Ces montagnes

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a vivid picture of an idealized, almost divine woman, described as a "mountain" and a "pure stream." This figure inspires a deep longing in the narrator, a desire to find solace and permanence within her natural, enchanting landscape. The initial imagery of a woman like a mountain piercing the head, coupled with a pure stream and soft green meadow, sets up a powerful, almost overwhelming ideal that the narrator wishes to inhabit, even finding a "sad dwelling" in the trees. This yearning quickly transforms into a plea and a threat. The narrator begs the sky to let his tears flow into her springs and to stir her foliage when he is upon her back. However, this plea is tinged with resentment, calling her a "beautiful ingrate" who has rejected him. The repeated threat, "From the depths of the mountains, I will disturb your sweet rest," reveals a darker, more obsessive side to his desire, suggesting a refusal to accept rejection and a willingness to intrude upon her peace. The lyrics then shift to explicitly define this woman as an "imaginary ideal," "magic," and "extraterrestrial." The narrator acknowledges the immense difficulty of reaching her, describing the path to her "flesh" as "long" and filled with "misery." This highlights the unattainable nature of his ideal, contrasting the celestial vision with the harsh reality of his pursuit. The repetition of "I will go where I will go" and "I will go to find you" underscores a relentless, almost fated determination, even as he admits to being a "lost child" without a path. Ultimately, the narrator's pursuit is framed by a profound sense of being lost and driven by an all-consuming, eternal madness for this ideal. He declares himself "mad for you" and vows to seek her "to immortality." The final lines, "I was born naked, and mad I will be, I will go where I will go / And mad I will be / I will go where I will go / I will go to find you / And healthy I will die," suggest a surrender to this madness as his defining state, a path he will follow until death, perhaps finding a strange form of peace or resolution in the unwavering, albeit insane, pursuit of his unattainable love.