On s'attache - Christophe Maé. French lyrics and English translation.

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.

Qu’on s’attache – Christophe Maé. French lyrics and English translation.

French

English

J’ai pas le style Pourtant pas hostile Mais c’est pas pour moi le costard uniforme J’ai pas l’intégral Du gendre idéal J’aurai toujours l’impression qu’on m’espionne Pourtant pas contre l’amour Je s’rais même plutôt pour Mais c’est pas pour autant qu’il faut CHORUS: Qu’on s’attache Et qu’on s’empoisonne Avec une flèche Qui nous illusionne Faut pas qu’on s’attache Et qu’on s’emprisonne Mais rien n’empêche Que l’on s’abandonne… NON D’un chef de file J’en ai pas le profil Mais sur l’oreiller j’aime pas qu’on me questionne Je suis pas James Bond Entouré de belles blondes J’envie même pas les hommes qui papillonnent Pourtant pas contre l’amour J’attends plutôt mon tour Mais c’est pas pour autant qu’il faut CHORUS On le sait bien Le quotidien, ça nous tue, ça nous tient Ça nous fait mal Rien de plus normal Mais tu t’enfiles dans la file Mais faut pas qu’tu dépasses A chaque fois, qu’tu resquilles, mais t’es qui? T’es pas normal CHORUS x 2 (In the background: C’est beau l’amour J’attends mon tour)

I have no style But I’m not hostile But a business suit is not for me I don’t have it in me To be the perfect son-in-law I would always be under the impression that they’re spying on me However, I’m not against love I would be all for it But it doesn’t necessarily mean CHORUS: That we become attached And that we poison ourselves With an arrow Which deceives us Musn’t become attached And imprison eachother But nothing prevents Us from abandoning one another I don’t have the profile Of a leader But during pillow talk I don’t like to be asked about it I’m not James Bond Surrounded by pretty blondes I don’t envy the men that play the field But I’m not against love Rather, I’m waiting for my turn But it doesn’t necessarily mean CHORUS We know it well The status-quo, it kills us, it keeps us It’s not good for us Nothing could be more normal But you gulp it down in the queue But you had better not overtake it Each time you jump the queue “But who are you? You’re not normal” CHORUS X2 (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.

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