Julien Doré est bien connu en France (Julien Doré is well known in France). After winning the 5th season of Nouvelle Star (the equivalent of American Idol) in 2007, the Alès-born singer/songwriter has released 3 chart-topping albums and over a dozen singles. He’s gone on to be a guest judge on The Voice France and was awarded Artist of the Year for Victoires de la Musique in 2015.

In 2016, he released 3 promo singles for a yet to be announced album. I think he has a very calming voice, and his striking good looks are a plus for many. But it’s not just his voice that makes him a fine musician – homeboy can play the hell out of a ukulele. While it’s not my favorite instrument, j’avoue (I admit) it goes very well with his voice, and I tap my foot to it when listening. The single we’re looking at today doesn’t feature the instrument, but it does feature a famous actress from the 90s. Still fun!

All the French bloggers here at Transparent Language are big advocates for learning through music. So much can be done with it at home or in the classroom: discussion questions, cloze activities (removing words from the song and having students fill in the blank – great for related words in vocabulary you’re learning), circling certain parts of speech, rewriting the verbs in a different tense, underlining words you don’t know… The possibilities are endless!

As usual, I’m providing a line-by-line translation, but feel free to search for the lyrics, print them out, and make a personalized vocabulary list of words you don’t know yet.

La Madone au Nord
The Madonna in the North
Et le lac se dessine
And the lake appears
Courageux et fort
Courageous and strong
Où rien ne respire
Where nothing breathes
Corps contre corps
Body against body
Ciel contre cimes
Sky against the peaks
La forêt se tord
The forest twists
L’horizon soupire
The horizon sighs

T’aimer sur les bords du lac
Loving you by the banks of the lake
Ton coeur sur mon corps qui respire
Your heart on my breathing body
Pourvu que les hommes nous regardent
So long as people are watching
Amoureux de l’ombre et du pire
Lovers of the shadow and all that is bad

T’aimer sur les bords du lac
Loving you by the banks of the lake
Ton coeur sur mon corps qui respire
Your heart on my breathing body
Pourvu que les hommes nous regardent
So long as people are watching
Amoureux de l’ombre et du pire
Lovers of the shadow and all that is bad

Je reviendrai fort
I’ll come back strong

Surprendre la cime
Discover the peak
La rivière et l’or
The river and gold
Me font prendre racine
Make me take root
J’ai trompé la mort
I cheated death
La pente est facile
The slope is easy
Sers-moi encore
Hold me again
Que mes anges vacillent
Let the angels tremble

T’aimer sur les bords du lac
Loving you by the banks of the lake
Ton coeur sur mon corps qui respire
Your heart on my breathing body
Pourvu que les hommes nous regardent
So long as people are watching
Amoureux de l’ombre et du pire
Lovers of the shadow and all that is bad

Si demain tu regrettes le miroir écorché
If tomorrow you regret the skinned mirror
Que le lac te reflète promets-moi d’oublier
Let the lake reflect you; promise me to forget
Si demain tu regrettes le miroir écorché
If tomorrow you regret the skinned mirror
Que le lac te reflète promets-moi d’oublier
Let the lake reflect you; promise me to forget

T’aimer sur les bords du lac
Loving you by the banks of the lake
Ton coeur sur mon corps qui respire
Your heart on my breathing body
Pourvu que les hommes nous regardent
So long as people are watching
Amoureux de l’ombre et du pire
Lovers of the shadow and all that is bad

T’aimer sur les bords du lac
Loving you by the banks of the lake
Ton coeur sur mon corps qui respire
Your heart on my breathing body
Pourvu que les hommes nous regardent
So long as people are watching
Amoureux de l’ombre et du pire
Lovers of the shadow and all that is bad