“Et Moi, et Moi, et Moi” (“And Me, and Me, and Me”) Posted by Hichem on Aug 21, 2012 in Culture, Music, Vocabulary
You listen to this famous and catchy French song, and you tell me if the French gentleman who wrote these lyrics back in 1966 has never been more right today than he ever was…
The French singer, Jacques Dutronc, summarizes the process quite well:
The narcissism and egomania of the “Baby Boomers” (his own generation, that is)
with its typical “et moi, et moi, et moi” (“and me, and me, and me“)
would naturally give rise to the “Clueless Generation” (simply called “Generation X.“)
The “Generation X” would in turn set the stage for the “Generation Y“, which, ironically, rarely asks the question “why?” (just “whY not?”)
Finally, since we’re in 2012 and are already running out of letters of the alphabet, comes the ultimate “Generation Z“, with its characteristic “ADD”, “ADHD”, and other catchy acronyms that refer to the shortest attention span ever experienced by humans.
As Jacques Dutronc succinctly puts it in the song: “J’y pense, et puis j’oublie“
(“I think about it, then I forget”)
Right before he says: “C’est la vie, c’est la vie“
“That’s life, that’s life.”
Jacques Dutronc’s 1966 “Et moi, et moi, et moi” (“And me, and me, and me”)
(An exclusive lyrics translation for the Transparent Language French Blog)
Sept cent millions de chinois
Seven millions of Chinese people
“Et moi, et moi, et moi“
“And me, and me, and me”
Avec ma vie, mon petit chez moi
With my life, my little home
Mon mal de tête, mon point au foie
My headache, my indigestion
J’y pense, et puis j’oublie
I think about it, then I forget
C’est la vie, c’est la vie
That’s life, that’s life
Quatre vingt millions d’indonésiens
Eighty millions of Indonesians
“Et moi, et moi, et moi“
“And me, and me, and me”
With my car and my dog
Son Canigou quand il aboit
His dog food when he barks
J’y pense et puis j’oublie
I think about it, then I forget
C’est la vie, c’est la vie
That’s life, that’s life
Trois ou quatre cent millions de noirs
Three or four hundred millions of black people
“Et moi, et moi, et moi“
“And me, and me, and me”
Qui vais au brunissoir
Who goes to the tanning salon
Au sauna pour perdre du poids
To the sauna to lose weight
J’y pense et puis j’oublie
I think about it, then I forget
C’est la vie, c’est la vie
That’s life, that’s life
Trois cent millions de soviétiques
Three hundred millions of Soviets
“Et moi, et moi, et moi“
“And me, and me, and me”
Avec mes manies et mes tics
With my quirks and jerks
Dans mon p’tit lit en plumes d’oie
In my little goose-feather bed
J’y pense, et puis j’oublie
I think about it, then I forget
C’est la vie, c’est la vie
That’s life, that’s life
Cinquante millions de gens imparfaits
Fifty millions of imperfect people
“Et moi, et moi, et moi“
“And me, and me, and me”
Qui regarde Catherine Langeais
Who watches Catherine Langeais
[Ex TV anchor and, incidentally, François Mitterrand’s ex as well]
À la télévision chez moi
On TV at home
J’y pense, et puis j’oublie
I think about it, then I forget
C’est la vie, c’est la vie
That’s life, that’s life
Neuf cent millions de crève-la-faim
Nine hundred millions of starving-to-death people
“Et moi, et moi, et moi“
“And me, and me, and me”
Avec mon régime végétarien
With my vegetarian diet
Et tout le whisky que je m’envoie
And all the whiskey that I chug
J’y pense, et puis j’oublie
I think about it, then I forget
C’est la vie, c’est la vie
That’s life, that’s life
Cinq cent millions de sud américains
Five hundred millions of South American people
“Et moi, et moi, et moi“
“And me, and me, and me”
Je suis tout nu dans mon bain
I am buck naked in my bath
Avec une fille qui me nettoie
With a girl cleaning me
J’y pense, et puis j’oublie
I think about it, then I forget
C’est la vie, c’est la vie
That’s life, that’s life
Cinquante millions de vietnamiens
Fifty millions of Vietnamese people
“Et moi, et moi, et moi“
“And me, and me, and me”
Le dimanche, à la chasse au lapin
On Sunday hunting rabbits
Avec mon fusil, je suis le roi
With my gun, I am the king
J’y pense, et puis j’oublie
I think about it, then I forget
C’est la vie, c’est la vie
That’s life, that’s life
Cinq cent millards de petits martiens
Five hundred billions of little Martians
“Et moi, et moi, et moi“
“And me, and me, and me”
Comme un con de parisien
Like a dumb Parisian
J’attends mon chèque de fin de mois
I wait for my end-of-the-month paycheck
J’y pense, et puis j’oublie
I think about it, then I forget
C’est la vie, c’est la vie
That’s life, that’s life
J’y pense, et puis j’oublie
I think about it, then I forget
C’est la vie, c’est la vie
That’s life, that’s life
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