Dis, quand reviendras-tu ? – Bilingual Lyrics French/English

• By: Barbara

Lyrics & Translation

Explore the emotional depth of Barbara's iconic French song, "Dis, quand reviendras-tu?" Through its poetic lyrics and heartfelt melody, you can connect with universal themes of love, longing, and resilience, offering a beautiful entry point into the richness of French culture and emotion.

[English]

Here are how many days, here are how many nights

Here is how long you have been gone

You told me this time, it's the last journey

For our broken hearts, it's the last shipwreck

In spring you will see, I will be back

Spring is lovely for talking about love

We will go together to see the blooming gardens

And stroll through the streets of Paris

...

Tell me, when will you return?

Tell me, at least do you know?

That all the time that passes

Is hardly caught up

That all the lost time

Is no longer caught up

Spring has long since fled

The dead leaves crackle, the wood fires burn

To see Paris so beautiful in this late autumn

Suddenly I languish, I dream, I shiver

I sway, I capsize, like the refrain

I go, I come, I turn, I spin, I drag myself

Your image haunts me, I speak to you softly

And I have the pain of love and I have the pain of you

Tell me, when will you return?

Tell me, at least do you know?

That all the time that passes

Is hardly caught up

That all the lost time

Is no longer caught up

I may love you still, I may love you always

I may love only you, I may love you dearly

If you do not understand that you must come back

I would make of us my most beautiful memories

I would take the road again, the world amazes me

I would go warm myself in another sun

I am not one of those who die of sorrow

I do not have the virtue of sailor's wives

...

Tell me, but when will you return?

Tell me, at least do you know?

That all the time that passes

Is hardly caught up

That all the lost time

Is no longer caught up

...

[French]

Voilà combien de jours, voilà combien de nuits

Voilà combien de temps que tu es reparti

Tu m'as dit cette fois, c'est le dernier voyage

Pour nos cœurs déchirés c'est le dernier naufrage

Au printemps tu verras, je serai de retour

Le printemps c'est joli pour se parler d'amour

Nous irons voir ensemble les jardins refleuris

Et déambulerons dans les rues de Paris

Dis, quand reviendras-tu?

Dis, au moins le sais-tu?

Que tout le temps qui passe

Ne se rattrape guère

Que tout le temps perdu

Ne se rattrape plus

Le printemps s'est enfui depuis longtemps déjà

Craquent les feuilles mortes, brûlent les feux de bois

À voir Paris si beau dans cette fin d'automne

Soudain je m'alanguis, je rêve, je frissonne

Je tangue, je chavire, comme la rengaine

Je vais, je viens, je vire, je tourne, je me traîne

Ton image me hante, je te parle tout bas

Et j'ai le mal d'amour et j'ai le mal de toi

Dis, quand reviendras-tu?

Dis, au moins le sais-tu?

Que tout le temps qui passe

Ne se rattrape guère

Que tout le temps perdu

Ne se rattrape plus

J'ai beau t'aimer encore, j'ai beau t'aimer toujours

J'ai beau n'aimer que toi, j'ai beau t'aimer d'amour

Si tu ne comprends pas qu'il te faut revenir

Je ferais de nous deux mes plus beaux souvenirs

Je reprendrais la route, le monde m'émerveille

J'irais me réchauffer à un autre soleil

Je ne suis pas de celles qui meurent de chagrin

Je n'ai pas la vertu des femmes de marin

Dis, mais quand reviendras-tu?

Dis, au moins le sais-tu?

Que tout le temps qui passe

Ne se rattrape guère

Que tout le temps perdu

Ne se rattrape plus

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
jour /ʒuʁ/ A1	noun - day
nuit /nɥi/ A1	noun - night
temps /tɑ̃/ A2	noun - time
cœur /kœʁ/ A2	noun - heart
voyage /vwajaʒ/ B1	noun - journey
printemps /pʁɛ̃tɑ̃/ B1	noun - spring
rêve /ʁɛv/ B1	noun - dream verb - to dream
souvenir /su.və.niʁ/ B2	noun - memory verb - to remember
chagrin /ʃa.ɡʁɛ̃/ B2	noun - sorrow
beau /bo/ B2	adjective - beautiful
image /i.maʒ/ B2	noun - image
parler /paʁ.le/ B2	verb - to speak
retour /ʁə.tuʁ/ B2	noun - return
même /mɛm/ B2	adjective - same
mal /mal/ B2	noun - pain

Key Grammar Structures

• dis, quand reviendras-tu?

  ➔ Interrogative in inversion form with 'tu' to ask a question.

  ➔ This is a formal or poetic way to form a question by inverting the subject and verb.

• Que tout le temps qui passe ne se rattrape guère

  ➔ Use of the relative clause 'qui passe' with the present tense to describe 'time' and the negative construction 'ne...guère' to express 'hardly' or 'scarcely'.

  ➔ This structure explains that 'time' cannot be recovered or caught up with, using a negative with 'guère' to emphasize the scarcity.

• J'ai le mal d'amour et j'ai le mal de toi

  ➔ Use of the noun phrase 'le mal de...' to express 'the pain of...' followed by the preposition 'de' to indicate the source or cause.

  ➔ This structure employs the idiomatic phrase 'le mal de...' to signify emotional or physical pain related to a subject.

• Je vais, je viens, je vire, je tourne, je me traîne

  ➔ Use of multiple first-person present tense verbs in parallel to depict continuous or cyclical movement.

  ➔ This grammatical construction employs a series of present tense verbs to express ongoing, cyclical actions in the first person.

• Que tout le temps qui passe ne se rattrape guère

  ➔ Use of the relative clause 'qui passe' with present tense and the negative 'ne...guère' to emphasize that time hardly catches up.

  ➔ The construction emphasizes the scarcity of catching up with time, using a negative adverb 'guère' for emphasis.

• J'ai beau t'aimer encore, j'ai beau t'aimer toujours

  ➔ Use of 'beau...?' in phrases 'J'ai beau...' to express 'even though I...' the effort or contradiction.

  ➔ This expression indicates a contradiction or effort that persists despite the situation, emphasizing persistence.