.
