Je Ne Sais Quoi – English Lyrics

• By: MARINA
• Album: PRINCESS OF POWER

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the enigmatic world of MARINA's "Je Ne Sais Quoi" – a captivating song that uses a beautiful French phrase to describe an inexplicable charm. Learning the meaning of "Je Ne Sais Quoi" will not only enrich your understanding of this track's central theme but also introduce you to a common and elegant expression in the French language. Discover how MARINA masterfully weaves this concept into a pop anthem about irresistible, albeit mysterious, attraction.

[English]

LALALALA

LALALALA

IN MY GARDEN, YOU’RE IN THE SUN

GIVE YOU A LESSON IN SEDUCTION

IT FEELS DIFFERENT, IT FEELS FUN

YOU MAKE ME WANNA BE

SOMEONE YOU LOVE

I DON’T CARE WHAT THEY SAY

I DON’T CARE WHAT THEY DO

CAUSE I’VE NEVER BEEN LOVED

BY SOMEBODY LIKE YOU

YOU’VE GOT THAT

JE NE SAIS QUOI, JE NE SAIS QUOI

I’M FALLING FOR YOU

DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE

JE NE SAIS QUOI, JE NE SAIS QUOI

I’M SO INTO YOU, YOU’RE HOTTER THAN GOD

SO OBSESSED YET

SO UNDERCOVER

MAYBE WE’RE BOTH AS

BAD AS EACH OTHER

HEARTBREAK IS HARD BUT

LOVING IS TOUGHER

WHEN CRYPTIC PEOPLE

MIRROR EACH OTHER

I DON’T CARE WHAT THEY SAY

I DON’T CARE WHAT THEY DO

CAUSE I’VE NEVER BEEN LOVED

BY SOMEBODY LIKE YOU

YOU’VE GOT THAT

JE NE SAIS QUOI, JE NE SAIS QUOI

I’M FALLING FOR YOU

DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE

JE NE SAIS QUOI, JE NE SAIS QUOI

I’M SO INTO YOU, YOU’RE HOTTER THAN GOD

MAYBE YOU’RE NOT MYSTERIOUS

JUST A LITTLE INSECURE

ACTING OH SO SERIOUS

DON’T KNOW WHO YOU DO IT FOR?

MAYBE YOU’RE NOT WHAT YOU SEEM

YOU’RE NOT THE MAN OF MY DREAMS

BUT I JUST LOVE THE UNCERTAINTY

JE NE SAIS QUOI, JE NE SAIS QUOI

I’M FALLING FOR YOU

DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE

JE NE SAIS QUOI, JE NE SAIS QUOI

I’M SO INTO YOU, YOU’RE HOTTER THAN GOD

YOU’VE GOT THAT

JE NE SAIS QUOI, JE NE SAIS QUOI

I’M FALLING FOR YOU

DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE

JE NE SAIS QUOI, JE NE SAIS QUOI

I’M SO INTO YOU, YOU’RE HOTTER THAN GOD

JE NE SAIS QUOI

DON’T BREAK MY HEART

JE NE SAIS QUOI

DON’T BREAK MY HEART

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
love /lʌv/ A1	verb - to feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone noun - a strong feeling of affection
feel /fiːl/ A1	verb - to experience an emotion or sensation
different /ˈdɪfrənt/ A1	adjective - not the same as another or each other; unlike in nature, form, or quality
fun /fʌn/ A1	noun - enjoyment, amusement, or light-hearted pleasure adjective - enjoyable or amusing
care /keər/ A2	verb - to feel concern or interest noun - serious attention or consideration applied to doing something correctly or to avoid damage or risk
fall /fɔːl/ A2	verb - (fall for someone) become infatuated or in love with someone
know /nəʊ/ A1	verb - to be aware of information, facts, or that something is true
hot /hɒt/ A1	adjective - (informal) sexually attractive
obsessed /əbˈsest/ B2	adjective - completely fill the mind of (someone) so that they cannot think of anything else; preoccupy (often used as a past participle adjective)
undercover /ˌʌndərˈkʌvər/ B2	adjective - involving secret work, typically for gaining information or observing someone's behaviour without them knowing
heartbreak /ˈhɑːrtbreɪk/ B1	noun - intense sorrow, especially caused by the ending of a love affair
tough /tʌf/ B1	adjective - difficult and needing effort or determination
cryptic /ˈkrɪptɪk/ C1	adjective - having a meaning that is mysterious or secret
mysterious /mɪˈstɪriəs/ B1	adjective - difficult or impossible to understand, explain, or identify
insecure /ˌɪnsɪˈkjʊər/ B2	adjective - (of a person) not confident or assured; uncertain and anxious
serious /ˈsɪəriəs/ A2	adjective - demanding or marked by careful consideration or application
seem /siːm/ A2	verb - to give the impression of being something or having a particular quality
uncertainty /ʌnˈsɜːrtnti/ B2	noun - the state of being uncertain
break /breɪk/ A1	verb - (break someone's heart) to cause someone intense emotional pain
heart /hɑːrt/ A1	noun - the emotional or spiritual centre of a person considered as the seat of the emotions and sensibilities

Key Grammar Structures

• YOU MAKE ME WANNA BE SOMEONE YOU LOVE

  ➔ Causative "make" + bare infinitive

  ➔ The structure "make someone do something" expresses that someone causes another person to do something. Here, 'you' cause 'me' to "wanna be" someone you love. The bare infinitive (without 'to') is used after 'make'.

• CAUSE I’VE NEVER BEEN LOVED BY SOMEBODY LIKE YOU

  ➔ Present Perfect Passive

  ➔ "I've never been loved" uses the present perfect passive to emphasize that the speaker hasn't ever experienced being loved in the way the other person does. The focus is on the speaker receiving the action (being loved).

• I’M FALLING FOR YOU

  ➔ Present Continuous for ongoing action/process

  ➔ The present continuous "I'm falling" indicates that the process of falling in love is happening right now, not a completed action.

• DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE

  ➔ Indirect Question/Embedded Question

  ➔ Instead of directly asking "Who are you?", it's embedded within the statement "I don't know". In indirect questions, the subject-verb order is not inverted as it would be in a direct question.

• YOU’RE HOTTER THAN GOD

  ➔ Comparative Adjective

  ➔ "Hotter than" is a comparative adjective used to compare the degree of hotness between the person being addressed and 'God'. It illustrates a hyperbole to emphasize attraction.

• MAYBE WE’RE BOTH AS BAD AS EACH OTHER

  ➔ "as + adjective + as" structure (equality comparison)

  ➔ This structure compares two things, stating that they are equal in a particular quality. In this case, 'we' and 'each other' are being compared in terms of 'badness'.

• LOVING IS TOUGHER

  ➔ Gerund as Subject + Comparative Adjective

  ➔ "Loving" is a gerund acting as the subject of the sentence. "Tougher" is a comparative adjective indicating that loving is more difficult than something else (implied heartbreak).