Performed by: Isabelle Aubret
Music by: Daniel Faure
Lyrics by: Henri Djian, Guy Bonnet
Conductor: Alain Goraguer
Language: French
Placing: 3rd (20 points)
Other versions: German

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"La source" ("The Spring") was the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, performed in French by Isabelle Aubret. This was Aubret's second appearance on the Eurovision stage, in 1962 she had won the Contest with "Un premier amour". In turn, one of the lyricists of "La source", Guy Bonnet, would return to the Contest as an artist in 1970 and 1983, singing "Marie-Blanche" and "Vivre" respectively.

The song deals - unusually for songs at the time, especially in the Contest - with the topic of rape, with Aubret describing such an event in some detail. Aubret also recorded the song in German, then under the title "Such' mich dort, wo die Sonne scheint".

If you wanna know more about the medieval legend and the movie on which this song is based on check ozt its Wikipedia article:

[ Ссылка ]

Born as Thérèse Coquerelle in Lille, France, Isabelle Aubret won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 representing France and singing "Un premier amour" ("A first love"), with music composed by Claude-Henri Vic and lyrics by Roland Stephane Valade. In 1968, she returned to the contest, again representing France, finishing third, and singing "La source" (The Spring) with music by Daniel Faure and lyrics by Henri Dijan, and Guy Bonnet.

Aubret was a participant in the French national heats for Eurovision in other years. Her first attempt was in 1961 with the song "Le gars de n'importe où". She was awarded second place. Another runner-up spot came Aubret's way in 1970 when she teamed up with Daniel Bératta for the song "Olivier, Olivia". She was not as successful with her 1976 effort, "Je te connais déjà" which finished sixth out of seven songs in the second semi-final. Her final challenge for Eurovision was in 1983 with the patriotic "France, France" which took her to third place.

In 2021/2022 she tours across France with a "farewell to the stage" tour.

Lyrics:

La source
Elle chante au milieu du bois, la source, et je me demande
S'il faut croire à cette légende d'une fille qu'on y trouva

Elle était blonde, elle était douce
Elle aimait à se reposer
Dans le bois, couchée sur la mousse
Écoutant les oiseaux chanter

Un jour qu'elle allait à la ville
Par le bois où elle passait
Elle vit soudain, immobiles
Trois hommes qui la regardaient

Elle chante au milieu du bois, la source, et je me demande
S'il faut croire à cette légende d'une fille qu'on y trouva

Ils étaient là, trois, à l'attendre
Trois hommes loups, cette brebis
Elle avait la chair bien trop tendre
Ils avaient bien trop d'appétit

Elle ne savait pas défendre
Le souffle léger de sa vie
Elle tomba sur l'herbe tendre
Comme un oiseau tombe du nid

Elle chante au milieu du bois, la source, et je me demande
S'il faut croire à cette légende d'une fille qu'on y trouva

Quand on l'a soulevée de terre
Comme une grande fleur coupée
Sa robe blanche et la lumière
On aurait dit une mariée

Quand on l'a soulevée de terre
On aurait dit comme un grand lis
Entre les feuilles, entre les pierres
Une claire source a jailli


Elle chante au milieu du bois, la source, et je me demande
S'il faut croire à cette légende d'une fille qu'on y trouva

S'il faut croire à cette légende d'une fille qu'on y trouva

English:

The source
The source sings in the middle of the wood, and I wonder
If I should believe this legend of a girl they found there

She was blonde, she was gentle
She liked to rest
In the wood, lying down on the moss
Listening to the birds singing

One day she was going to town
Through the woods, that she passed by
She suddenly saw, motionless
Three men looking at her


The source sings in the middle of the wood, and I wonder
If I should believe this legend of a girl they found there

They were three, there, waiting for her
Three men-wolves, this lamb
Her flesh was much too tender
They had too much appetite

She didn't know how to defend
The fragile breath of her life
She fell down on the soft grass
Like a bird falls from the nest


The source sings in the middle of the wood, and I wonder
If I should believe this legend of a girl they found there

When they picked her up from the ground
Like a big cut flower
Her white dress and the light
She looked like a bride

When they picked her up from the ground
She looked like a big lily
Among the leaves, among the rocks
A pure source gushed out

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