Beau-papa by Vianney
French singer Vianney wrote this touching song for/about his step-daughter. He said to several news outlets that he was surprised by how much one can love a child that is not one’s own child genetically.
While sitting at number three this week, it recently spent several weeks at number one on the French radio hits chart. It was released in August of 2020 and appears on his third album N’attendons pas.
About the Artists
Vianney
Vianney Bureau, known as Vianney, is a singer/songwriter from Pau, a city in the southwest of France, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department. He discovered a passion for music when he was twelve and began writing songs. In 2005 his father introduced him to friends who were musicians and helped him record his first self-produced album with his older brother. In October of 2014 he released his first studio album Idées blanches, which would be certified platinum. His second album Vianney, which would be certified diamond, was released in November of 2016. Also in 2016 he won the award for Male Artist of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique music awards. In 2019 he wrote the song “On trace” for the 2019 Enfoirés show Monde des Enfoirés.
Biographical information from Wikipedia.
Cultural References, Idioms and Explanations
‘beau-papa’ – This term can mean either ‘stepfather’ or ‘father-in-law’. Context should often provide clarification. In the context of this song he is refering to be a step-father.
‘y a’ – This is a shortened version of the phrase ‘il y a’ meaning ‘there is’ or ‘there are’. It would translate literally as ‘it has there’.
‘ne … que’ – This is a common form of negation. Used in the same way as ‘ne … pas’ (sandwiched around the verb), it means ‘only’.
‘on s’aimera’ – Reflexive pronouns reflect that an action is being performed on oneself. For example ‘je me leve’ means ‘I get (myself) up’ or ‘il se brosse les dents’ means ‘he brushes (his own) teeth’. However, they can also have a reciprocal meaning of ‘each other’. For example ‘on se parle’ means ‘we are speaking to each other’, or the example in this song ‘on s’aimera’ meaning ‘we will love each other’.
‘me suis invité’ – In the passé composé there are 17 verbs that always take the auxilary verb ‘être’. However, despite not being one of those 17 verbs, you will notice that ‘inviter’ here takes ‘être’. This is because when verbs are used reflexively, they also take the auxilary verb ‘être’. ‘Je me suis invité’, meaning ‘I showed up’.
‘du moment que’ – While one would assume that this phrase would mean ‘from the moment that’, it actually means ‘as long as’.
‘s’inviter’ – Literally translating as ‘to invite oneself’, this phrase means ‘to show up’, ‘to turn up’ or ‘to arrive’.
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.
[Pre-chorus]
[Chorus]
[Verse 2]
[Pre-chorus]
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
[Pre-chorus]
[Chorus]
Lyrics with Translation
Songs in any language often leave room for multiple interpretations. Following is my interpretation of the song lyrics.
Beau-papa
Step dad
J’avais pas prévu d’un jour adopter
I didn’t plan on one day adopting
Mon enfant, j’ai dû surtout m’adapter
My child, above all I had to adapt
Y a pas que les gènes qui font les familles
It’s not just genes that make families
Des humains qui s’aiment suffisent
Some humans who love each other are enough [Pre-Chorus]
Et si l’averse nous touche, toi et moi
And if the downpour reaches us, you and me
On la traverse à deux, à trois
We’ll get through it as two, as three
Et si l’averse nous touche, toi et moi
And if the downpour reaches us, you and me
Prends ma main de beau-papa
Take my step daddy hand [Chorus]
J’t’attendais pas
I wasn’t expecting you
J’te laisserai pas
I won’t leave you
Même sans l’même sang, on s’aimera
Even without the same blood, we’ll love each other [Verse 2]
Non, je ne volerai jamais la place du premier qui t’a dit : “je t’aime”
No, I will never steal the place of the first one who told you: “I love you”
Sur ton visage, on voit son visage et c’est ainsi que tu es belle
On your face, we see his face and it’s in that way that you are beautiful
De vous à moi, c’est moi, j’avoue, qui me suis invité
Between you and me, it’s me, I confess, who showed up
Dans sa vie, là, dans la vie où elle n’a rien demandé
In her life, there, in the life where she didn’t ask for anything [Pre-Chorus]
Et si l’averse nous touche, toi et moi
And if the downpour reaches us, you and me
On la traverse à deux, à trois
We’ll get through it as two, as three
Et si l’averse nous touche, toi et moi
And if the downpour reaches us, you and me
Prends ma main de beau-papa
Take my step daddy hand [Chorus]
J’t’attendais pas
I wasn’t expecting you
J’te laisserai pas
I won’t leave you
Même sans l’même sang, on s’aimera
Even without the same blood, we’ll love each other
On s’aimera
We’ll love each other [Verse 3]
J’avais pas prévu d’un jour adopter
I didn’t plan on one day adopting
En vérité nue, c’est toi qui l’as fait
In truth naked, it’s you who did it
Y a pas que les gènes qui font les familles
It’s not just genes that make families
Du moment qu’on s’aime
As long as we love each other [Pre-Chorus]
Et si l’averse nous touche, toi et moi
And if the downpour reaches us, you and me
On la traverse à deux, à trois
We’ll get through it as two, as three
Et si l’averse nous touche, toi et moi
And if the downpour reaches us, you and me
Prends ma main, dis, prends-la
Take my hand, say, take it [Chorus]
J’t’attendais pas
I wasn’t expecting you
J’te laisserai pas
I won’t leave you
Même sans l’même sang, on s’aimera
Even without the same blood, we’ll love each other
Même sans l’même sang, on s’aimera
Even without the same blood, we’ll love each other
Grammatical Concepts Used in this Song
- Negation:
- Y a pas que les gènes qui font les familles
- Dans sa vie, là, dans la vie où elle n‘a rien demandé
- Non, je ne volerai jamais la place du premier qui t’a dit : “je t’aime”
- Possessive Adjectives:
- Mon enfant, j’ai dû surtout m’adapter
- Prends ma main de beau-papa
- Prends ma main, dis, prends-la
- Sur ton visage, on voit son visage et c’est ainsi que tu es belle
- Dans sa vie, là, dans la vie où elle n’a rien demandé
- Object pronouns:
- Et si l’averse nous touche, toi et moi
- On la traverse à deux, à trois
- J’t‘attendais pas
- J’te laisserai pas
- Non, je ne volerai jamais la place du premier qui t‘a dit : “je t‘aime”
- En vérité nue, c’est toi qui l‘as fait
- Irregular:
- avoir:
- Y a pas que les gènes qui font les familles
- faire:
- Y a pas que les gènes qui font les familles
- suffire:
- Des humains qui s’aiment suffisent
- voir:
- Sur ton visage, on voit son visage et c’est ainsi que tu es belle
- être:
- Sur ton visage, on voit son visage et c’est ainsi que tu es belle
- De vous à moi, c’est moi, j’avoue, qui me suis invité
- En vérité nue, c’est toi qui l’as fait
- avoir:
- Reflexive/Reciprocal:
- Mon enfant, j’ai dû surtout m’adapter
- Des humains qui s’aiment suffisent
- Même sans l’même sang, on s’aimera
- De vous à moi, c’est moi, j’avoue, qui me suis invité
- Passé composé:
- avoir:
- Mon enfant, j’ai dû surtout m’adapter
- Non, je ne volerai jamais la place du premier qui t’a dit : “je t’aime”
- Dans sa vie, là, dans la vie où elle n’a rien demandé
- En vérité nue, c’est toi qui l’as fait
- être
- De vous à moi, c’est moi, j’avoue, qui me suis invité
- avoir:
- Imperative:
- Prends ma main de beau-papa
- Prends ma main, dis, prends-la
- Imparfait:
- J’t’attendais pas
- Future:
- J’te laisserai pas
- Même sans l’même sang, on s’aimera
- Non, je ne volerai jamais la place du premier qui t’a dit : “je t’aime”
- Plus-que-parfait:
- J’avais pas prévu d’un jour adopter
