Vivre Pour Le Meilleur – Bilingual Lyrics French/English

• By: Johnny Hallyday
• Album: Johnny

Lyrics & Translation

[French]

[English]

Les gens qui cherchent la lumière en pleine nuit

People seeking light in the dead of night

Les gens qui courent après l'amour et qui le vit

People chasing love and truly living it

Et moi qui se laisse pour un dieu qui ne voit pas

And me, who follow a god that doesn’t see

Moi, j'ai ta chair contre ma chair en ça je crois

Me, with your flesh against mine, I believe in that

Vivre pour le meilleur

Live for the best

Se vouloir pour tout, se donner

Want everything, give everything

Plus riche de ne rien garder

Richer for having nothing to hide

Que l'amour

But love

Les hommes qui n'ont que l'illusion d'attendre un signe

Men who only have the illusion of waiting for a sign

Les femmes qui pleurent leurs enfants, mais restent dignes

Women who cry for their children but remain dignified

Toi, tu me rends plus fort chaque jour, sans Dieu ni loi

You make me stronger every day, without God or law

Et quand nos corps se font l'amour, je sais pourquoi

And when our bodies make love, I understand why

Vivre pour le meilleur

Live for the best

Se vouloir pour tout, se donner

Want everything, give everything

Plus riche de ne rien garder

Richer for having nothing to hide

Que l'amour

But love

Oui vivre pour vivre libre

Yes, live to be free

Aimer tous ceux qu'on peut aimer

Love everyone you can love

Encore et toujours ne vouloir

Again and always, only want

Que l'amour, que l'amour, oh

Love, love, oh

Vivre pour le meilleur

Live for the best

Se vouloir pour tout, se donner

Want everything, give everything

Plus riche de ne rien garder

Richer for having nothing to hide

Que l'amour

But love

Que l'amour

Love

Oui vivre pour vivre libre

Yes, live to be free

Aimer tous ceux qu'on peut aimer

Love everyone you can love

Encore et toujours ne vouloir

Again and always, only want

Que l'amour, que l'amour

Love, love

...

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
chercher /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/ B1	verb - to look for
courir /kuʁiʁ/ B1	verb - to run
amour /amuʁ/ A2	noun - love
vie /vjɛ/ A2	noun - life
possède /pɔsɛd/ B2	verb - to possess, to have
dignité /diɲi.te/ B2	noun - dignity
libre /l i bʁ/ A2	adjective - free
donner /dɔne/ B1	verb - to give
riches /ʁiʃ/ A2	noun - riches, wealth
garder /gʁade/ A2	verb - to keep, to guard
signes /siɲ/ B2	noun - signs
pleurer /pløʁe/ B1	verb - to cry
dignes /diɲ/ C1	adjective - dignified, worthy

Key Grammar Structures

• Les gens **qui** cherchent la lumière en pleine nuit

  ➔ Relative pronoun 'qui' functioning as the subject.

  ➔ The word "qui" refers back to 'Les gens' and introduces a clause describing them. Because "qui" directly precede the verb, it act as subject.

• Et moi **qui** se laisse pour un dieu qui ne voit pas

  ➔ Relative pronoun 'qui' with a reflexive verb 'se laisser'.

  ➔ 'Qui' introduces the relative clause and 'se laisse' indicates that the subject ('moi') is allowing themselves to be.

• Moi, j'**ai** ta chair contre ma chair en ça je crois

  ➔ Present tense of the verb 'avoir' (to have).

  ➔ 'J'ai' is the first person singular conjugation of 'avoir', indicating possession or state of being. Here, it implies a strong connection.

• Se **vouloir** pour tout, se donner

  ➔ Infinitive form of a reflexive verb 'se vouloir'.

  ➔ 'Se vouloir' means 'to want oneself' or 'to strive to be'. The infinitive is used to express a general concept or intention.

• Plus riche **de** ne rien garder

  ➔ Preposition 'de' indicating cause or reason.

  ➔ Here, 'de' connects 'riche' and 'ne rien garder', meaning 'richer because of not keeping anything'. It explains the source of the richness.

• Les hommes qui n'ont **que** l'illusion d'attendre un signe

  ➔ Adverb 'que' meaning 'only'.

  ➔ 'Que' emphasizes that the men have *only* the illusion of waiting for a sign, nothing else.

• Toi, tu me rends plus fort chaque jour, **sans** Dieu ni loi

  ➔ Preposition 'sans' meaning 'without'.

  ➔ 'Sans Dieu ni loi' means 'without God or law'. It emphasizes that the strength comes from the relationship, not external authorities.

• Oui vivre pour vivre **libre**

  ➔ Adjective 'libre' agreeing in gender and number with the implied subject.

  ➔ Since the phrase refers to living, 'libre' describes *how* one should live - freely. It agrees with the implied subject (the person living).