Joe Le Taxi

• Par: Vanessa Paradis

Paroles:

[Français]

[English]

Barbesse

Sitting in Barbesse

...

...

Bienvenue chez Joe

Welcome to Joe's place

...

...

Joe le taxi, il va pas partout

Joe the taxi, he doesn't go everywhere

Il marche pas au soda

He doesn't work on soda

Son saxo jaune

His yellow saxophone

Connaît toutes les rues par cœur

Knows all the streets by heart

Tous les petits bars

All the little bars

Tous les coins noirs

All the dark corners

Et la Seine

And the Seine

Et ses ponts qui brillent

And its shining bridges

Dans sa caisse

In his little car

La musique à Joe

Music at Joe's

C'est la rumba

It's the rumba

Le vieux rock au mambo

Old rock and mambo

...

...

Joe le taxi

Joe the taxi

C'est sa vie

It's his life

Le rhum au mambo

Rhum and mambo

Embouteillage

Traffic jam

Il est comme ça

That's how he is

Rhum et mambo

Rum and mambo

Joe, Joe, Joe

Joe, Joe, Joe

Dans sa caisse (Joe, Joe, Joe)

In his car (Joe, Joe, Joe)

La musique à Joe résonne (Joe, Joe, Joe)

The music at Joe's echoes (Joe, Joe, Joe)

C'est la rumba (Joe, Joe, Joe)

It's the rumba (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Le vieux rock au mambo bidon (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Old rock mambo style (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Vas-y Joe (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Go ahead, Joe (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Vas-y Joe (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Come on, Joe (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Vas-y fonce (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Go for it, Joe (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Dans la nuit vers l'Amazone (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Into the night towards the Amazon (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Joe le taxi

Joe the taxi

Et Xavier Cugat

And Xavier Cugat

Joe le taxi

Joe the taxi

Et Yma Sumac

And Yma Sumac

Joe, Joe, Joe

Joe, Joe, Joe

(Joe, Joe, Joe)

(Joe, Joe, Joe)

(Joe, Joe, Joe)

(Joe, Joe, Joe)

(Joe, Joe, Joe)

(Joe, Joe, Joe)

...

...

Joe le taxi

Joe the taxi

C'est sa vie

It's his life

Le rhum au mambo

Rhum and mambo

Embouteillage

Traffic jam

Joe le taxi

Joe the taxi

Et les Mariachis

And the Mariachis

Joe le taxi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Joe the taxi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Et le cha-cha-chi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

And the cha-cha-chi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Joe le taxi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Joe the taxi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Et le cha-cha-chi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

And the cha-cha-chi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Vas-y Joe (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Go ahead, Joe (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Vas-y fonce (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Come on, Joe (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Dans la nuit vers l'Amazone (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Into the night towards the Amazon (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Joe le taxi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Joe the taxi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Et le cha-cha-chi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

And the cha-cha-chi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Joe le taxi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

Joe the taxi (Joe, Joe, Joe)

...

...

Vocabulaire dans cette chanson:

Vocabulaire	Significations
taxi /ˈtæksi/ A1	noun - a car that carries passengers for a fare
musique /my.zik/ A1	noun - music
rue /ʁy/ A1	noun - street
vie /vi/ A1	noun - life
rhum /ʁœm/ A2	noun - rum (a type of alcoholic drink)
mambo /ˈmæm.boʊ/ B1	noun - a type of dance and music
embouteillage /ɑ̃.bu.te.jaʒ/ B2	noun - traffic jam
bar /bɑːr/ A2	noun - a place where drinks are served
pont /pɔ̃/ A2	noun - bridge
noir /nwaʁ/ B1	adjective - black
briller /bʁi.je/ B1	verb - to shine
marcher /maʁ.ʃe/ B1	verb - to walk
jaune /ʒon/ A2	adjective - yellow
petit /pə.ti/ A1	adjective - small
vieux /vjø/ B1	adjective - old

Grammaire:

• Joe le taxi, il va pas partout

  ➔ Use of pronoun 'il' for emphasis/clarification

  ➔ While grammatically correct to say 'Joe le taxi va pas partout', the inclusion of 'il' after the subject makes it more conversational and emphasizes that it's *Joe* who doesn't go everywhere. The structure is a bit colloquial.

• Il marche pas au soda

  ➔ Preposition 'au' implying mode of transportation/fuel ('powered by' literally)

  ➔ The phrase 'marcher au' when used with a fuel or energy source, means something similar to 'powered by'. Here, it means 'He isn't powered by soda', meaning he doesn't like or depend on soda.

• Son saxo jaune Connaît toutes les rues par cœur

  ➔ Inversion of subject and verb for stylistic effect (poetic/emphatic)

  ➔ The normal word order would be 'Son saxo jaune connaît toutes les rues par cœur'. The inversion makes it sound more lyrical. 'His yellow saxophone knows all the streets by heart.'

• Dans sa caisse La musique à Joe

  ➔ Ellipsis (omission of verb) - Implied 'il y a' or 'est'. Possession using 'à'

  ➔ This line is shortened for poetic effect. It means, roughly, 'In his car, there is Joe's music' or 'In his car, the music belongs to Joe'. 'La musique de Joe' is also possible but 'la musique à Joe' is more common in some contexts.

• Vas-y fonce Dans la nuit vers l'Amazone

  ➔ Imperative mood combined with prepositional phrase indicating direction.

  ➔ 'Vas-y' is a shortened form of 'Y aller', meaning 'Go'. 'Fonce' is the imperative of 'foncer', meaning 'charge' or 'go fast'. 'Vers l'Amazone' indicates direction: 'towards the Amazon'.

• Embouteillage Il est comme ça

  ➔ Use of ellipsis to create a casual tone. 'Il est comme ça' is an idiom.

  ➔ 'Embouteillage' means traffic jam. A complete sentence might be 'Il y a un embouteillage'. 'Il est comme ça' translates to 'He is like that', meaning that's his personality, that is Joe is laidback / does not care