Je fais de toi mon essentiel - Emmanuel Moire. French lyrics and English translation.

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.

“Je fais de toi mon essentiel” – Emmanuel Moire. French lyrics and English translation.

French

English

Je sais ton amour Je sais l’eau versée sur mon corps Sentir son cour jour après jour J’ai remonté les tourments Pour m’approcher encore J’ai ton désir ancré sur le mien J’ai ton désir ancré à mes chevilles Viens, rien ne nous retient à rien Tout ne tient qu’a nous Je fais de toi mon essentiel Tu me fais naître parmi les hommes Je fais de toi mon essentiel Celle que j’aimerais plus que personne Si tu veux qu’on s’apprenne Si tu veux qu’on s’apprenne Tu sais mon amour Tu sais les mots sous mes silences Ceux qu’ils avouent, couvrent et découvrent J’ai à t’offrir des croyances Pour conjurer l’absence J’ai l’avenir gravé dans ta main J’ai l’avenir tracé comme tu l’écris Tiens, rien ne nous emmènes plus loin Qu’un geste qui revient Je fais de toi mon essentiel Tu me fais naître parmi les hommes Je fais de toi mon essentiel Celle que j’aimerais plus que personne Si tu veux qu’on s’apprenne Si tu veux qu’on s’apprenne Si tu veux qu’on s’apprenne… Je ferai de toi mon essentiel Si tu veux qu’on s’apprenne Qu’on s’appartienne

I know your love I know the water poured over my body Feel its course day after day I have overcome torments To approach it once more I have your desire anchored to mine I have your desire anchored to me Come on, nothing can hold us back Everything is up to us I’m making you my essential You raise me up above all others I’m making you my essential The one that I want more than anyone If you want us to learn If you want us to learn You know my love You know the words underneath my silence They admit that they Cover and uncover I offer you beliefs To avert absence I have the future inscribed in your hand I have the future outlined as you’ve written it Well, nothing takes us further Than a gesture that brings us back I’m making you my essential You raise me up above all others I’m making you my essential The one that I want more than anyone If you want us to learn If you want us to learn If you want us to learn I will make you my essential If you want us to learn We belong to eachother

Here is the live video of the stage musical:

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.

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