{"id":25817,"date":"2017-01-10T05:14:46","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T04:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=25817"},"modified":"2018-03-23T14:26:23","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T13:26:23","slug":"music-and-lyrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/music-and-lyrics\/","title":{"rendered":"Music and lyrics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve been following my blog posts this past year, you know that I love a good song. And what&#8217;s a good song, other than a story set to music? And who doesn&#8217;t love a good story? The 1980&#8217;s was the heyday of good story-songs and they are a great tool for learning language and culture.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Juste une mise au point<\/strong> by Jackie Quartz, a French singer who spent part of her youth in my beloved <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/aout-en-bretagne\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bretagne <\/a>before moving to Paris to start a career as a singer-songwriter, is one of my favorites. In the coming weeks, I&#8217;ll share two more of them with you and I hope you&#8217;ll enjoy them as much as I do &#8230; and learn some new vocabulary and grammar in the process! Don&#8217;t forget to review the notes at the end of the post.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jackie Quartz - Juste Une Mise Au Point\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wQTmLBuGR8k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>[Parl\u00e9:] Bon c&#8217;est l&#8217;heure o\u00f9 les souvenirs se ram\u00e8nent<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>[Spoken:] So, it\u2019s that time when the memories come rushing back (lit. the memories bring themselves back)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Juste quand le sommeil se met en gr\u00e8ve<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Just when sleep is elusive (lit. when sleep goes on strike)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Le blues* en profite pour s&#8217;installer<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>The blues take advantage to come in<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Quelques verres de vin blanc pour exciter le manque<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>A few glasses of white wine to feed the absence<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Et on se repasse le film sur un air de romance<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>And cue the film and the romantic soundtrack<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>On revoit les d\u00e9buts et on conna\u00eet la fin<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>We see the beginning and already know the end<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Oh ! \u00e7a c&#8217;est mon c\u00f4t\u00e9 pessimiste. <\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Oh! That\u2019s my pessimistic side <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Je pr\u00e9f\u00e8re penser que c&#8217;est une histoire sans fin<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>I prefer to think that it\u2019s a never-ending story<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Si \u00e7a vous d\u00e9range pas trop ? Oh pour une fois !<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>If you don\u2019t mind? Oh for once!<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Bon je laisse tomber le couplet** sur l&#8217;amour immortel<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Fine, I\u2019ll drop the \u00ab\u00a0eternal love\u00a0\u00bb poem<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>\u00c7a ne concerne pas grand monde<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>It doesn\u2019t apply to many people (anyway)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Puis de toute fa\u00e7on<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>And anyway<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>La mort d&#8217;un amour donne la vie \u00e0 un autre<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>The death of one love gives life to another<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>[Il+] y a d\u00e9j\u00e0 moins de soucis \u00e0 se faire<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>See there\u2019s already less to worry about<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Tiens ! Le bar-tabac*** de la rue de Clichy#<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Look there! The corner bar on Clichy St.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>O\u00f9 tu t&#8217;envoies ton petit cr\u00e8me<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>And you drinking your coffee<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>J&#8217;le**** connais par c\u0153ur<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>I know it by heart<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>J&#8217;peux**** m\u00eame le dessiner les yeux ferm\u00e9s<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>I can even draw with my eyes closed<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>[Chant\u00e9:] Juste une mise au point<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>[Singing\u00a0:] Just a little \u00ab\u00a0setting the record straight\u00a0\u00bb \/ review of the main points<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Sur les plus belles images de ma vie<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Of the most beautiful images of my life<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Sur les clich\u00e9s trop p\u00e2les d&#8217;une love-story<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>On the faded pictures of a love story<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Sur les tam-tams d&#8217;une femme sans alibi<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>And the heartbeat of woman without an alibi<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Qui r\u00eave toutes ses nuits<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Who spends her nights dreaming<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Juste une mise au point<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Just a little \u00ab\u00a0review\u00a0\u00bb<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Pour un petit clin d&#8217;\u0153il de survie<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>A little wink between survivors<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Pour tous les fous, les malades de l&#8217;amour <\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>For all the crazies, the lovesick<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Pour toutes les victimes du romantisme, comme moi<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>For all the victims of romanticism, like me<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Juste un p&#8217;tit clin d&#8217;\u0153il, une mise au point<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Nothing but a wink, a review<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>[Parl\u00e9:] Nos vacances au soleil, sous les UVB<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>[Spoken\u00a0:] Our vacation in the sun, under the ultraviolet lights<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Dans un institut de beaut\u00e9<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Of a tanning salon<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Notre superbe voilier qui a jamais vu la mer<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Our superb sailboat that never saw the sea<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Nos lits improvis\u00e9s sur un morceau de moquette<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Our improvised beds on a corner of the carpet<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Les discussions de fin de soir\u00e9e chez les copains<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>The late night conversations at our friends\u2019 place<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Oh oui ! parlons-en des copains<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Oh yeah\u00a0! Let\u2019s talk about our friends<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Pour foutre la merde***** ils sont champions ! <\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>For messing things up, they\u2019re real champs\u00a0!<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Gros plan sur tes yeux quand ils me disent je t&#8217;aime<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Close up on your eyes when they telegraph \u201cI love you\u201d<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Nos sc\u00e8nes de jalousies qui fatiguent tout le monde<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Our jealous scenes that everyone finds annoying (tiring)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>La rue des Bernardins##, le square Gambetta###<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Bernardins Street, Gambetta Square<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Nos crises de fou rire juste au mauvais moment<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Our laughing fits always at the wrong time<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Et nos jeux de mots ringards^ qui ne font rire que nous<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>And our dorky puns that no laughs at but us<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Puis, mon premier rendez-vous dans un night-club d\u00e9sert <\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>Then, my first date in a deserted night club<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Avec la bonne copine qui veut pas tenir la chandelle^^<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>With my good (girl) friend who doesn\u2019t like being the third wheel<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Et qui se tire en r\u00e2lant^^^<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>And leaves grumbling<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>[Refrain jusqu\u2019\u00e0 la fin . . . ]<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><em>[Refrain repeating . . . ]<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>* &#8216;<em>le blues&#8217; <\/em>is singular (as opposed to plural) despite the &#8216;<em>s<\/em><em>&#8216; <\/em>at the end because in this case &#8216;<em>blues&#8217;<\/em> is a collective noun refering to &#8216;<em>the blues<\/em>&#8216; from the American musical form. &#8216;<em>Les bleus&#8217;\u00a0<\/em>(plural, and spelled\u00a0<em>a la francais<\/em>) is the familiar name of the French national soccer (football) league.<br \/>\n** &#8216;<em>couplet&#8217; <\/em>is the same word in French and English. A couplet is two lines of verse generally using the same rhyme and meter scheme.<br \/>\n*** &#8216;<em>un bar-tabac&#8217;<\/em> or a &#8216;<em>caf\u00e9-tabac&#8217; <\/em>is an establishment that sells cigarets along side drinks and light food. Every neighborhood in France has it&#8217;s local bar or caf\u00e9-tabac even today when smoking &#8211; while still common &#8211; is much less common than at one time.<br \/>\n+ &#8216;<em>Il y a<\/em>&#8216; means &#8216;<em>there is<\/em>&#8216; or &#8216;<em>there are<\/em>&#8216; as noted in the next note, the French are not sticklers for including every letter . . . or even every word! . . . when speaking and singing<br \/>\n**** &#8216;<em>Je le connais<\/em> . . . &#8216; and &#8216;<em>Je peux<\/em> . . . &#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/a-little-song-and-dance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">as previously discussed<\/a>, spoken and sung French often elides letters. Being able to understand a French speaker (or singer) when they run all their words together is a true art!<br \/>\n***** &#8216;<em>merde&#8217; <\/em>is a surprisingly common word in French . . . at least as far as Americans are concerned. The French are generally more comfortable with &#8216;<em>les gros mots&#8217;<\/em> (&#8216;<em>the big words&#8217; \/ &#8216;swears&#8217;)<\/em> than Americans and some other speakers. A typical French speaker will sprinkle their speech with this . . . and many, many other . . . colorful words.<br \/>\n^ &#8216;<em>ringard&#8217;<\/em> is a great adjective! I&#8217;ve translated it here as &#8216;<em>dorky&#8217;<\/em> but it can mean &#8216;<em>old&#8217;, &#8216;dumb&#8217;, &#8216;hick&#8217;, <\/em>and more. It&#8217;s a great all-purpose word that means &#8220;<em>not cool<\/em>&#8221; in so many ways.<br \/>\n^^ &#8216;<em>une chandelle&#8217; <\/em>is a &#8216;<em>candelabra<\/em>&#8216; . . . this experssion refers to a single person who is along with a group of couples . . . as a soloist \ud83d\ude09<br \/>\n^^^ &#8216;<em>se tirer&#8217;<\/em> means more than just &#8216;<em>to leave&#8217;<\/em>. <em>&#8216;Quelqu&#8217;un qui se tire . . . &#8216;<\/em> is leaving in a huff, not simply leaving, but storming off.<\/p>\n<p>Locations:<br \/>\n# <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/place\/Rue+de+Clichy,+75009+Paris,+France\/@48.8800507,2.3276467,16.72z\/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x47e66e4bdbe15dcd:0x94cc53051f50a24c!8m2!3d48.8801383!4d2.3292116?hl=en&amp;authuser=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rue de Clichy is a street in the 9th Arrondissement not far from the Gare St. Lazare.<\/a><br \/>\n##<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/place\/Rue+des+Bernardins,+75005+Paris,+France\/@48.849283,2.347904,17z\/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x47e671e4232c75fd:0x3cba65d990b5cfe8!8m2!3d48.8492795!4d2.3500927?hl=en&amp;authuser=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> rue des Bernardins is a street on the left bank of Paris near <em>le quartier Latin. <\/em><\/a><br \/>\n### <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/place\/Place+Gambetta,+75020+Paris,+France\/@48.8646045,2.3965544,17z\/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x47e66d8e2e1cc579:0x804a6d3d2240965e!8m2!3d48.8646011!4d2.3987037?hl=en&amp;authuser=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">place Gambetta is in the 20th . . . not far from the P\u00e8re Lachaise Cemetary <\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve been following my blog posts this past year, you know that I love a good song. And what&#8217;s a good song, other than a story set to music? And who doesn&#8217;t love a good story? The 1980&#8217;s was the heyday of good story-songs and they are a great tool for learning language and&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/music-and-lyrics\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,6,108,13],"tags":[222,284,346,367,10349,432,249992,8122],"class_list":["post-25817","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","category-grammar","category-music","category-vocabulary","tag-chanson-francaise","tag-free-french-lessons","tag-french-grammar","tag-french-music","tag-french-song","tag-french-vocabulary","tag-musique-francaise","tag-paris"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25817"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30031,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25817\/revisions\/30031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}