Since the beginning of time, music has helped us express ourselves in another way besides just speaking. Styles change and trends emerge, but music remains something important and essential in every culture.

Headed to France any time soon? Turn on the radio and you’ll certainly hear the song we’re featuring today. The singer, Tal, has been active since 2009 but has been making a bigger name for herself recently, especially after being named artiste féminine française de l’année 2016. She has a very commercial voice that reminds me a lot of me Rihanna, and her songs are just as catchy. This was the first song I heard by her, and it still gets just as many plays on my phone as it did a few years ago.

Just as many anglophone singers sing in French, some francophone artists sing in English. That’s the case with today’s song: the title and some verses are in English, but there’s still plenty of French for you to learn from and listen to. It could be a smart tactic, too – there’s a law in France that requires 40% of music played on the radio to be in French. Mix a song with French and English, and how does it get classified?

Let’s give it a listen:

L’impression d’une vie dans le noir
The feeling of a life in the dark
L’ennui éteint tous nos espoirs
Boredom turns off our hopes
Inconscient, une vie illusoire
Unconscious, a deceptive life
Et incapable de voir
And unable to see

Mais tu sais que sans en avoir l’air
But you know that without seeming to
Tu construis l’histoire
You’re developing a story
À chacun sa gloire
To each his glory
S’arrêter, quelques heures s’en aller
Stop a few hours, go
Comme un avion qui passe dans ce monde qui nous laisse
Like a plane passing in this world that’s abandoning us

Sommes-nous éveillés ?
Are we awake?
Are we awake?
Où sont nos je t’aime ?
Where are our “I love yous”?
Are we awake?
Are we awake?
Time to wake up right now

Mais combien faut-il de refrains utiles ?
But how many helpful repetitions do we need?
Combien de chansons dans les airs ?
How many songs in the air?
Vie facile, sortir de la ville
Easy life, going out of town
Et s’éveiller vers la mer
And waking up by the sea

Mais tu sais que sans en avoir l’air
But you know that without seeming to
Tu construis l’histoire
You’re developing a story
À chacun sa gloire
To each his glory
S’arrêter, quelques heures s’en aller
Stop a few hours, go
Comme un avion qui passe dans ce monde qui nous laisse
Like a plane passing in this world that’s abandoning us

Sommes-nous éveillés ?
Are we awake?
Are we awake?
Où sont nos je t’aime ?
Where are our “I love yous”?
Are we awake?
Are we awake?
Time to wake up right now

I want to be awake
Can’t let my mind be asleep all day
Gonna pack it up, pick it up, be on my way
Cause I’m motivated, dedicated

It’s a mind revolution
Love is the solution
No man can escape evolution
So we have to free our mind
And find our mission, hey!

Sommes-nous éveillés ?
Are we awake?
Are we awake?
Où sont nos je t’aime ?
Where are our “I love yous”?
Are we awake?
Are we awake?
Time to wake up right now

Are we awake?
Yeah, yeah, hey hey
Are we awake?

What do you think of using English in French songs?