This song was the lead single off Mon Paradis by Christophe Maé. I find it incredibly catchy, and probably a bit insightful. Video, French lyrics, and English translation and explanation of phrases, after the jump.
An explanation of the vocabulary and phrases after the lyrics and translation.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| [Couplet 1] | [Verse 1] |
| J’ai pas le style | I have no style |
| Pourtant pas hostile | But I'm not hostile |
| Mais c’est pas pour moi le costard uniforme | But a business suit is not for me |
| J’ai pas l’intégral | I don't have it in me |
| Du gendre idéal | To be the perfect son-in-law |
| J’aurai toujours l’impression qu’on m'espionne | I would always be under the impression that they're spying on me |
| Pourtant pas contre l'amour | However, I'm not against love |
| Je s’rais même plutôt pour | I would be all for it |
| Mais c'est pas pour autant qu'il faut | But it doesn't necessarily mean |
| [CHORUS] | [CHORUS] |
| Qu'on s'attache | That we become attached |
| Et qu'on s'empoisonne | And that we poison ourselves |
| Avec une flèche | With an arrow |
| Qui nous illusionne | Which deceives us |
| Faut pas qu’on s’attache | Musn't become attached |
| Et qu’on s’emprisonne | And imprison eachother |
| Mais rien n'empêche | But nothing prevents |
| Que l’on s’abandonne… NON | Us from abandoning one another |
| [Couplet 2] | [Verse 2] |
| D’un chef de file | I don't have the profile |
| J'en ai pas le profil | Of a leader |
| Mais sur l’oreiller j’aime pas qu’on me questionne | But during pillow talk I don't like to be asked about it |
| Je suis pas James Bond | I'm not James Bond |
| Entouré de belles blondes | Surrounded by pretty blondes |
| J’envie même pas les hommes qui papillonnent | I don't envy the men that play the field |
| Pourtant pas contre l'amour | But I'm not against love |
| J'attends plutôt mon tour | Rather, I'm waiting for my turn |
| Mais c'est pas pour autant qu'il faut | But it doesn't necessarily mean |
| [CHORUS] | [CHORUS] |
| On le sait bien | We know it well |
| Le quotidien, ça nous tue, ça nous tient | The status-quo, it kills us, it keeps us |
| Ça nous fait mal | It's not good for us |
| Rien de plus normal | Nothing could be more normal |
| Mais tu t’enfiles dans la file | But you gulp it down in the queue |
| Mais faut pas qu’tu dépasses | But you had better not overtake it |
| A chaque fois, qu’tu resquilles, mais t’es qui? | Each time you jump the queue |
| T'es pas normal | "But who are you? |
| You're not normal" | |
| CHORUS x 2 | |
| (In the background: C'est beau l'amour | CHORUS X2 |
| J'attends mon tour) | (In the background: Love is beautiful |
| I'm waiting for my turn) | |
Vocabulary:
le coustard uniforme: literally “the uniform suit,” this refers to a men’s business suit.
“j’ai pas l’intégrale”: This phrase is a bit tricky. Literally it means something like “I don’t have the full set.” But in the context of “J’ai pas l’intégrale du gendre idéal” it means “I don’t have everything that an ideal son-in-law has.” Hence I have chosen to translate this phrase as: “I don’t have it in me, to be the ideal son-in-law.”
le gendre: of course means “son-in-law.”
espionner: to spy
qu’on m’espionne: that they spy on me
c’est pas pour autant qu’il faut: This is another challenging phrase. “c’est pas pour autant” translates as “it is not provided” (provided as in “on the assumption that” or “on the condition that”). And “qu’il faut” of course means “need to.” So “mais c’est pas pour autant qu’il faut qu’on s’attache” means “it is not provided that we need to become attached to eachother.” I have chosen to translate this somewhat (I hope) more elegantly as: “But it doesn’t necessarily mean, that we become attached” in the hopes that this captures the meaning.
l’oreiller (masc.): pillow
“Mais sur l’oreiller j’aime pas qu’on me questionne”: Literally this translates as “but on the pillow I don’t like that they question me.” In this context I believe that he means “pillow talk” when he says “on the pillow.” Since “but” is a conjunction, we assume that he is referring to his earlier statement that he “doesn’t have the profile of a leader” and this is what he does not want to be questioned about.
papillonner: to flit from one thing, or one person, to another without ever fixing on one. The noun “papillon” means butterfly, so you can see that “papillonner” is to act like a butterfly, flitting from flower to flower. We don’t have a similar word in English (that I know of), so I chose the phrase “to play the field” as the translation.
le quotidien: the daily, the status-quo, the daily grind.
s’enfiler: To down, to swallow quickly. I will admit that I am a bit confused by the line “Mais tu t’enfiles dans le file.” It rhymes well obviously, but I think what he means is the “you gulp down the status-quo while you stand in line.”
dépasser: to pass, to overtake, to outstrip, to surpass
resquiller: to jump the queue.