This is a love song from the successful French musical Le Roi Soleil about the life of Louis XIV. Video, French lyrics, English translation, and an explanation of the vocabulary and phrases after the jump.
Emmanuel Moire plays Louis XIV, and he sings this song to his love Marie who has prayed by his bedside for months while he has been unconscious and bedridden. Marie is worried that they can’t be together because she is not of noble birth, and it is therefore against the law for him (the King) to marry her. Louis is not concerned with this and so he sings her this song about how she is his “essential.” I totally fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, and maybe you will too.
Vocabulary and an explanation of phrases is after the lyrics and translation.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Je sais ton amour | I know your love |
| Je sais l'eau versée sur mon corps | I know the water poured over my body |
| Sentir son cour jour après jour | Feel its course day after day |
| J'ai remonté les tourments | I have overcome torments |
| Pour m'approcher encore | To approach it once more |
| J'ai ton désir ancré sur le mien | I have your desire anchored to mine |
| J'ai ton désir ancré à mes chevilles | I have your desire anchored to me |
| Viens, rien ne nous retient à rien | Come on, nothing can hold us back |
| Tout ne tient qu'a nous | Everything is up to us |
| Je fais de toi mon essentiel | I'm making you my essential |
| Tu me fais naître parmi les hommes | You raise me up above all others |
| Je fais de toi mon essentiel | I'm making you my essential |
| Celle que j'aimerais plus que personne | The one that I want more than anyone |
| Si tu veux qu'on s'apprenne | If you want us to learn |
| Si tu veux qu'on s'apprenne | If you want us to learn |
| Tu sais mon amour | You know my love |
| Tu sais les mots sous mes silences | You know the words underneath my silence |
| Ceux qu'ils avouent, | They admit that they |
| couvrent et découvrent | Cover and uncover |
| J'ai à t'offrir des croyances | I offer you beliefs |
| Pour conjurer l'absence | To avert absence |
| J'ai l'avenir gravé dans ta main | I have the future inscribed in your hand |
| J'ai l'avenir tracé comme tu l'écris | I have the future outlined as you've written it |
| Tiens, rien ne nous emmènes plus loin | Well, nothing takes us further |
| Qu'un geste qui revient | Than a gesture that brings us back |
| Je fais de toi mon essentiel | I'm making you my essential |
| Tu me fais naître parmi les hommes | You raise me up above all others |
| Je fais de toi mon essentiel | I'm making you my essential |
| Celle que j'aimerais plus que personne | The one that I want more than anyone |
| Si tu veux qu'on s'apprenne | If you want us to learn |
| Si tu veux qu'on s'apprenne | If you want us to learn |
| Si tu veux qu'on s'apprenne... | If you want us to learn |
| Je ferai de toi mon essentiel | I will make you my essential |
| Si tu veux qu'on s'apprenne | If you want us to learn |
| Qu'on s'appartienne | We belong to each other |
Vocabulary:
verser: to pay, to shed, to pour, to tip
In the context of the song: “Je sais l’eau versée sur mon corps.” Here verser means “to pour” and the sentence translates as: “I know the water poured over my body,” and Louis is referring to the water of Marie’s love.
le cours: the course
remonter: get hold of, set up, pick up, boost, ascend, recover
Remonter has many meanings as you can see, but in this context “j’ai remonté les tourments” means “I overcame torments (obstacles)” or “I rose above torments.”
le tourment (les tourments): torment(s)
ancrer: to anchor
la cheville (les chevilles): ankles
The line: “J’ai ton désir ancré à mes chevilles” is a bit tricky. It literally translates as: “I have your desire anchored to my ankles.” However, “cheville” is a very versatile word in French. For a full explanation of its various meanings click here. There is a saying in French: “être en cheville avec” which means to be in harmony or in close association with something (or someone). So this line likely translates as “I have your desire anchored to me.”
Tout ne tient qu’a nous: Again, this has the potential to be confusing. The best translation of this line is “everything is up to us.” But literally it translates as “Everything belongs to no one but us.” (Tient is the 3rd person singular of tenir, which typically means to hold, to keep, or to have.)
Tu me fais naître parmi les hommes: Literally: You make me born among men. But it means “you make me rise among men” “Faire naître” means to give rise to, to provoke, or to bring about in some way.
avouer: to confess, to admit
conjurer: to conjure, or in this case to stave off (to avert)
emmener: to take away
In the first verse the speaker seems to speak a lot about the water. I believe he is using the water as a metaphor for Marie’s love. He feels her love wash over him, he feels its course every day, he has overcome torments to return to her love.