Avant toi – Bilingual Lyrics French/English

• By: Calogero
• Album: Les feux d’artifice

Lyrics & Translation

[French]

[English]

C'est

It's

Des jours entiers ployer sous un fardeau

Whole days bending under a burden

Jamais léger, toujours courber le dos

Never light, always bowing the back

Avant toi

Before you

Avant toi laisse-moi te dire que c'est

Before you let me tell you it's

Traîner des pieds, c'est exister à peine

Dragging your feet, barely existing

Désespérer que quelque chose advienne

Despairing that something will happen

Avant toi

Before you

Avant toi laisse-moi te dire

Before you let me tell you

Avant toi c'était quoi

Before you, what was it?

Sinon un préambule

If not a preamble

Un long chemin de croix

A long road to Calvary

Puis tout bascule

Then everything changes

Avant toi c'était rien

Before you, it was nothing

Ou si peu que mon corps

Or so little that my body

Avant toi, se souvient

Before you, remembers

De s'être senti mort

Having felt dead

C'est

It's

Se démener, chanter dans le désert

Struggling, singing in the desert

Pour qui c'était tous ces vers, tous ces airs?

For whom were all these verses, all these tunes?

Avant toi

Before you

Avant toi laisse-moi te dire

Before you let me tell you

Avant toi c'était quoi

Before you, what was it?

Une répétition

A rehearsal

De mots de gestes las

Of tired words and gestures

Puis l'explosion

Then the explosion

Avant toi c'était rien

Before you, it was nothing

Ou si peu que mes bras

Or so little that my arms

N'avaient jamais étreint

Had never embraced

Que du vide et du froid

Only emptiness and cold

Avant toi c'était quoi

Before you, what was it?

Sinon un préambule

If not a preamble

Un long chemin de croix

A long road to Calvary

Puis tout bascule

Then everything changes

Avant toi c'était rien

Before you, it was nothing

Ou si peu que mon corps

Or so little that my body

Avant toi, se souvient

Before you, remembers

De s'être senti mort

Having felt dead

Avant toi c'était quoi

Before you, what was it?

Juste une scène immense

Just a huge stage

Bien trop vaste pour moi

Much too vast for me

Et puis tout danse

And then everything dances

Avant toi c'était rien

Before you, it was nothing

Ou si peu que ma vie

Or so little that my life

Commença le matin

Began the morning

Du jour où je te vis

Of the day I saw you

...

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
jour /ʒuʁ/ A1	noun - day
fardeau /faʁ.do/ B2	noun - burden
léger /le.ʒe/ A2	adjective - light
exister /ɛɡ.zis.te/ B1	verb - to exist
désespérer /dez.ɛs.pe.ʁe/ B2	verb - to despair
chemin /ʃə.mɛ̃/ A2	noun - path
corps /kɔʁ/ B1	noun - body
mort /mɔʁ/ B1	adjective - dead
danser /dɑ̃.se/ A2	verb - to dance
scène /sɛn/ B1	noun - scene
immense /i.mɑ̃s/ B2	adjective - immense
vaste /vast/ B2	adjective - vast
répétition /ʁe.pe.ti.sjɔ̃/ B1	noun - repetition
explosion /ɛk.sploz.jɔ̃/ B2	noun - explosion

Key Grammar Structures

• Des jours entiers ployer sous un fardeau

  ➔ Infinitive after preposition 'sous'

  ➔ The phrase "sous un fardeau" means "under a burden." The verb "ployer" (to bend) is in the infinitive form because it follows the preposition "sous".

• Jamais léger, toujours courber le dos

  ➔ Infinitive with implication of a repeated action

  ➔ "Courber le dos" (to bend the back) in the infinitive suggests a habitual or repeated action. It implies a continuous state of bending over.

• Avant toi laisse-moi te dire que c'est

  ➔ Subjunctive mood implied (though not directly used) - "laisse-moi te dire"

  ➔ "Laisse-moi te dire" (let me tell you) uses the imperative form of "laisser" (to let) to grant permission. Although not explicit subjunctive, the phrase often introduces something of importance or a subjective opinion, where subjunctive is sometimes used depending on the subsequent clause.

• Sinon un préambule

  ➔ Use of 'sinon' to present an alternative

  ➔ "Sinon" introduces an alternative if the previous statement is not true. Here, it suggests that if the time before "toi" wasn't "rien" (nothing) or very little, then it was simply a preamble.

• Un long chemin de croix

  ➔ Use of a metaphor - 'chemin de croix'

  ➔ "Chemin de croix" (Way of the Cross) is a metaphor for a long and difficult period of suffering. It's a reference to the Stations of the Cross in Christianity.

• Puis tout bascule

  ➔ Intransitive use of 'basculer'

  ➔ "Basculer" usually means "to tip over" or "to tilt." In this sentence, it's used intransitively, meaning "everything changes suddenly." The subject is "tout" (everything) and the verb implies a sudden, dramatic shift.

• Que du vide et du froid

  ➔ Use of 'ne...que' structure in a negative context (implied 'il n'y avait')

  ➔ The phrase implies "Il n'y avait que du vide et du froid" (There was only emptiness and cold). The structure "ne...que" means "only" and it emphasizes the limited experience of the subject before meeting the person.

• Et puis tout danse

  ➔ Intransitive use of 'danser'

  ➔ "Danser" usually means "to dance." Here, it is used intransitively to mean "everything is vibrant, full of life, harmonious". Similar to "tout bascule", "tout danse" implies a sudden, positive change.

• Du jour où je te vis

  ➔ Passé simple used to emphasize a single, completed action in the past

  ➔ The verb "vis" is the passé simple form of "voir" (to see). The passé simple is a literary past tense that emphasizes a single, completed action, often marking a significant event. Here, it underscores the precise moment the speaker first saw the person, marking the turning point in their life.