J'Traine Des Pieds – Bilingual Lyrics French/English

• By: Olivia Ruiz
• Album: Polydor (France)

Lyrics & Translation

Learning French with 'J'Traine Des Pieds' by Olivia Ruiz is a delightful way to immerse yourself in colloquial French and the charm of everyday life. The song's autobiographical lyrics about her childhood in a café are filled with familiar and evocative language that paints a vivid picture of French culture. Its playful melody and clear enunciation make it an enjoyable and accessible song for learners to follow along and discover the poetry in simple, heartfelt storytelling.

[English]

I dragged my feet, with pots and pans

I didn't like school much

I dragged my feet, my battered legs

I explored my neighborhood

I dragged my feet in my café

The old folks at cards were shouting

Grandpa, grandma, Uncle André and all those ladies

Taking care of me, pampering me

Scraped my face, scraped my knees

scraped my little soft heart

Ruined my shoes, ruined on my cheek

Ruined the crumbs of us

The smoke from the beef bourguignon

The whole family with their heads down

Back when we could act foolish

The regulars, the locals, the passersby especially in summer

Happy chaos in my café

Scraped my face, scraped my knees

scraped my little soft heart

Swept the terrace, the little one flew away

The crumbs of us flew away

I drag my feet, I drag my pots and pans

I still don't like school

Scraped my face, scraped my knees

scraped my little soft heart

Ruined my shoes, ruined on my cheek

Ruined the crumbs of us

...

[French]

J'traînais les pieds, des casseroles

J'n'aimais pas beaucoup l'école

J'traînais les pieds, mes guiboles abîmées

J'explorais mon quartier

J'traînais des pieds dans mon café

Les vieux à la belotte braillaient

Papi, mamie, tonton André et toutes ces pépées

A mes p'tits soins, à m'pouponner

Ecorché mon visage, écorchés mes genoux

écorché mon p'tit coeur tout mou

Bousillées mes godasses, bousillé sur ma joue

Bousillées les miettes de nous

La fumée du boeuf bourguignon

Toute la famille tête dans l'guidon

Du temps où ont pouvaient faire les cons

Les pensionnaires, les habitués, les gens d'passage surtout l'été

Joyeux bordel dans mon café

Ecorché mon visage, écorchés mes genoux

écorché mon p'tit coeur tout mou

Balayée la terrasse, envolé le bout d'chou

Envolées les miettes de nous

Je traîne les pieds, j'traîne mes casseroles

J'n'aime toujours pas l'école

Ecorché mon visage, écorchés mes genoux

écorché mon p'tit coeur tout mou

Bousillées mes godasses, bousillé sur ma joue

Bousillées les miettes de nous

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
traîner /tʁɛ.ne/ A2	verb - to drag or to hang around
pieds /pje/ A1	noun - feet
casseroles /kɑs.ʁɔl/ B1	noun - cooking pots
école /ɛ.kɔl/ A1	noun - school
guiboles /ɡi.bɔl/ B2	noun - legs
explorais /ɛks.plɔ.ʁɛ/ B2	verb - to explore
café /kafe/ A1	noun - coffee or coffee shop
famille /fa.mij/ A1	noun - family
coeur /kʊʁ/ A2	noun - heart
mou /mu/ B2	adjective - soft
godasses /ɡɔdas/ B2	noun - shoes
miettes /mjɛt/ A2	noun - crumbs

Key Grammar Structures

• J'traînais les pieds, des casseroles

  ➔ Use of the imperfect tense 'trâinais' to describe ongoing past actions.

  ➔ The imperfect tense in French indicates an ongoing or habitual action in the past.

• J'n'aimais pas beaucoup l'école

  ➔ Use of the imperfect tense 'n'aimais' to express a past dislike or habit.

  ➔ The imperfect tense conveys descriptions, feelings, or repeated actions in the past.

• J'traînais des pieds, mes guiboles abîmées

  ➔ Use of the causative or passive past participle 'abîmées' with a sense of resulting state.

  ➔ The past participle 'abîmées' agrees in gender and number with the noun it describes, here indicating damage.

• écorché mon visage, écorchés mes genoux

  ➔ Use of the past participle 'écorché' to describe a state of being scratched or skinned.

  ➔ The participle 'écorché' agrees in gender and number with the noun, here used metaphorically for emotional or physical damage.

• Bousillées mes godasses, bousillé sur ma joue

  ➔ Use of the past participle 'bousillées' to describe damage or destruction, with agreement in gender and number.

  ➔ The participle 'bousillées' agrees in gender and number and emphasizes the damage done.

• Bousillées les miettes de nous

  ➔ Use of the causative 'bousillées' with 'les miettes' to express the destruction of 'us' or 'our' memories or fragments.

  ➔ The phrase signifies a metaphorical destruction or loss of parts of 'us' or our shared memories.