Sibérie m'était contéee or Siberie m'etait contéee ("[the story of] Siberia was told/recited to me") is the third studio album by the french singer 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 Chao albums, as well as a book of Wozniak’s drawings.. Hit singles include Petite blonde du Boulevard Brune ("Little blonde from Brune Boulevard" which is a parisian boulevard). The album's songs refer heavily to Paris, and Parisian life. The song Helno est mort (Helno is Dead) is dedicated to the memory of his friend Helno (Noël Rota), the singer of Les Négresses Vertes who died of a drug overdose in 1993.
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" --which just happens to rhyme with the French pronunciation of Paris (Par-ee)--might be). It can be another wordplay with Jean Tiberi, mayor of Paris until 2001.
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.
My favorites songs are "Petite blonde du boulevard Brune" and "La valse à sale temps".
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