Maintenant by Les Enfoirés

Published by Lyrical Language on April 6, 2021April 6, 2021

No discussion of French music is complete without introducing Les Enfoirés. “Maintenant” is the official song of this year’s annual concert to benefit the charity Les Restos du cœur, which was broadcast on March 5th on TF1. The single, written by Slimane, was released on February 15th and features artists such as Patrick Bruel, Vianney, Zazie, Florent Pagny, Patrick Fiori, Amir, Soprano, Nolwenn Leroy, Claudio Capeo, Vitaa and Slimane.

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Activities

About the Artists

Les Enfoirés is a group of musicians, initially created in 1985 by French comedian and actor Coluche. The story begins in September of 1985 with the creation of the non-profit organization Les Restaurants du Cœur, better known as Les Restos du Cœur (Restaurants of the heart), which provides meals to those in need. Coluche approached French singer Jean-Jacques Goldman, who was extremely popular at the time, to create a theme song for the charity. The result was the song “La Chanson des Restos” (Song of the restaurants). Several singers performed the song, and they would end up becoming the first group of Les Enfoirés. These singers were: Jean-Jacques Goldman, Yves Montand, Nathalie Baye, Michel Platini et Michel Drucker. The first concert to benefit Les Restos du Cœur took place on January 26th, 1986 on French television channel TF1. As Coluche was approaching musicians to participate in the benefit concert some refused. To these musicians he said “Vous êtes vraiment une bande d’enfoirés” (you’re really a group of bastards), giving name to the group. In 1992 the benefit concerts became annual occurrences. Many artists have participated in Les Enfoirés over the years, as can be seen in this comprehensive list of participants. All proceeds from Les Enfoirés continue to go to Les Restos du Cœur.

Biographical information from Wikipedia.

Cultural References, Idioms and Explanations

‘Enfoiré’ – this is a pejorative term that is often translated as ‘bastard’ or ‘asshole’. It is used for someone who is an idiot, is disloyal, or who is ‘good for nothing’. Coluche has co-opted this term to use it as the name of the group of musicians who perform in the yearly benefit concerts for his charity Les Restos du Cœur. I have left the term untranslated in this song as it refers to the name of the group of musicians.

‘se mettre à l’abri’ – The phrase ‘se mettre’ would translate literally as ‘to put oneself’, and when used with a place means ‘to sit’, ‘to stand’ or ‘to situate yourself’. The phrase ‘à l’abri’ means ‘sheltered, ‘in the safety of’, or ‘in a safe place’. The combined phrase ‘se mettre à l’abri’, which would translate literally as ‘to put oneself in shelter’, means ‘to take shelter’ or ‘to take cover’.

‘les gens qui s’aiment ne s’oublient pas’ – This is an example of the reflexive being used reciprocally. The ‘se’ here, rather than meaning ‘themselves’, means ‘each other’. So this phrase means ‘people who love each other don’t forget each other’.

‘allez’ – The nous form of the verb ‘aller’ means ‘we go’, but can also be used as an interjection to mean ‘come on’.

‘tenir le coup’ – This phrase would translate literally as ‘to hold the blow’. While it can be used in the more literal sense of withstanding a physical blow, such as a punch, it can also be used figuratively to mean ‘to cope’, ‘to endure’, ‘to withstand’, ‘to stick it out’ or ‘to weather the storm’.

‘tant que’ – Literally translating as ‘so much that’, this phrase means ‘as long as’, ‘for as long as’ or ‘while’.

‘se laisser faire’ – Translating literally as something like ‘to let oneself be done’, this phrase means ‘to let oneself be pushed around’.

‘s’en aller’ – While the verb ‘aller’ means ‘to go’, the reflexive ‘s’en aller’ means ‘to go away’ or ‘to leave’.

‘gens’ – This is a masculine plural noun meaning ‘people’. It is unusual because it does not have a singular form.

‘ne … plus’ – This is a common form of negation. Used in the same way as ‘ne … pas’ (sandwiched around the verb), it means ‘not anymore’ or ‘no longer’.

‘c’est mal nous connaître’ – Literally translating as ‘it’s bad to know us’, this phrase means ‘you don’t know us’. It French it is far more common to see ‘c’est mal me connaître’ meaning ‘you don’t know me. It is used in circumstances where someone misjudges you, such as ‘ if you think I would forget that appointment, you don’t know me’.

‘avoir raison’ – This is one of the many phrases that uses ‘avoir’ in French. Meaning ‘to be right’, it translates literally as ‘to have reason’.

‘avoir faim’ – This is another of the many phrases that uses ‘avoir’ in French. Meaning ‘to be hungry’, it translates literally as ‘to have hunger’.

‘avoir froid’ – This is one of the many phrases that uses ‘avoir’ in French. Meaning ‘to be cold’, it translates literally as ‘to have cold’.

‘aller + inf’ – The verb ‘aller’ means ‘to go’. As in English, when this verb is used with a place, it implies movement towards that place. But when it is used with another verb, it implies that that action will be preformed in the future. For example ‘I am going to the store’ ‘(je vais au magasin’) vs ‘I am going to eat’ (‘je vais manger’).

‘savoir’ vs ‘connaître’ – There are two verbs used in this song that mean ‘to know’, but they are not interchangeable. The verb ‘savoir’ is used for knowledge that one can acquire, such as facts or how to do something. The verb ‘connaître’ is used in the sense of being ‘familiar with’ something, such as people or places.

Activities

We’ve created flashcards, games, and exercises to practice vocabulary and grammatical concepts found in this song. Check out our Activities Page to take your learning further!

Song Lyrics with Grammatical Breakdown

Mouse over a term for grammatical information. A chart of the terms and grammatical information can be found here.

Maintenant

[Verse 1]

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]

[Chorus]

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

Lyrics with Translation

Songs in any language often leave room for multiple interpretations. Following is my interpretation of the song lyrics.

Maintenant
Now

[Verse 1]
On en fait des erreurs dans ce monde qui crie
We make mistakes in this world that is crying out
On veut toucher la lune pour se mettre à l’abri
We want to touch the moon in order to take cover
On ne connaît même plus le nom de nos voisins
We don’t even know the names of our neighbors anymore
Les mots doux, les “je t’aime”, ni les “tchao pantin”
The sweet words, the “I love you”, nor the “ciao puppet”
On a perdu l’amour dans les grandes métropoles
We lost love in the big cities
Je sais plus qui l’a dit, Jacques, Jean, Pierre ou Paul
I know anymore who said it, James, John, Peter or Paul
On va pas s’laisser faire, non, c’est mal nous connaître
We will not let ourselves be pushed around, no, you don’t know us at all
On a bien appris sans pourquoi, sans peut-être
We learned well without why, without maybe

[Pre-Chorus]
Je te tiens, tu me tiens
I’ve got you, you’ve got me
Celui qui donne a raison
The one who gives is right
Je te tiens par la main
I’m holding your hand
Ce soir on est à la maison
Tonight we’re at home

[Chorus]
Ici et maintenant, hier et maintenant
Here and now, yesterday and now
Toujours et maintenant, Enfoirés maintenant
Always and now, Enfoirés now
Demain et maintenant, hier et maintenant
Tomorrow and now, yesterday and now
Entends les battements, Enfoirés maintenant
Hear the beats, Enfoirés now
Allez, allez, allez, allez, allez, allez
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on
Allez, Enfoirés maintenant
Come on, Enfoirés now
Allez, allez, allez, allez, allez, allez
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on
Allez, Enfoirés maintenant
Come on, Enfoirés now

[Verse 2]
Aujourd’hui encore, on n’a plus le droit
Even nowadays, we no longer have the right
Ni d’avoir faim, ni d’avoir froid, ne l’oublie pas
Neither to be hungry, nor to be cold, don’t forget it
Et tant que ça dure, on restera là
And as long as it lasts, we’ll stay here
On pense à elle, on pense à lui, on pense à toi
We think of her, we think of him, we think of you
Non, c’est pas la même, si tu t’en vas
No, it’s not the same, if you leave
Tu sais, les gens qui s’aiment ne s’oublient pas
You know, people who love each other don’t forget each other
On tient le coup, on reste debout
We stick it out, we stay on our feet
Peut-être un peu fous mais on sait pourquoi
Maybe a little crazy but we know why

Grammatical Concepts Used in this Song

Demonstrative Adjectives:
- On en fait des erreurs dans ce monde qui crie
- Ce soir on est à la maison

Possessive Adjectives:
- On ne connait même plus le nom de nos voisins

Relative Pronouns:
- On en fait des erreurs dans ce monde qui crie
- Je sais plus qui l’a dit, Jacques, Jean, Pierre ou Paul
- Celui qui donne a raison
- Tu sais, les gens qui s’aiment ne s’oublient pas

Object Pronouns:
- Les mots doux, les “je t’aime”, ni les “tchao pantin”
- On va pas s’laisser faire, non, c’est mal nous connaître
- Je te tiens, tu me tiens
- Je te tiens par la main

Demonstrative Pronouns:
- Celui qui donne a raison

Disjunctive Pronouns:
- On pense à elle, on pense à lui, on pense à toi

Negation:
- On ne connait même plus le nom de nos voisins
- Je (ne) sais plus qui l’a dit, Jacques, Jean, Pierre ou Paul
- On (ne) va pas s’laisser faire, non, c’est mal nous connaître
- Aujourd’hui encore, on n‘a plus le droit
- Ni d’avoir faim, ni d’avoir froid, ne l’oublie pas
- Non, c’est pas la même, si tu t’en vas

Phrases with ‘avoir’:
- Celui qui donne a raison
- Ni d’avoir faim, ni d’avoir froid, ne l’oublie pas

Irregular Verbs:
- faire:
  - On en fait des erreurs dans ce monde qui crie
- vouloir:
  - On veut toucher la lune pour se mettre à l’abri
- connaître:
  - On ne connait même plus le nom de nos voisins
- savoir:
  - Je sais plus qui l’a dit, Jacques, Jean, Pierre ou Paul
  - Tu sais, les gens qui s’aiment ne s’oublient pas
  - Peut-être un peu fous mais on sait pourquoi
- être:
  - Ce soir on est à la maison
- tenir:
  - Je te tiens, tu me tiens
  - Je te tiens par la main
  - On tient le coup, on reste debout
- avoir:
  - Celui qui donne a raison
  - Aujourd’hui encore, on n’a plus le droit
- aller:
  - Non, c’est pas la même, si tu t’en vas

Near Future (aller + infinitive):
- On va pas s’laisser faire, non, c’est mal nous connaître

Reflexive Verbs:
- On veut toucher la lune pour se mettre à l’abri
- On va pas s’laisser faire, non, c’est mal nous connaître
- Tu sais, les gens qui s’aiment ne s’oublient pas
- Non, c’est pas la même, si tu t’en vas

Passé Composé:
- On a perdu l’amour dans les grandes métropoles
- Je sais plus qui l’a dit, Jacques, Jean, Pierre ou Paul
- On a bien appris sans pourquoi, sans peut-être

Imperative:
- Entends les battements, Enfoirés maintenant
- Allez, allez, allez, allez, allez, allez
- Allez, Enfoirés maintenant
- Ni d’avoir faim, ni d’avoir froid, ne l’oublie pas

Future:
- Et tant que ça dure, on restera là

Subjunctive:
- Et tant que ça dure, on restera là

Maintenant by Les Enfoirés

About the Artists

Cultural References, Idioms and Explanations

Activities

Song Lyrics with Grammatical Breakdown

Lyrics with Translation

Grammatical Concepts Used in this Song

La Recette by Slimane

Toi tu pars by Céphaz

Tu t’en iras by La Zarra

Maintenant by Les Enfoirés

About the Artists

Cultural References, Idioms and Explanations

Activities

Song Lyrics with Grammatical Breakdown

Lyrics with Translation

Grammatical Concepts Used in this Song

Related Posts

La Recette by Slimane

Toi tu pars by Céphaz

Tu t’en iras by La Zarra