https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PDABGJb2og

One of the most beloved French singers of the 20^th century, Joe Dassin gave the world something to sing about. His voice still graces the airwaves of French radio stations and you can’t help but smile a little when you hear a song like Les Champs-Élysées from the album of the same name released in 1969.

Born in New York City in 1938, Dassin began his musical career in 1964 and quickly became one of the most popular singers of the 1970s. Between 1966 and 1979, Dassin’s musical output was rather prolific, as he released no less than thirteen studio albums on the CBS label. Sadly, he died of a heart attack at the age of forty-one but will always be revered as one of the greatest singers of his generation.

Les Champs-Élysées is one of Dassin’s most famous songs and is one of those classics that continue to touch people’s hearts forty-five years after it was written. If ever you ever find yourself walking down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris (one of the world’s most famous boulevards), remember the words of Joe Dassin in this song.

Je me baladais sur l’avenue
Le coeur ouvert à l’inconnu
J’avais envie de dire bonjour
À n’importe qui
N’importe qui ce fut toi
Je t’ai dit n’importe quoi
Il suffisait de te parler
Pour t’apprivoiser

I was walking along the avenue
The heart open to the unknown
I wanted to say good morning
To anybody
Anybody was you
I told you anything
I only had to talk to you
To tame you

Aux Champs-Élysées
Aux Champs-Élysées
Au soleil, sous la pluie
À midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout ce que vous voulez
Aux Champs-Élysées

At the Champs- Élysées
At the Champs- Élysées
In the sun, under the rain
At noon or at midnight
There is everything you want
At the Champs- Élysées

Tu m’as dit : “J’ai rendez-vous
Dans un sous-sol avec des fous
Qui vivent la guitare à la main
Du soir au matin”
Alors je t’ai accompagnée
On a chanté, on a dansé
Et l’on n’a même pas pensé
À s’embrasser

You told me: “I have a date
In a basement with crazy people
Who live with guitar in hand
From evening to morning.”
So, I accompanied you
We sang, we danced
And we never even thought
Of kissing.

Aux Champs-Élysées
Aux Champs-Élysées
Au soleil, sous la pluie
À midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout ce que vous voulez
Aux Champs-Élysées

At the Champs- Élysées
At the Champs- Élysées
In the sun, under the rain
At noon or at midnight
There is everything you want
At the Champs- Élysées

Hier soir, deux inconnus
Et ce matin, sur l’avenue
Deux amoureux, tout étourdis
Par la longue nuit
Et de l’Étoile à la Concorde
Un orchestre à mille cordes
Tous les oiseaux du point du jour
Chantent l’amour

Yesterday evening, two strangers
And this morning, on the avenue
Two lovers, dazed
From the long night
And from the Étoile to the Concorde
An orchestra of a thousand strings
All the birds at daybreak
Sing love.

Aux Champs-Élysées
Aux Champs-Élysées
Au soleil, sous la pluie
À midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout ce que vous voulez
Aux Champs-Élysées

At the Champs- Élysées
At the Champs- Élysées
In the sun, under the rain
At noon or at midnight
There is everything you want
At the Champs- Élysées