Chanson Lyrics
Chanson
[DENISE]Chaque jour est un jour comme les autres deux jours
Le potage, l'ouvrage, peut-être l'amour
Le soleil, il voyage, le mode fait un tour
Ainsi c'est toujours le même
Every day as you do what you do every day
You see the same faces who fill the café
And if some of those faces have new things to say
Nothing is really different
And the wind changes course and the moon changes phase
And the world spins around with the greens and the grays
And you never take time out to think of the ways
Everything might be different
And then one day, suddenly, something can happen
It may be quite simple, it may be quite small
But all of a sudden, your stew tastes different
And you hear a gull cry in a different key
And you see with new eyes, and the faces you see
Are the people you don't know at all
And the someone who touches your hair every day
Touches you now in a different way
And you may want to run or you may want to stay forever
And since life is the cry of a gull and the taste of your stew
And the way that he feels when he touches you
Now your whole life is different
Now your whole life is new
Chaque jour est un jour comme les autres deux jours
Le potage, l'ouvrage, peut-être l'amour
Le soleil, il voyage, le mode fait un tour
Ainsi c'est toujours le même
LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA
LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA
EVERY DAY AS YOU DO WHAT YOU DO EVERY DAY
YOU SEE THE SAME FACES WHO FILL THE CAFE
AND IF SOME OF THOSE FACES HAVE NEW THINGS TO SAY
NOTHING IS REALLY DIFFERENT.
Reprise:
AND SINCE LIFE IS THE CRY OF THE GULL
AND THE TASTE OF YOUR STEW
AND THE WAY THAT YOU FEEL
WHEN HE TOUCHES YOU
NOW YOUR WHOLE LIFE IS DIFFERENT
NOW YOUR WHOLE LIFE IS NEW...
Song Overview
Song Credits
- Producer: Bruce Kimmel
- Writer: Stephen Schwartz
- Release Date: 1999
- Genre: Musical Theatre
- Language: English & French
- Track #: 13
- Featured In: The Baker’s Wife (musical)
Song Meaning and Annotations
In "Chanson", Emily Skinner delivers a piece originally penned by Stephen Schwartz for the musical The Baker’s Wife. It’s a quietly revelatory song — a monologue wrapped in melody, dancing between daily routine and the quiet upheaval of inner transformation. Denise, the baker’s wife, sings of mundanity with a gentle lilt, inviting us into her world of soup pots and familiar faces.
Verse 1: Setting the Routine
Chaque jour est un jour comme les autres deux jours
Le potage, l'ouvrage, peut-être l'amour
The French lines open the song with a quiet sigh of repetition. Every day is like the last — soup, chores, maybe love (if you’re lucky). Schwartz juxtaposes French and English in a subtle nod to the character’s cultural context and emotional duality. Denise is caught between the poetry of romantic longing and the bluntness of her daily grind.
The Shift
And then one day, suddenly, something can happen
It may be quite simple, it may be quite small
And this is where the song takes flight — without pyrotechnics. The change isn't a thunderbolt; it’s a whisper. The kind of shift you notice in your stew. That moment when a routine gesture — a hand brushing your hair — sends you reeling. The transformation isn’t external. It’s the reawakening of perception.
Key Symbolism
Now your whole life is different
Now your whole life is new
This is the heartbeat of the song. The stew, the seagull, the subtle shift in a glance — all become metaphors for emotional upheaval. Life doesn’t need to be restructured to be reimagined. It just takes a shift in awareness. Schwartz uses these images to capture the precise moment that longing wakes up inside someone who had accepted a life half-lived.
Similar Songs
- "Meadowlark" – Patti LuPone / Susan Egan
Also from The Baker’s Wife, this showstopper complements “Chanson” like thunder to its drizzle. Where “Chanson” is the inward flicker of change, “Meadowlark” is the volcanic eruption. Both songs deal with transformation — one whispered, one screamed. They make perfect counterpoints. - "Send in the Clowns" – Stephen Sondheim
Much like “Chanson,” this piece unfolds like a conversation with oneself — an inventory of regret and quiet realization. It carries similar themes of emotional reflection, but with Sondheim’s sharper irony. - "Changing My Major" – Jeanine Tesori (from *Fun Home*)
Tesori’s song echoes the emotional awakening found in “Chanson.” Both feature women experiencing the tremors of desire for the first time in unexpected ways. “Changing My Major” is brasher and more comic, but the emotional DNA is kin.
Questions and Answers
- What is the central theme of “Chanson”?
- It explores how the smallest shift in perception can change the entire fabric of one’s emotional life. It’s about quiet revolutions.
- Why is part of the song in French?
- It reflects Denise’s cultural setting in a French village, grounding the song in her daily life and creating a contrast with her internal transformation.
- Who is Denise?
- She is the baker’s wife in the musical, a woman torn between marital stability and a sudden awakening of personal desire.
- How does this song relate to “Meadowlark”?
- Both songs express yearning and transformation, but “Chanson” is introspective while “Meadowlark” is dramatic and decisive.
- Is this song more monologue or melody?
- It’s a bit of both — a character-driven soliloquy wrapped in melody, serving both plot and emotional depth.