Patrick Bruel
En bas des marches lyrics with English translation
- Language
- French
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1994
- Genre
- Pop
- Length
- 3:30
Elle était assise En Bas Des Marches
She was sitting at the bottom of the stairs
Comme adossée à sa vie.
As if leaning against her life.
Sur ses joues, quelques traces d'une histoire qui a mal fini.
On her cheeks, some traces of a story that ended badly.
Elle était assise en bas du monde, à écouter les secondes
She was sitting at the bottom of the world, listening to the seconds
Qui résonnent sans rien dire, qui parlent meme plus d'avenir.
That resonate without saying a word, that speak even less of the future.
Elle attendait, attendait... qu'un sourire vienne se poser
She was waiting, waiting... for a smile to come to rest
Au milieu de ses reves avant qu' la nuit l'enlève.
In the middle of her dreams before the night takes her away.
J'ai cherché, maladroit, le froid de son regard,
I searched, clumsily, for the coldness of her gaze,
Histoire de comprendre son histoire.
Just to understand her story.
Elle vivait comme une ombre que personne ne dessine encore...
She lived like a shadow that no one has sketched yet...
Elle m'a offert pendant quelques heures
She gave me for a few hours
Tous les battements de son cur,
All the beats of her heart,
Reconstruit en une nuit les châteaux d' sable de sa vie.
Rebuilt in one night the sandcastles of her life.
Tout ce temps passé à apprendre
All this time spent learning
Les ruses pour pas se faire prendre,
The tricks to not get caught,
A se débattre quand il pleut au hasard de droles de jeux.
To struggle when it rains in the randomness of strange games.
Elle riait, elle pleurait...
She laughed, she cried...
Sans que ses larmes ne coulent jamais.
Without her tears ever flowing.
Elle aurait tout donné pour un geste, un regard
She would have given everything for a gesture, a glance
Qui avaient tellement manqué.
That had been so missed.
Elle en parlait trop, meme à demi-mot
She talked too much, even in half-words
Comme une gosse perdue qui cherche sa place sur la photo.
Like a lost kid searching for her place in the picture.
Elle avait l' cur en mille morceaux
Her heart was in a thousand pieces
Et personne pour l'emmener plus haut.
And no one to lift her higher.
Elle passait toutes ses nuits ici à attendre je n' sais qui
She spent all her nights here waiting for someone I don't know
Au creux de ces lits de hasard
In the depths of these random beds
Elle cherchait des raisons d'y croire.
She was looking for reasons to believe.
L'humour comme dernière politesse... pudeur de princesse.
Humor as the last courtesy... princess's modesty.
Elle était assise En Bas Des Marches
She was sitting at the bottom of the stairs
Comme adossée à sa vie.
As if leaning against her life.
Devant mes yeux cette image, qui m'a si longtemps suivi.
Before my eyes this image, that has followed me for so long.
Elle était assise En Bas Des Marches...
She was sitting at the bottom of the stairs...
Key vocabulary
- mal
- badlyA1
- marches
- stepsA1
- monde
- worldA1
- nuits
- nightsA1
- plus
- moreA1
- poser
- poseA1
- quelques
- someA1
- raisons
- reasonsA1
- rien
- nothingA1
- sourire
- smileA1
About this song
Patrick Bruel is a French singer and actor known for his prominence in 1990s pop and his later work in traditional French chanson. He rose to commercial success with the number one single “Alors Regarde” and has also maintained a parallel career in film, including César-nominated acting for Le Prénom.