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Family Tree is an ironic and philosophical jazz song that plays with our contemporary obsession with origins, DNA, and family trees. With a gaze that is both mocking and humanist, the song questions our need to know where we come from in order to understand who we are.
The lyrics parody identity-based rhetoric, genetic tests, and family narratives in order to recall an often forgotten truth: identity cannot be reduced either to genetic heritage or to lineage. Behind the sometimes unsettling revelations of genealogy lies a more universal reflection on collective memory, history, and the borders that human beings draw between themselves.
Between references to Courbet, Darwin, and DNA testing, the song defends an open and fraternal vision of humanity. We are all heirs to mixtures, migrations, encounters, and accidents of chance that make any claim to purity of origin illusory.
A funny and committed jazz song about roots, identity, genealogy, and what connects us beyond our differences.
The full lyrics of the song Family Tree are presented here together with the audio recording.
Song inspired by Jean-Pierre Martinez’s play Family Tree.
https://jeanpierremartinez.net/en/family-tree-the-song/
Lyrics of the song
Paraît que si on sait pas
D’où on vient
On sait pas
Où on va
Moi je préfère pas
Savoir
Les voyages c’est fait pour ça
La généalogie
Les romans familiaux
Le regard dans le rétro
C’est pas pour moi
Je préfère regarder devant
Je préfère vivre au présent
Savoir d’où on vient
Pour savoir qui on est
C’est confondre l’histoire
Et la géographie
Sur l’origine du monde,
Je fais confiance à Courbet.
Sur celle de l’univers
Ça reste un mystère
ADN, j’ai fait le test
Ça coûtait pas très cher
Mais maintenant, qu’est- ce qui me reste
Mon père c’est pas mon père
On dit qu’un Peuple
Qui connaît pas son passé
Est condamné
À le revivre
Des livres d’histoire
Y en a plein
Pourtant l’histoire n’en finit pas
De se répèter
Les peuples n’ont aucune mémoire
Malgré tous leurs livres d’histoire
C’est pas dans un labo
Et dans une éprouvette
Que vous trouverez la réponse
À votre quête
ADN, c’est pas de veine
Mes aïeux, c’était pas eux
Il est rouge, il est pas bleu
Le sang, qui coule, dans mes veines
L’histoire est un éternel présent
Mais c’est pas toujours un cadeau
On est tous nés quelque part
On a tous des parents
On a tous notre histoire
Et nos antécédents.
D’où on vient, on s’en fout
Seuls les fous savent d’où ils viennent
Seuls les cons, savent déjà où ils vont
Le singe descend de l’arbre
L’homme descend du singe
Et les imbéciles
De leur arbre généalogique
On est tous des produits importés
On est tous aussi importants
On est tous du même sang
Des produits d’origine incontrôlées
They say if you don’t know
Where you come from,
You can’t know
Where you’re going.
Me, I’d rather not know.
That’s what travelling is for.
Genealogy,
Family sagas,
Looking in the rear-view mirror —
That’s not for me.
I’d rather look ahead,
I’d rather live in the present.
Knowing where you come from
To know who you are
Is confusing history
With geography.
As for the origin of the world,
I trust Gustave Courbet.
As for the origin of the universe,
That remains a mystery.
DNA — I took the test.
It wasn’t very expensive.
But now, what do I have left?
My father isn’t my father.
They say a people
Who do not know their past
Are condemned
To relive it.
There are plenty of history books,
Yet history never stops
Repeating itself.
People have no memory,
Despite all their history books.
It’s not in a laboratory
Or a test tube
That you’ll find the answer
To your quest.
DNA — just my luck.
My ancestors weren’t even them.
The blood flowing through my veins
Is red, not blue.
History is an eternal present,
But it’s not always a gift.
We’re all born somewhere.
We all have parents.
We all have our own story
And our own background.
Where we come from — who cares?
Only madmen know where they come from.
Only fools already know where they’re going.
The monkey climbs down from the tree,
Man descends from the monkey,
And idiots
From their family tree.
We are all imported products.
We are all equally important.
We all share the same blood:
Products with uncontrolled origins.
You can listen to this song freely on this website. For any other use, please contact Jean-Pierre Martinez via the website’s contact form.