Yves Montand
La Bicyclette lyrics with English translation
- Language
- French
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1981
- Genre
- Chanson
- Length
- 2:43
Quand on partait de bon matin
When we set off in the early morning
Quand on partait sur les chemins
When we hit the roads
À bicyclette
On our bicycles
Nous étions quelques bons copains
We were a few good friends
Y avait Fernand y avait Firmin
There was Fernand, there was Firmin
Y avait Francis et Sébastien
There was Francis and Sébastien
Et puis Paulette
And then Paulette
On était tous amoureux d'elle
We were all in love with her
On se sentait pousser des ailes
We felt like we had wings
À bicyclette
On our bicycles
Sur les petits chemins de terre
On the little dirt paths
On a souvent vécu l'enfer
We often lived through hell
Pour ne pas mettre pied à terre
To never set foot on the ground
Devant Paulette
In front of Paulette
Faut dire qu'elle y mettait du cœur
I must say she put her heart into it
C'était la fille du facteur
She was the postman's girl
À bicyclette
On a bicycle
Et depuis qu'elle avait huit ans
And since she was eight years old
Elle avait fait en le suivant
She had traveled along with him
Tous les chemins environnants
All the surrounding paths
À bicyclette
On a bicycle
Quand on approchait la rivière
As we approached the river
On déposait dans les fougères
We laid down in the ferns
Nos bicyclettes
Our bicycles
Puis on se roulait dans les champs
Then we rolled in the fields
Faisant naître un bouquet changeant
Giving birth to a changing bouquet
De sauterelles, de papillons
Of grasshoppers, of butterflies
Et de rainettes
And of tree frogs
Quand le soleil à l'horizon
When the sun on the horizon
Profilait sur tous les buissons
Outlined all the bushes
Nos silhouettes
Our silhouettes
On revenait fourbus contents
We returned, exhausted yet happy
Le cœur un peu vague pourtant
The heart a little uncertain still
De n'être pas seul un instant
To not be alone for even a moment
Avec Paulette
With Paulette
Prendre furtivement sa main
To quietly take her hand
Oublier un peu les copains
To forget the friends a bit
La bicyclette
The bicycle
On se disait c'est pour demain
We said to each other, it's for tomorrow
J'oserai, j'oserai demain
I will dare, I will dare tomorrow
Quand on ira sur les chemins
When we ride along the roads
À bicyclette
On a bicycle
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Key vocabulary
- bons
- goodA1
- partait
- was leaving
- bon
- goodA1
- matin
- morningA1
- chemins
- pathsA1
- bicyclette
- bicycleA1
- étions
- were
- sébastien
- Sebastian
- tous
- allB1
- amoureux
- in loveA1
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About this song
Yves Montand was a French singer and actor, born in Italy and naturalized in France, associated with French chanson and popular music. He is remembered both for his long run as a major postwar recording and stage attraction and for film roles that made him better known internationally as an actor.