Earlier this month, we looked at une chanson d’amour (a love song) written by French singer/songwriter Francis Cabrel called Je l’Aime à Mourir (I Love Her to Death). I hope you took the opportunity to seek out more of Cabrel’s work. There is plenty to choose from since this year will mark the 40^th year of his carrière (career).

Even more popular than Francis Cabrel is French singer/songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman. Goldman began his career in 1975 and remains active to this day. You may not be familiar with his work but you are certainly familiar with singer Céline Dion. Goldman wrote the majority of Céline’s songs over the course of her French career. The success of her French albums helped her break into the English-speaking world and turned her into the megastar she is today.

Today I’d like to introduce you to one of Goldman’s songs from early on in his career. Comme Toi (Like You) is a song off his Minoritaire album released in 1982. It’s not a love song. It has a deeper, more meaningful message that I will let you figure out on your own.

(In this song, keep in mind that the words comme toi can be translated “as you do” or “like you.”)

 

Elle avait les yeux clairs et la robe en velours

A côté de sa mère et la famille autour
Elle pose un peu distraite au doux soleil de la fin du jour

She had light-colored eyes and a velvet dress

Next to her mother and surrounded by her family

She stands a little distracted under the mild sun at the end of the day

 

La photo n’est pas bonne mais l’on peut y voir

Le bonheur en personne et la douceur d’un soir
Elle aimait la musique, surtout Schumann et puis Mozart

The picture isn’t good but we can see

Happiness personified and the mildness of an evening

She loved music, especially Schumann and [then] Mozart

 

Comme toi..
Comme toi..
Comme toi que je regarde tout bas
Comme toi qui dors en rêvant à quoi
Comme toi..

As you do

As you do

Like you who I look upon

As you sleep dreaming of all kinds of things

Like you

 

Elle allait à l’école au village d’en bas
Elle apprenait les livres, elle apprenait les lois
Elle chantait les grenouilles
Et les princesses qui dorment au bois

She would go to school at the village down below

She learned about books, she learned the rules (laws)

She sang about frogs

And princesses that sleep in the forest

 

Elle aimait sa poupée, elle aimait ses amis
Surtout Ruth et Anna et surtout Jérémie
Et ils se marieraient un jour peut-être à Varsovie

She loved her doll, she loved her friends

Especially Ruth and Anna and especially Jérémie

Maybe one day the would get married in Warsaw

 

Comme toi..
Comme toi..
Comme toi que je regarde tout bas
Comme toi qui dors en rêvant à quoi
Comme toi..

As you do

As you do

Like you who I look upon

As you sleep dreaming of all kinds of things

Like you

 

Elle s’appelait Sarah elle n’avait pas huit ans
Sa vie, c’était douceur, rêves et nuages blancs
Mais d’autres gens en avaient décidé autrement

Her name was Sarah and she was not even eight years old

Her life, was tenderness, dreams and white clouds

But other people had decided differently

 

Elle avait tes yeux clairs et elle avait ton âge
C’était une petite fille sans histoire et très sage
Mais elle n’est pas née comme toi, ici et maintenant

She had your light-colored eyes and she was your age

She was a little girl without a past and well-behaved

But she wasn’t born like you, here and now

 

Comme toi..
Comme toi..
Comme toi que je regarde tout bas
Comme toi qui dors en rêvant à quoi
Comme toi..

As you do

As you do

Like you who I look upon

As you sleep dreaming of all kinds of things

Like you