Calogero (1971-) is a French singer. By the age of six Calogero had already taken an interest in music. He quickly learned to play several instruments, including the flute, piano and bass, and in 1986 became the lead singer and song-writer for the band Charts. He started it together with his brother, Gioacchino, and a childhood friend, Francis Maggiulli. Between 1989 and 1997, “Charts” released 5 albums. As the band began to lose its momentum, Calogero decided to launch himself as a solo artist and gathered important connections by writing songs and collaborating with already popular artists, such as Zazie and Pascal Obispo. The latter helped produce Calogero’s first solo album Au milieu des autres (2000). His second album, Calogero (2002) was a huge success with the hit singles “En apesanteur”, “Aussi libre que moi”, “Tien an men” and “Prendre racine”. Finally, in 2004, Calogero released .calog3ro, containing “Face à la mer”, a duet with French rapper Passi, and several other top singles such as “Yalla” and “Si seulement je pouvais lui manquer”. After an extended hiatus, Calogero returned in 2007 with a new studio LP, Pomme C. It was a big success, hitting number two on the French charts, and the follow-up, 2009’s L’Embellie, went one better, going to number one. Calogero’s moving lyrics and frail, tender voice have made him one of France’s top pop/rock singers.
J’ai son image
J’ai son e-mail
Son cœur au bout du clavier
I have her picture
I have her email
Her heart at the tip of the keyboard
J’ai son visage
Et l’envie d’elle
Sans jamais l’avoir touchée
I have her face
And desire for her
Without ever having touched her
Dois-je sauver ?
Ou bien abandonner ?
Shall I save (it) ?
Or just leave (it) ?
Pomme, c’est un homme et une femme
Et c’est tout un programme
Un ciel artificiel
Pomme, qui m’allume et qui me quitte
On s’aime trop vite
Nos vies c’est le virtuel
Apple*, it’s a man and a woman
And it’s quite a program
An artificial sky
Apple, who turns me on and who leaves me
We love each other too quickly
Our lives, it’s the virtual
Elle m’écrit
Mais mon écran
Formate les sentiments
She writes to me
But my screen
Formats the feelings
Mais j’imagine qu’une machine
Ne peut que faire semblant
Ma déesse Elle [sounds like DSL]
N’est pas vraiment réelle
But I imagine that a machine
Can only pretend
My goddess She**
Is not really real
Pomme, c’est un homme et une femme
Et c’est tout un programme
Un ciel artificiel
Pomme, qui m’allume et qui me quitte
On s’aime trop vite
C’est le vi, c’est le virtuel
Apple, it’s a man and a woman
And it’s quite a program
An artificial sky
Apple, who turns me on and who leaves me
We love each other too quickly
That’s the vi, it’s the virtual
Un peu d’amour, copié-collé
Un peu d’amour, pomme c
Un peu d’amour téléchargé
Un peu d’amour à sauver. à sauver
Mais l’amour n’est pas virtuel
A little love, copied-pasted
A little love, apple C
A little love downloaded
A little love to save. to save
But love is not virtual
Pomme, c’est un homme et une femme
Et c’est tout un programme
Un ciel artificiel
Pomme, qui m’allume et qui me quitte
On s’aime trop vite
C’est le vi, c’est le virtuel
Apple, it’s a man and a woman
And it’s all a program
An artificial sky
Apple, who turns me on and who leaves me
We love each other too quickly
That’s the vi, it’s the virtual
Dois-je sauver ?
Ou bien dois-je abandonner ?
Shall I save (it)?
Or shall I just leave (it)?
*A pun on the Apple icon of Mac computers; Apple + C performs the copy function; “C” and “c’est” sound the same
**”Ma déesse Elle” sounds like “ma DSL”, my DSL (digital subscriber loop)