This song was a big hit in France during the summer of 2018. When I was perusing the French charts this week I was amazed to see that it is still charting (though admittedly barely). So while it’s still on the charts I figured why not analyze it.

“À nos souvenirs” is a song by French band Trois Cafés Gourmandes. This week it is number 194, having spent 99 weeks on the chart and peaking at number 2.

About the Artists

Trois Cafés gourmands is a French music group started in 2012 by Mylène Madrias, Sébastien Gourseyrol and Jérémy Pauly, three childhood friends from Arnac-Pompadour, a municipality in the Corrèze department of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in the southwestern France. As adolescents they performed covers together locally. After high school they went their separate ways until 2012, when Sébastien wrote his first song “A nos souvenirs” and contacted his childhood friends to re-form their trio. They performed locally, gaining popularity and self-producing two albums. In 2017 local radio stations began to play “À nos souvenirs”, and the video for this song was put online in July of that year and quickly reached more than 800,000 views. Their careers really took off in 2018 when they were signed to the record label Play Two. “À nos souvenirs” began getting national radio airplay, and reached number two on the Top Singles chart. Their fourth album, and first album with their label, Un air de rien reached number one on the Top Albums chart and was eventually certified triple platinum.

Biographical information from Wikipedia.

Cultural References, Idioms and Explanations

‘À nos souvenirs’ – Just as in English where toasts are started ‘to’ (‘to friendship’, ‘to happiness’), toasts in French start with ‘à’. Here the toast is ‘to our memories’.

‘se séparer de’ – While the verb ‘séparer’ means ‘to seperate’ or ‘to divide’, ‘se séparer de’ means ‘to get rid of’, ‘to part with’ or ‘to let go of’.

‘Corrèze’ – Corrèze is what the French call a ‘commune’, an incorporated municipality, located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine department in south-western France.

‘mettre l’eau dans son vin’ – Literally translating as ‘to put water into one’s wine’, this phrase means ‘to water down’, ‘to tone down’ or ‘to be more moderate’.

‘fausse note’ – This phrase can be used both literally and figuratively. Literally it means a ‘wrong note’, however it figuratively it means a ‘fault’, ‘flaw’ or ‘mistake’.

‘se tromper’– The verb ‘tromper’ means ‘to mislead’, ‘to cheat’ or ‘to deceive’. The reflexive ‘se tromper de’ means ‘to make a mistake’, ‘to be mistaken’ or ‘to get wrong’.

‘avoir du vague à l’âme’ – Literally translating as ‘to have a wave in one’s soul’, this phrase means ‘to feel melancholic’.

‘avoir mal au coeur’ vs ‘avoir du mal au coeur’ – As ‘avoir mal’ usually means to hurt (for example ‘j’ai mal à la tête’ means ‘I have a headache’ or ‘my head hurts’) one might assume that to say ‘my heart aches’ one would say ‘j’ai mal au coeur’, however this would be incorrect. The phrase ‘avoir mal au coeur’ means ‘to have nausea’ or ‘to be nauseated’. To say that one is experiencing heartache you would instead use the phrase ‘avoir du mal au coeur’.

‘avoir peur’ – In French you don’t use the verb to be (être) to say you are afraid. The verb avoir is used instead, translating literally to someone ‘having fear’.

‘le fruit de’ – Literally translating as ‘the fruit of’, this phrase carries the same meaning as its English counterpart, meaning ‘the result of’ (i.e. ‘the fruit of my labor’).

‘Clody Musette’ – This is the name of an accordion player from Corrèze.

‘perdre la tête’ – Literally translating as ‘to loose the head’, this is how the French say ‘to lose one’s mind’.

‘Chabrol’ – Claude Chabrol was a French film director who was part of the French New Wave group of filmmakers of the late 1950s.

‘gnôle’ – This is a slang term meaning hard alcohol, similar to the term ‘booze’ in American English.

‘Monédières’ – The massif des Monédières is a granite land formation that is located in the foothills of the Massif Central ,in the south-west of the famous Millevaches plateau, in the department of Corrèze.

‘il faut’ – The verb ‘falloir’ is an interesting one, as it is only ever used in the third person singular. It conveys a necessity, or something that has to happen. It will be followed by an infinitive or the subjunctive tense. For example ‘il faut que j’aille’ (I have to go). In this instance it isn’t followed by anything, rather it appears with a pronoun (‘s’il le faut’) and means, ‘if it is necessary’.

‘Le temps nous a gâtés’ – You might notice that the past participle ‘gaté’ here has an extra ‘s’ at the end. In the passé composé verbs using the auxiliary verb ‘avoir’ do not usually alter the past participle to agree with the subject (unlike verbs using ‘être’). However, when a direct object precedes the past participle in the sentence, then the past participle will agree. The extra ‘s’ here is in agreement with ‘nous’.

‘On en a bien profité’ – One use of the adverbial pronoun ‘en’ is that it is used to replace the object of the preposition ‘de’. In this example, the verb ‘profiter’ is followed by ‘de’, meaning ‘to enjoy’. The use of ‘en’ allows us to avoid repeating the noun ‘temps’ from the previous line, so rather than saying ‘On a bien profité du temps’ we can simply say ‘On en a bien profité’.

‘faire la fête’ – Literally translating as ‘to make the party’, this phrase means ‘to party’ or ‘to celebrate’.

‘rengaine’ – This term can have two meanings. The first meaning is an ‘old tune’, or a song that has been played so many times that it has become boring. The second meaning is a ‘tune’ in the sense of words that are repeated often, similar to how we would say in English “He never changes his tune”.

‘j’en suis fier’ – As with ‘on en a bien profité’ above ‘en’ is used to replace an object of the preposition ‘de’. Here the verb ‘fier’ is followed by ‘de’, meaning ‘to be proud of’. The use of ‘en’ allows us to avoid repeating the earlier noun ‘ma rengaine’, so rather than saying ‘je suis fier de ma rengaine’, we can simply say ‘j’en suis fier’.

‘Mimi’ – This is an example of a very common way to form a nickname in French. A syllable from the name, usually but not exclusively the first syllable, is repeated twice to form the nickname. I have seen the names Michelle and Dominique both shortened to Mimi.

Song Lyrics with Grammatical Breakdown

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

Ààat, to, in|prep nosnosour|poss adj|masc and fem pl souvenirssouvenirmemory|noun|masc pl

[Section 1]
Commentcommenthow|adv puispouvoirto be able to|verb|first pers sing pres jejeI|pron|first pers sing oublieroublierto forget|verb|infin
Cecethis, that|pron|masc sing coincoincorner; area, part, place, spot|noun|masc sing dedeof; from|prep paradisparadisparadise, heaven|noun|masc sing
Cecethis, that|pron|masc sing petitpetitsmall, little|adj|masc sing boutboutend, extremity, tip; bit, piece|noun|masc sing dedeof; from|prep terreterreearth; soil; land, property|noun|fem sing
Oùoùwhere; at that time, when|adv vitvivreto live|verb|third pers sing pres encoreencorestill, yet; again|adv monmonmy|poss adj|masc sing pèrepèrefather|noun|masc sing
Commentcommenthow|adv pourraispouvoirto be able to|verb|first pers cond jejeI|pron|first pers sing fairefaireto do; to make|verb|infin
Pourpourto; for|prep|to' before verbs, 'for' before nouns or prons mememe|pron|dir and indir obj, reflex, first pers sing séparerséparerseparate, divide|noun|infin|se séparer de = get rid of, part with, let go of d’deof; from|prep|used before vowelselleelleshe, her, it|pron|third pers sing
Oublieroublierto forget|verb|infin qu’quethat, than|conj|shortened to qu' before vowelsononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' estêtreto be|verb|third pers sing frèresfrèrebrother|nouns|masc pl
Bellebeaubeautiful, attractive, handsome; pleasant; good, excellent|adj|fem sing CorrèzeCorrèzeCorrèze|prop noun|municipality in south-western France charnellecharnelcarnal, sensual, sexual; physical, bodily|adj|fem sing
Oublieroublierto forget|verb|infin cecethis, that|pron|masc sing matinmatinmorning|noun|masc sing quequethat, than|conj tutuyou|pron|sec pers sing, inform esêtreto be|verb|sec pers sing pres parisienparisienParisian, person from Paris|noun|masc sing
Quequethat, than|conj t’tuyou|pron|sec pers sing inform|may be shortened to t' before vowels in coll langasavoirto have|verb|sec pers sing pres dedeof; from|prep l’le, lathe|def art|masc or fem sing|shortened to l' before vowelseaueauwater|noun|fem sing|mettre l'eau dans son vin = to water down, tone down, be more moderate dansdansin|prep lelethe|def art|masc sing vinvinwine|noun|masc sing|mettre l'eau dans son vin = to water down, tone down, be more moderate
Quequethat, than|conj tutuyou|pron|sec pers sing, inform esêtreto be|verb|sec pers sing pres partipartirto leave|verb|pp loinloinfar, distant|adv
Cecethis, that|pron|masc sing n’nenot, no|adv|used with another neg term, such as 'ne … pas'|shortened to n' before vowelsétaitêtreto be|verb|third pers sing imperf pasne … pasnot|adv|the 'ne' may be omitted in colloquial speech mamamy|poss adj|fem sing fautefauteerror, mistake; fault, blame|noun|fem sing
Ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' jouejouerverb|third pers sing pres desdessome|indef art|masc and fem pl faussesfauxfalse, wrong, fake|adj|fem pl|fausse note = wrong note (lit); fault, flaw, mistake (fig) notesnotenote|noun|fem pl|fausse note = wrong note (lit); fault, flaw, mistake (fig)
Ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' sesehimself, herself, oneself, itself, themselves, each other|pron|third pers, sing and pl, reflex trompetrompermislead, cheat, deceive|verb|third pers sing pres|se tromper de = make a mistake, be mistaken, get wrong dedeof; from|prep chemincheminpath, way|noun|masc sing
Etetand|conj ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' aavoirto have|verb|third pers sing pres dude + lefrom, of the|prep + art chagrinchagringrief, sorrow, sadness|noun|masc sing
Ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' sesehimself, herself, oneself, itself, themselves, each other|pron|third pers, sing and pl, reflex jouejouerto play|verb|third pers sing pres touttoutall, entirely, very|adv ununa|indef art|masc sing dramedrametragedy, drama|noun|masc sing
Ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' aavoirto have|verb|third pers sing pres desdessome|indef art|masc and fem pl vaguesvaguewave|noun|fem pl|avoir du vague à l'âme = to feel melancholic ààat, to, in|prep l’le, lathe|def art|masc or fem sing|shortened to l' before vowelsâmeâmesoul, spirit, heart|noun|fem sing|avoir du vague à l'âme = to feel melancholic
Tutuyou|pron|sec pers sing, inform asavoirto have|verb|sec pers sing pres dude + lefrom, of the|prep + art malmalache; evil, wrong|noun|masc sing auà + leat the, to the|prep + def art|masc sing cœurcœurheart|noun|masc sing
Tutuyou|pron|sec pers sing, inform asavoirto have|verb|sec pers sing pres peurpeurfear|noun|fem sing|avoir peur = to be afraid dude + lefrom, of the|prep + art bonheurbonheurhappiness, joy, pleasure, delight|noun|masc sing

[Section 2]
Acheteracheterto buy|verb|infin desdessome|indef art|masc and fem pl tableauxtableaupainting; table, chart; board|noun|masc pl
Etetand|conj desdessome|indef art|masc and fem pl vachesvachecow|noun|fem pl enento, in|prep photophotophoto, picture, image|noun|fem sing|short for photographie
C’cethis, that, it|pron|shortened to c' before a vowelestêtreto be|verb|third pers sing touttoutall, entirely, very|adv cecethis, that|pron|masc sing quequethat, than|conj t’tuyou|pron|sec pers sing inform|may be shortened to t' before vowels in coll langasavoirto have|verb|sec pers sing pres|aux verb used with the pp to form the p.c. trouvétrouverto find|verb|pp
Pourpourto; for|prep|to' before verbs, 'for' before nouns or prons teteyou; yourself|pron|dir obj, indir obj, and reflex, sec pers sing lalaher, it|pron|dir obj, fem sing rappelerrappelerremind; call back|verb|infin|se rappeler = to remember
Vousvousyou|pron|sec pers pl, also used for sec pers sing formal mememe|pron|dir and indir obj, reflex, first pers sing trouveztrouverto find|verb|sec pers pl pres ununa|indef art|masc sing peupeulittle, a little (bit), not much|adv conconstupid|adj|pejorative, informal
N’nenot, no|adv|used with another neg term, such as 'ne … pas'|shortened to n' before vowelsaimezaimerto like, to love|verb|sec pers pl pres pasne … pasnot|adv|the 'ne' may be omitted in colloquial speech mamamy|poss adj|fem sing chansonchansonsong|noun|fem sing
Vousvousyou|pron|sec pers pl, also used for sec pers sing formal mememe|pron|dir and indir obj, reflex, first pers sing croyezcroireto think (that), believe (that)|verb|sec pers pl pres bizarrebizarrestrange, odd, weird, peculiar|adj|masc and fem sing
Ununa|indef art|masc sing peupeulittle, a little (bit), not much|adv patriotardpatriotardexcessively nationalistic; chauvinistic|adj|masc sing
Lelethe|def art|masc sing fruitfruitfruit|noun|masc sing|le fruit de = the fruit of, the result of dedeof; from|prep mamamy|poss adj|fem sing réflexionréflexionthought, reflection; criticism|noun|fem sing
Nenenot, no|adv|used with another neg term, such as 'ne … pas' toucheratoucherto touch, feel; to reach; to touch, move affect deeply|verb|third pers sing fut personnepersonneno one, anyone(when neg)|pron
Sisiso|adv vosvosyour|poss adj|masc and fem pl paspasstep; footprint; speed, pace|noun|masc sing nenenot, no|adv|used with another neg term, such as 'ne … pas' résonnentrésonnerto resonate|verb|third pers pl pres
Jamaisjamaisnever, ever|adv dansdansin|prep mamamy|poss adj|fem sing régionrégionregion, area|noun|fem sing
C’cethis, that, it|pron|shortened to c' before a vowelestêtreto be|verb|third pers sing pirepireworse|adj qu’quethat, than|conj|shortened to qu' before vowelsuneunea|indef art|fem sing religionreligionreligion|noun|fem sing
Au-delàau-delàbeyond that, past that; on the other side|adv||au delà de = beyond, past(prep) d’deof; from|prep|used before vowelsuneunea|indef art|fem sing confessionconfessionconfession, admission|noun|fem sing
JejeI|pron|first pers sing l’le, lathe|def art|masc or fem sing|shortened to l' before vowelsaimeaimerto like, to love|verb|first pers sing pres ààat, to, in|prep enento, in|prep mourirmourirto die|verb|infin
Pourpourto; for|prep|to' before verbs, 'for' before nouns or prons lelethe|def art|masc sing meilleurmeilleurthe best|noun|masc sing etetand|conj pourpourto; for|prep|to' before verbs, 'for' before nouns or prons lelethe|def art|masc sing pirepirethe worst|noun|masc sing
Etetand|conj sisiso|adv jejeI|pron|first pers sing montemontergo up, climb up, ascend|verb|first pers sing pres auà + leat the, to the|prep + def art|masc sing cielcielsky|noun|masc sing
Ililhe, it|pron||il y aura = there will be yyhere, there|adv auraavoirto have|verb|third pers sing fut|il y aura = there will be peut-êtrepeut-êtremaybe, perhaps, possibly|adv JoëlJoëlJoël|prop noun|man's name
GuillaumeGuillaumeGuillaume|prop noun|man's name etetand|conj JeremyJeremyJeremy|prop noun|man's name
Etetand|conj monmonmy|poss adj|masc sing cousincousincousin|noun|masc sing|male only PiedriPiedriPiedri|prop noun|man's name
YoanYoanYoan|prop noun|man's name seraêtreto be|verb|third pers sing fut enento, in|prep voyagevoyagetrip, journey|noun|masc sing
Dansdansin|prep ununa|indef art|masc sing autreautreanother, other|adj|masc and fem sing payspayscountry|noun|masc sing
Allezallerto go|verb|sec pers pl impera faisfaireto do, to make|verb|first pers sing pres testesyour|poss adj|masc and fem pl bagagesbagage(piece of) luggage, baggage|noun|masc pl
Viensvenirto come|verb|sec pers sing impera rejoindrerejoindremeet, join; catch up to; reach|verb|infin testesyour|poss adj|masc and fem pl amisamifriend|noun|masc pl
Ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' veutvouloirto want|verb|third pers sing pres dude + lefrom, of the|prep + art Clody MusetteClody MusetteClody Musette|accordion player from Corrèze
Ààat, to, in|prep enento, in|prep perdreperdreto lose|verb|infin lalaher, it|pron|dir obj, fem sing têtetêtehead|noun|fem sing|perdre la tête = to lose one's mind
Ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' veutvouloirto want|verb|third pers sing pres ununa|indef art|masc sing dernierdernierlast|adj|masc sing ChabrolChabrolprop noun|Claude Chabrol, French film maker
Ununa|indef art|masc sing petitpetitsmall, little|adj|masc sing coupcoupknock, blow, punch, shot, stroke; fit, attack|noun|masc sing dedeof; from|prep gnôlegnôlebooze, hard alcohol|noun|fem sing|slang, informal
Leslesthe|def art|masc and fem pl yeuxœileye|noun|masc pl dedeof; from|prep nosnosour|poss adj|masc and fem pl grands-mèresgrand-mèregrandmother|noun|fem pl
Lalathe|def art|fem sing voixvoixvoice|noun|fem sing dedeof; from|prep nosnosour|poss adj|masc and fem pl grands-pèresgrand-pèregrandfather|noun|fem pl
L’le, lathe|def art|masc or fem sing, shortened to l' before vowelsodeurodeursmall, scent, fragrance, odor|noun|fem sing dedeof; from|prep cettecettethis, that|dem adj|fem sing terreterreearth; soil; land, property|noun|fem sing
Vueview, vista; eyesight, visionnoun|fem sing sursuron, upon; on top of, above|prep leslesthe|def art|masc and fem pl MonédièresMonédièresMonédières|prop noun|mountains in Corrèze
C’cethis, that, it|pron|shortened to c' before a vowelestêtreto be|verb|third pers sing pirepirethe worst|noun|masc sing qu’quethat, than|conj|shortened to qu' before vowelsununa|indef art|masc sing testamenttestamentwill, testament, legacy|noun|masc sing
Au-delàau-delàbeyond that, past that; on the other side|adv||au delà de = beyond, past(prep) d’deof; from|prep|used before vowelsuneunea|indef art|fem sing confidenceconfidencesecret|noun|fem sing
Ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' estêtreto be|verb|third pers sing desdessome|indef art|masc and fem pl petits-enfantspetit-enfantgrandchild|noun|masc pl|sing rarely used, rather petit-fils, petite-fille
Dedeof; from|prep cecethis, that|pron|masc sing jolijolipretty, lovely, attractive|adj|masc sing coincoincorner; area, part, place, spot|noun|masc sing dedeof; from|prep FranceFranceFrance|prop noun|fem sing
Enterrezenterrerto bury|verb|sec pers pl impera nousnouswe, us|pron|first pers pl vivantsvivantliving, alive; lively, spirited, full of life|adj|masc pl
Bâillonnésbâillonnerto gag; to silence|verb|pp used as adj s’sehimself, herself, oneself, itself, themselves, each other|pron|third pers sing and pl, reflex|shortened to s' before vowelsililhe, it|pron lelehim, it|pron|masc sing, dir obj fautfalloirto need, have to, must|verb|third pers sing pres|only used in third pers sing
Maismaisbut|conj prenezprendreto take|verb|sec pers pl pres  soinsoincare, attention; treatment|noun|masc sing avantavantbefore|prep
Dedeof; from|prep remplirremplirto fill|verb|infin notrenotreposs adj|our|masc and fem sing jabotjabot(bird) crop|noun|masc sing
Lalathe|def art|fem sing relèverelèverelief, replacement, next shift; continuation, succession|noun|fem sing estêtreto be|verb|third pers sing pourpourto; for|prep|to' before verbs, 'for' before nouns or prons toitoiyou|pron|sec pers sing, informal
Notrenotreposs adj|our|masc and fem sing petitpetitsmall, little|adj|masc sing LucasLucasLucas|prop noun|man's name
Ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' teteyou; yourself|pron|dir obj, indir obj, and reflex, sec pers sing laisselaisserto leave|verb|first pers sing pres enento, in|prep héritagehéritageinheritance, heritage, legacy|noun|masc sing|en héritage = as a legacy, in your will lalathe|def art|fem sing pistepistetrack; dance floor; runway; path, trail|noun|fem sing
Nousnouswe, us|pron|first pers pl ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' dégagedégagerclear; pull out, extract; unblock; give off, release; absolve, exempt; excuse; clear off|verb|third pers sing pres
Lelethe|def art|masc sing tempstempstime|nouns|masc sing nousnouswe, us|pron|first pers pl aavoirto have|verb|third pers sing pres|aux verb used with pp to form p.c. gâtésgâtéspoil|verb|pp + s
Ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' enenabout it, some (of it), of them|pron aavoirto have|verb|third pers sing pres|aux verb used with pp to form p.c. bienbienwell; a lot; good, fine|adv profitéprofitertake advantage of; make the most of; enjoy|verb|pp
Ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' aavoirto have|verb|third pers sing pres desdessome|indef art|masc and fem pl souvenirssouvenirmemory|noun|masc pl enento, in|prep têtetêtehead|noun|fem sing
Cecethis, that|pron|masc sing soirsoirevening|noun|masc sing faisonsfaireto do, make|verb|third pers pl pres|faire la fête = to party, celebrate lalathe|def art|fem sing fêtefêteparty, festival, celebration|noun|fem sing|faire la fête = to party, celebrate

[Section 3] x 2
Acceptezaccepteraccept; agree to do; allow, permit|verb|sec pers pl pres mamamy|poss adj|fem sing rengainerengaineold tune|noun|fem sing
Elleelleshe, her, it|pron|third pers sing veutvouloirto want|verb|third pers sing pres justejustejust; accurate, correct; fair, right; tight; close-fitting|adj|masc and fem sing diredireto say, to tell|verb|infin “jejeI|pron|first pers sing t’tuyou|pron|sec pers sing inform|may be shortened to t' before vowels in coll langaime”aimerto like, to love|verb|first pers sing pres
Soyezêtreto be|verb|sec pers pl impera sûrsûrsure, certain; guaranteed; safe, secure; reliable, trustworthy, dependable|adj|masc sing j’jeI|pron|first pers sing|shortened to j' before vowelsenenabout it, some (of it), of them|pron suisêtreto be|verb|first pers sing pres fierfierproud|adj
J’jeI|pron|first pers sing|shortened to j' before vowelsaiavoirto have|verb|first pers sing pres lalathe|def art|fem sing CorrèzeCorrèzeCorrèze|prop noun|municipality in south-western France dansdansin|prep lelethe|def art|masc sing cathétercathétercatheter|noun|masc sing
D’deof; from|prep|used before vowelsêtreêtreto be|verb|infin avecavecwith|prep vousvousyou|pron|sec pers pl, also used for sec pers sing formal cecethis, that|pron|masc sing soirsoirevening|noun|masc sing
J’jeI|pron|first pers sing|shortened to j' before vowelsaiavoirto have|verb|first pers sing pres lelethe|def art|masc sing cœurcœurheart|noun|masc sing quiquiwho, which, that|pron|interr or rel pétillepétillerfizz; sparkle; shine; crackle|verb|third pers sing pres
MimiMimiMimi|prop noun|nickname sersservirto serve|verb|sec pers sing impera nousnouswe, us|pron|first pers pl ààat, to, in|prep boireboireto drink|verb|infin
Ononone, people, you, someone; we|pron|following verbs conjugate in third pers sing, even when used colloquially to mean 'we' aavoirto have|verb|third pers sing pres leslesthe|def art|masc and fem pl yeuxœileye|noun|masc pl quiquiwho, which, that|pron|interr or rel brillentbrillershine, sparkle, twinkle, gleam|verb|third pers pl pres

Lyrics with Translation

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

À nos souvenirs
To our memories

[Section 1]
Comment puis-je oublier
How can I forget
Ce coin de paradis ?
This corner of paradise?
Ce petit bout de terre
This little piece of land
Où vit encore mon père
Where my father still lives
Comment pourrais-je faire
What could I do
Pour me séparer d’elle ?
To part with it?
Oublier qu’on est frères
To forget that we’re brothers
Belle Corrèze charnelle
Beautiful sensual Corrèze
Oublier ce matin que tu es parisien
Forget this morning that you are Parisian
Que t’as de l’eau dans le vin
That you’ve been toned down
Que tu es parti loin
That you’ve gone far away
Ce n’était pas ma faute
It wasn’t my fault
On joue des fausses notes
We make mistakes
On se trompe de chemin
We take the wrong path
Et on a du chagrin
And we are sorrowful
On se joue tout un drame
We play a whole drama
On a des vagues à l’âme
We are melancholic
Tu as du mal au cœur
Your heart aches
Tu as peur du bonheur
You’re afraid of happiness

[Section 2]
Acheter des tableaux
Buy paintings
Et des vaches en photo
And cows in photos
C’est tout ce que t’as trouvé
That’s all that you found
Pour te la rappeler
To remind you of it
Vous me trouvez un peu con
You think I’m a little stupid
N’aimez pas ma chanson
You don’t like my song
Vous me croyez bizarre
You think I’m weird
Un peu patriotard
A little excessively patriotic
Le fruit de ma réflexion
The fruit of my reflection
Ne touchera personne
Will not reach anyone
Si vos pas ne résonnent / Jamais dans ma région
If your steps don’t ever resonate in my region
C’est pire qu’une religion
It’s worse than a religion
Au-delà d’une confession
Beyond a confession
Je l’aime à en mourir
I love it to death
Pour le meilleur et pour le pire
For better and for worse
Et si je monte au ciel
And if I go up to heaven
Il y aura peut-être Joël / Guillaume et Jeremy
Joël, William and Jeremy may be there
Et mon cousin Piedri
And my cousin Piedri
Yoan sera en voyage
Yoan will be on a trip
Dans un autre pays
In another country
Allez fais tes bagages
Go pack your bags
Viens rejoindre tes amis
Come join your friends
On veut du Clody Musette
We want some Clody Musette
À en perdre la tête
To lose our minds
On veut un dernier Chabrol
We want one last Chabrol
Un petit coup de gnôle
A little sht of booze
Les yeux de nos grands-mères
Our grandmother’s eyes
La voix de nos grands-pères
Our grandfather’s voices
L’odeur de cette terre
The scent of this land
Vue sur les Monédières
View of the Monédières
C’est pire qu’un testament
It’s worse than a will
Au-delà d’une confidence
Beyond a secret
On est des petits-enfants
We’re the grandchildren
De ce joli coin de France
Of this pretty corner of France
Enterrez-nous vivants
Bury us alive
Bâillonnés s’il le faut
Gagged if need be
Mais prenez soin avant
But take care beforehand
De remplir notre jabot
To fill our crops
La relève est pour toi
The next shift is for you
Notre petit Lucas
Our little Lucas
On te laisse en héritage la piste
We leave you he track as a legacy
Nous on dégage
We’re clearing off
Le temps nous a gâtés
Time has spoiled us
On en a bien profité
We took advantage of it
On a des souvenirs en tête
We have memories in mind
Ce soir, faisons la fête
Tonight, let’s party

[Section 3] x 2
Acceptez ma rengaine
Accept my same old tune
Elle veut juste dire “je t’aime”
It just wants to say “I love you”
Soyez sûr, j’en suis fier
Be sure, I’m proud of it
J’ai la Corrèze dans le cathéter
I have Corrèze in my catheter
D’être avec vous ce soir
To be with you tonight
J’ai le cœur qui pétille
My heart is sparkling
Mimi, sers-nous à boire
Mimi, serve us a drink
On a les yeux qui brillent
Our eyes are gleaming