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MYSTERY MAN'S SECRET MESSAGE
By Lucy Melsbach
June 15, 2020 08:45
At this point in the pandemic, we all know I'm obsessed with three things: my job, Drive to Survive, and Escalier Des Fleurs. Of these things, only one has been dropping content so fast I can barely keep up.
Escalier Des Fleurs dropped his first single "Movie" a month ago. A heartbreaking ballad with orchestral backing and a slow crescendo that explodes into a storm of unresolved bittersweet yearning, "Movie" immediately went viral on Tik Tok and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. In the 31 days since its mid-May release, the unidentified singer-songwriter has been inundated with requests for live shows and, in the case of dozens of my tweets and articles, a full album.
The begging work: "Lights Out" was released this past Friday, providing me with a busy weekend of overanalysing the music and lyrics and crying in the shower when the songs just hit too close to home. This wasn't made easier with the release of the demo version of "Movie" and a digital lyric booklet, with capitalised letters forming a message very similar to those of Taylor Swift's early days.
The message? "We Are Predestined," spelled out in the words of a song that makes me think too hard about my own unrequited crushes.
We may never know who Escalier Des Fleurs is, but I'm going to keep asking: who are you? Who is "Movie" about, and why have you made me feel like fate will bring you two together?
You can listen to the full recorded demo of "Movie" here.
The full lyrics for "Movie," message and all, can be found below:
breathe deep
ease the pounding of my heart inside of me
focus on the sight of you so near that We
could almost touch
your smilE wide
childlike wonder, never scared and never tired
your hAnd near mine as we look out across the night
the crowd’s phone lights like fiReflies
your blue Eyes
champagne on a dark night
fireworks lighting up the sky
you and i
i start to think we’ll never die
and you, you’re all light
you’re a movie
we go
round and round in circles like when we were kids
scared of getting closer to admitting what this feeling is
and we crash
waves against a shoreline every time we meet
if i got you closer would you be so sweet
to share just a moment of Peace?
your blue eyes
champagne on a dark night
fiReworks lighting up the sky
you and i
i start to think we’ll never diE
and you, you’re all light
you’re a movie
and if i let myself imagine how we’D be
without the spotlights
i can lose myself forEver in this fantasy
and for a Second i forget that it’s not meant to be
i only see
your blue eyes
the harbour baThed in starlight
we fade to black in perfect quiet
you and I
it’s fuNny how we’ll nevEr Die
and we’ll be alright
—
LE CASTELLET IS RUINING ME - NOT CLICKBAIT
By Taylor Rhead
August 7, 2022 14:35
We all know that Charles Leclerc, Formula 1 driver for Scuderia Ferrari and internationally known hottie, is Escalier Des Fleurs. Since it's been two days, this isn't news anymore, but what is news is the secret message in "Le Castellet."
Better known as the unannounced and unexpected song whose release gave away the identity of the world's most mysterious man, "Le Castellet" is a work of art in its own right, shredding apart the little bit of joy we all felt at its first notes with a tsunami of pain and discontent. It is 9 minutes and 33 seconds of ruthless prose, piano and violin solos, violent hatred - towards the writer, Leclerc, and the world around him - and, somehow still, an all-encompassing love for, presumably, the person all of Leclerc's past songs have been about.
There is a finality in the lyrics that made me cry when I first listened, worsened by the knowledge that Le Castellet is the commune home to Circuit Paul Ricard, where Leclerc famously crashed during the French Grand Prix two weeks ago. It is certainly no coincidence that his scream on radio following the crash features all the same emotions as the song that bears the commune's name.
My heart broke further when I watched the lyrics video and realized it has a message that is a direct sequel to that in "Movie," Leclerc's debut single that made Escalier Des Fleurs a household name.
"Movie" had the message "we are predestined," and now "Le Castellet" has the message "we were predestined." Who is Leclerc giving up on, and why? What made him release Le Castellet now, publicly giving up on who his own songs have referred to as the love of his life? What changed?
Please find the full lyrics for "Le Castellet" below, capitalised message included:
in burning hell, where We lay our scene
from ancient pain leads to new agony
where scarlet blood makes unclean hands clean
comes a splattered man of twenty three
whose terrified pleas lead to nothing
but whose death may bury their own strife
my muscles are convulsing without an End,
and my habits are destructive without amends.
you don’t know them.
i’ve drowned in lies and appetites, sworn off
gifts and adoration for the weekend.
starting to think i’m contagious,
that maybe We’re all going to get shot.
starting to worry i’m outragEous,
just another fraud who got caught.
when the Riot starts at dawn, will you save me?
will you hold my hand or will you let me drown?
when they hang my head on the front gates,
will you remember when we had it all?
my arms are scaled with all the x’s that they left,
the scars of stories that will never get told.
the broken veins stuck in a camera flash,
the trials and quEsts they have sent me on.
i’m starting to think you’re courageous,
for never giving them more than a thought.
i’m starting to wish you were contagious,
i wish i hadn’t learned what i’d been taught.
when the riot starts at dawn, will you save me?
will you hold me up or will you let me break down?
when they hang my head on the front gates,
will you remember when we had it all?
they chiseled a man out of marble and rock,
gave him eyes made of emerald sParks.
they threatened him with silence and a bRoken heart,
dreams left out cold and a world apart.
he can hear them scrEaming when he falls asleep,
“give up, go away, give in to the new regime.”
he Dreams of dawn and a stubborn thrill,
and he finds forgiveness in a slEeping pill.
when the riot comeS, are they coming for you?
they came for him and They came for me too.
they hung my head on the front gates,
swearing that I was Never worth the wait.
he dreams of dawn and a man of marble and rock,
with Eyes maDe of sapphire sparks.