En Chantant is one of Michel Sardou's best songs. The Youtube version below has French onscreen lyrics. If you click below the fold, you can read my translation of En Chantant, followed by notes that explain French words which are similar to English words.
The video below, made when Michel Sardou was rather young, shows its age, but it is still quite enjoyable to listen to. A much later video, made when he sang at the Olympia Theater in 1995, appears in another post on this blog with French lyrics and IPA phonetics.
Quand
j'étais petit garçon,
|
I
|
1
|
When I was a little boy,
|
Je
repassais mes leçons
|
I
|
2
|
I reviewed my lessons
|
En
chantant
|
I
|
3
|
While singing
|
Et
bien des années plus tard,
|
I
|
4
|
And many years later ,
|
Je
chassais mes idées noires
|
I
|
5
|
I chased away my dark thoughts
|
En
chantant.
|
I
|
6
|
By singing.
|
C'est
beaucoup moins inquiétant
|
I
|
7
|
It is much less worrisome
|
De
parler du mauvais temps
|
I
|
8
|
To talk about bad things
|
En
chantant
|
I
|
9
|
By singing
|
Et
c'est tellement plus mignon
|
I
|
10
|
And it's so much cuter
|
De
se faire traiter de con
|
I
|
11
|
To be called an idiot
|
En
chanson.
|
I
|
12
|
In a song .
|
La
vie c'est plus marrant,
|
A
|
Life is more fun,
|
|
C'est
moins désespérant
|
B
|
It is less overwhelming
|
|
En
chantant.
|
C
|
When you sing
|
|
La
première fille de ma vie,
|
II
|
1
|
The first girl in my life
|
Dans
la rue je l'ai suivie
|
II
|
2
|
In the street I followed her
|
En
chantant.
|
II
|
3
|
While singing.
|
Quand
elle s'est déshabillée,
|
II
|
4
|
While she was undressing,
|
J'ai
joué le vieil habitué
|
II
|
5
|
I pretended to be an old hand
|
En
chantant.
|
II
|
6
|
By singing.
|
J'étais
si content de moi
|
II
|
7
|
I was so pleased with myself
|
Que
j'ai fait l'amour dix fois
|
II
|
8
|
I made love ten times
|
En
chantant
|
II
|
9
|
While singing
|
Mais
je n'peux pas m'expliquer
|
II
|
10
|
But I n'peux not explain
|
Qu'au
matin elle m'ait quitté
|
II
|
11
|
That morning she had left me
|
Enchantée.
|
II
|
12
|
Enchanted.
|
L'amour
c'est plus marrant,
|
A
|
Life is more fun,
|
|
C'est
moins désespérant
|
B
|
It is less overwhelming
|
|
En
chantant.
|
C
|
When you sing
|
|
Tous
les hommes vont en galère
|
III
|
1
|
All
men go [slave away] in galleys
|
A
la pêche ou à la guerre
|
III
|
2
|
Go
fishing or go to war
|
En
chantant.
|
III
|
3
|
While singing
|
La
fleur au bout du fusil,
|
III
|
4
|
With
a flower stuck in their rifles
|
La
victoire se gagne aussi
|
III
|
5
|
They
can also achieve victory
|
En
chantant.
|
III
|
6
|
While singing
|
On
ne parle à Jéhovah,
|
III
|
7
|
The
only way to talk to Jehovah
|
A
Jupiter,
à Bouddha
|
III
|
8
|
To
Jupiter or to Buddha
|
Qu'en
chantant.
|
III
|
9
|
Is
by singing
|
Qu'elles
que soient nos opinions,
|
III
|
10
|
No
matter what opinions we hold
|
On
fait sa révolution
|
III
|
11
|
We
can make a revolution
|
En
chanson.
|
III
|
12
|
While
singing a song
|
Le
monde est plus marrant,
|
A
|
Life is more fun,
|
|
C'est
moins désespérant
|
B
|
It is less overwhelming
|
|
En
chantant.
|
C
|
When you sing
|
|
Puisqu'il
faut mourir enfin,
|
IV
|
1
|
Since
we all must die one day
|
Que
ce soit côté jardin,
|
IV
|
2
|
Let
it be on the garden side
|
En
chantant.
|
IV
|
3
|
While singing
|
Si
ma femme a de la peine,
|
IV
|
4
|
If
my wife is sad
|
Que
mes enfants la soutiennent
|
IV
|
5
|
I
hope my children will encourage her
|
En
chantant.
|
IV
|
6
|
While singing
|
Quand
j'irai revoir mon père
|
IV
|
7
|
When
I go see my father
|
Qui
m'attend
les bras ouverts,
|
IV
|
8
|
Who
is waiting for me with open arms
|
En
chantant,
|
IV
|
9
|
While singing
|
J'aimerais
que sur la terre,
|
IV
|
10
|
I
would like on this earth
|
Tous
mes bons copains m'enterrent
|
IV
|
11
|
For
all my good buddies to bury me
|
En
chantant.
|
IV
|
12
|
While singing
|
La
mort c'est plus marrant,
|
A
|
Life is more fun,
|
|
C'est
moins désespérant
|
B
|
It is less overwhelming
|
|
En
chantant.
|
C
|
When you sing
|
|
Quand
j'étais petit garçon,
|
I
|
1
|
When I was a little boy,
|
Je
repassais mes leçons
|
I
|
2
|
I reviewed my lessons
|
En
chantant
|
I
|
3
|
While singing
|
Et
bien des années plus tard,
|
I
|
4
|
And many years later ,
|
Je
chassais mes idées noires
|
I
|
5
|
I chased away my dark thoughts
|
En
chantant.
|
I
|
6
|
By singing.
|
C'est
beaucoup moins inquiétant
|
I
|
7
|
It is much less worrisome
|
De
parler du mauvais temps
|
I
|
8
|
To talk about bad things
|
En
chantant
|
I
|
9
|
By singing
|
Et
c'est tellement plus mignon
|
I
|
10
|
And it's so much cuter
|
De
se faire traiter de con
|
I
|
11
|
To be called an idiot
|
En
chanson.
|
I
|
12
|
In a song .
|
First Stanza
I-1 petit means "small" in French, but in English petty means "unimportant" or "narrow-minded." Petty cash is small amounts of cash kept in an office to buy small things (you don't need to explain to the boss). A petty person is narrow-minded.
I-2 leçons becomes lessons in English. Notice how ç in French is always pronounced /s/
I-3 chantant becomes chant in English, but it doesn't mean "sing." In English, chant is in between speaking and singing, such as when children recite their multiplication tables rhythmically (= saying the words like a song): "One times one is one, one times two is two ... nine times nine is eighty-one"
I-4 années means years when the speaker/writer wants to emphasize the length. When speaking about years in purely objective terms, French uses the word an, as in J'ai dix ans (I am ten years old). Both words are related to the English word annual and its derivatives.
I-5 idées is obvious related to the English word idea. Slightly less obvious is idéologie in French, which becomes ideology in English.
I-8 temps refers to time or weather, depending on the context. This word is obviously related to the English word temporary.
I-10 mignon (~small and cute) is a French word that appears on restaurant menus: a filet mignon is a small, but very tender and expensive cut of meat.
 |
| In English, the French word filet mignon refers to a small cut of beef (mignon means "small and cute") |
Second Stanza etc.
[Dear Reader: Checking, writing up and formatting (includes graphics) vocabulary notes is extremely time-consuming. If you are interested, I will add more bilingual French-English vocabulary notes. Please leave a comment below]
