La Vie En Rose – probably the most sang French song in the world (at least according to the Wikipedia page). It seems to glue itself on any new kind of genre there can be. Jazz, Rock, Folk, Electro,… From cute sweet singers and their ukulele singing in their bedrooms to big DJs mixing in front of a crowd of hundred of thousands.
Sure, the song has been sang in other language. But you can’t translate for music. Louis Armstrong’s version for example is NOT a translation.
So what does La Vie En Rose mean exactly? You hear it so much, so maybe it’s time you understand what it means. Here is a literal translation of the French version of La Vie en Rose, for French learners. We’re going to listen to Edith Piaf singing, and then we’ll be be translating what she said.
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In this video, you can hear Edith Piaf singing La Vie En Rose, and hear me pronounce the lyrics clearly.
For grammar explanations read the post below.
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What is Edith Piaf singing about in La vie en rose?
When Edith Piaf is singing:
Des yeux qui font baisser les miensUn rire qui se perd sur sa boucheVoilà le portrait sans retouchesDe l’homme auquel j’appartiens
She is describing her man.
In those words:
Eyes that make mine look downA laugh that gets lost on his mouthThis is the portrait without editsOf the man to whom I belong
Pretty handsome man apparently…
In all the verses of the song, you’ll find this odd verbless structure.
Des yeux qui font baisser les mieux -> Eyes that make mine look down.
We would expect to read something like:
Il a des yeux qui font baisser les mieux : He has eyes that make min look down.
Then it will be a full sentence.
But music, just like poesy and sometimes literature, likes to twist grammar around.
In this instance, we have a complex sentence composed of a nominal proposition followed by a subordinate declarative proposition.
-> if that sounds difficult, check this article, where I explain the basic elements of French sentences.
Ok, so Edith Piaf is talking about her man.
We can safely assume this is a love song!
And rightly so, because the chorus is going to tell us how she feels about him:
Where Edith Piaf is singing how her man makes her see La Vie en Rose
Then, she is going to describe what happens when she is with him:
Quand il me prend dans ses brasIl me parle tout basJe vois la vie en rose
That’s probably the most famous part of the song.
And it’s where she mentions La Vie en Rose.
In these terms:
When he is taking me in his armsHe is speaking softly to meI see life in pink
Fun fact: she actually didn’t write ‘la vie en rose’ at first, but ‘les choses en rose’ (things in pink). Edith Piaf liked to use spoken French when she wrote. And she would often use slang, or what we would call today ’street French’. La Vie en Rose is one of a few exceptions where the level of speech is more standard than casual.
To see life in pink : voir la vie en rose
In English today, you would probably say ’to look on the bright side of life’ or simply ’to think positive’, ’to be optimistic’.
Je vois la vie en rose.Tu vois la vie en rose.Il / Elle / On voit la vie en rose.….
Picture Edith Piaf singing about how comfortable life is when you are snuggled tenderly with the man you love, and….
Il me dit des mots d’amourDes mots de tous les joursEt ça me fait quelque chose
Not only is she snuggled, but he is also whispering sweet nothings in her ears!
He is telling me sweet nothingsEveryday wordsAnd it does something to me
It’s not any kinds of sweet nothings though.
It’s ‘des mots de tous les jours’. In English: words from daily life.
READ: French Sweet Nothings
You know this feeling when you are in love and that the person you are in love with is just perfect?
Everything he or she says is gold. Even the most simple words?
That’s it. Hang on on this feeling…
Il est entré dans mon cœurUne part de bonheurDont je connais la cause
… because now she is describing it!
It came into my heartA slice of happinessWhose origin I know
A slice of happiness… How wonderful…
I’ll take one as well please!
Where Edith Piaf is a woman in love
Then she goes further.
When you’re in love, not only do you think ’this is nice’, you also make plans.
‘I’m going to marry this guy’.
‘I’ll always love her’.
Edith and her lover being human, that’s what they do too.
C’est lui pour moi, moi pour lui dans la vieIl me l’a dit, l’a juré pour la vie
It’s him for me, me for him in lifeHe told me so, swore to me for life
You might be having difficulties decoding this:
Il me l’a dit.
We have here the verb ’se dire’. A pronominal verb. That’s big grammar talk, for a verb that needs a pronoun in front of him.
He told it to ME -> Il ME l’a dit.
The verb ’se dire’ is conjugated at the passé composé. A tense that requires the use of an auxiliary. In this instance AVOIR.
He TOLD it to me -> Il me l’A DIT.
But he didn’t just told me. He told IT to me. Because what he told me was ’something’, we use the masculine singular : LE.
And when LE is placed in front of a word that starts with a vowel, we replace it with L’. So…
He told IT to me -> Il me L’a dit.
Don’t sweat it too much though. The important part is that next time you find a combinaison like this, you tell yourself ‘I’ve seen this before’.
You don’t understand how French verbs work? Read this.
Shall we go back to our lyrics?
Et dès que je l’aperçoisAlors je sens en moiMon cœur qui bat
And as soon as I see himThen I feel inside meMy heart beating
I think anyone can relate to that!
Then, she goes back into the verse
And into description mode:
Des nuits d’amour à plus finirUn grand bonheur qui prend sa placeDes ennuis, des chagrins s’effacentHeureux, heureux à en mourir
But this time, she’s not describing her man anymore.
She’s moved on to what they do together…
Love nights that never endA big happiness which is taking placeTroubles and sorrow fade awayHappy, happy to die for it
I think this is pretty much self-explanatory.
A French teacher note for more advanced learners: you can find and re-use the structure ‘à en + infinitive’ with other verbs.
‘À en perdre haleine’ : to lose breath over it.‘À en devenir fou’ : to become crazy over it.
Then she going over the chorus again
Quand il me prend dans ses brasIl me parle tout basJe vois la vie en rose
Il me dit des mots d’amourDes mots de tous les joursEt ça me fait quelque chose
Il est entré dans mon cœurUne part de bonheurDont je connais la cause
When he takes me in his armsHe speaks softly to meI see life in pinkHe tells me sweet nothingsEveryday wordsAnd it does something to meIt came into my heartA slice of happinessTo which I know the reason
Same lyrics.
To the exception of this line:
C’est toi pour moi, moi pour toi dans la vieTu me l’a dit, l’a juré pour la vieEt dès que je t’aperçoisAlors je sens dans moiMon cœur qui bat
It’s you for me, me for you in lifeYou told me, swore it for lifeAnd as soon as I see youThen I feel inside meMy heart beating
Where she is now talking directly to him.
Talk about love!
La la, la la, la laMon coeur qui bat
La la la laaaaa la laaaaaa
Now you can thank me because you’ll have this song in your head for the rest of the day!
You’re welcome.
So what does La Vie en Rose mean?
It is about loooooove.
The lovey-dovey kind of love that makes your stomach butterfly. The one where you melt and make promise. Where you lose your head over how perfect the other person is.
It’s one kind of love. Maybe the most foolish kind of love. But boy, the one you remember all your life!
