1959 Monaco: Jacques Pills - Mon ami Pierrot (11th place at Eurovision Song Contest in Cannes)

1959 - Monaco
Performed by: Jacques Pills
Music by: Florence Veran
Lyrics by: Raymond Bravard
Conductor: Franck Pourcel
Language: French
Placing: 11th (1 point)

Jacques Pills (born René Jacques Ducos; 6 March 1906 – 12 September 1970) was a French singer and actor. His impresario was Bruno Coquatrix. In 1959, Pills was the Monegasque entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 with the song "Mon ami Pierrot". The song ended last, in eleventh place and got only one point. During the 1930s he appeared frequently alongside Georges Tabet.

Pills chose Gilbert Bécaud as accompanying pianist for a tour of America. They wrote "I have you in my skin" for Édith Piaf whom he married in 1952 in New York. Marlene Dietrich was one of their witnesses. They divorced five years later, in 1957.

In 1959, he was chosen for Monaco 's first participation in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Mon ami Pierrot". He is ranked last of eleven candidates. But, the following year, his daughter Jacqueline Boyer won the competition for France , with the title "Tom Pillibi".

He retired to his family farm in Bretagne-de-Marsan (40 hectares) in the Landes department where he raised chicken, ducks and pigs, before returning to Paris where he collaborated with Bruno Coquatrix on the design of shows at the Olympia.

Jacques Pills died on September 12, 1970, at the age of 64. He is buried in the cemetery in the center of Mont-de-Marsan (Landes).

Upon his death, he became the first Eurovision contestant to die.

His song is based on a popular French song from the 18th century: "Au clair de la lune, mon ami Pierrot, prête-moi ta plume, pour écrire un mot."

Lyrics:




Mon ami Pierrot

Mon pauvre Pierrot, tu fais le gros dos
Et ta mine est triste comme ta vie d'artiste
On ne t'aime plus, tes chansons d'amour
Sont trop ingénues, laisse là tes habits de velours

Le public, d'un bravo, décida de ton sort
Faut tirer le rideau sur ta vie
Fini la comédie, ton théâtre est bien mort
Et ton chant s'est enfui dans la nuit

Mon pauvre Pierrot, mon ami Pierrot
De tant d'infortune au clair de la lune
Mon ami Pierrot qui n'a que deux mots
J'aimais bien ta plume, même quand elle n'était qu'un sanglot

Si les temps ont changé, arlequin démodé
Moi, je suis pour toujours ton ami
Car tu as enchanté mes plus belles années
C'est pourquoi je te dis aujourd'hui

Mon ami Pierrot qui fait le gros dos
Qui n'a plus de scène
Viens chanter tes amours et ta peine
Avec moi


ENGLISH:




My friend Pierrot

My poor Pierrot, you make your bow
And your face is sad like your life of an artist
You're not loved anymore, your love songs
Are too innocent, leave your velvet clothes behind

The public, with a cheer, decided your fate
Must drag the curtain over your life
The comedy has finished, your theatre is dead
And your song ran away in the night

My poor Pierrot, my friend Pierrot
About so much bad luck in the moonlight
My friend Pierrot, a man of few words
I really loved your writing, even when it was nothing but a sigh

If times have changed, old-fashioned harlequin
I'm forever your friend
As you have enchanted my most lovely years
That's why I tell you today

My friend Pierrot who makes his bow
Who quits the scene
Come and sing about your loves and your grief
With me