Alors On Danse was Stromae’s first hit song in Belgium and around the world. Let’s look at the French lyrics, the English translation, breakdown the vocabulary and analyze this fun dance song, shall we?
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| French | English |
|---|---|
| [Intro] | [Intro] |
| Alors on danse | So we dance |
| Alors on danse | So we dance |
| Alors on... | So we... |
| [Couplet 1] | [Verse 1] |
| Qui dit études dit travail | Who says studies says work |
| Qui dit taf te dit des thunes | Who says work tells you money |
| Qui dit argent dit dépenses | Who says money says spending |
| Qui dit crédit dit créance | Who says credit says debt |
| Qui dit dette te dit huissier | Who says debt tells the reapo man |
| Lui dit assis dans la merde | Who tells you to sit in shit |
| Qui dit amour dit les gosses | Who says love says children |
| Dit toujours et dit divorce | Says forever and then says divorce |
| Qui dit proches te dit deuils | Who says loved ones tells you mourning |
| Car les problèmes ne viennent pas seul | Because problems never come alone |
| Qui dit crise te dit monde | Who says crisis tells you the world |
| Dit famine et dit tiers monde | Says famine and says third world |
| Qui dit fatigue dit réveil | Who says tiredness says get up |
| Encore sourd de la veille | Still deaf from the day before |
| Alors on sort pour oublier tous les problèmes | So we go out to forget all our problems |
| [Refrain] | [Chorus] |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| [Couplet 2] | [Verse 2] |
| Et la tu t'dis que c'est fini | And when you tell yourself you're done |
| Car pire que ça serait la mort | Because the only thing worse would be death |
| Quand tu crois enfin | When you finally believe |
| Que tu t'en sors | That you're getting out of it |
| Quand y en a plus | That there's no more |
| Et ben y en a encore | And sure enough there's more |
| Est-ce la zik ou des problèmes | Is it music or problems |
| Les problèmes ou bien la musique? | Problems or music? |
| Ça t'prend les tripes | It's a punch to the guts |
| Ça te prend la tête | It's doing your head in |
| Et puis tu pries pour que ça s'arrête | And then you pray for it to stop |
| Mais c'est ton corps | But it's your body |
| C'est pas le ciel | It's not heaven |
| Alors tu t'bouches plus les oreilles | So you stop covering your ears |
| Et là tu cries encore plus fort | And you shout even louder |
| Et ça persiste | And it goes on |
| [Pont] | [Bridge] |
| Alors on chante | So we sing |
| Lalalalalala | Lalalalalala |
| Lalalalalala | Lalalalalala |
| Alors on chante | So we sing |
| Lalalalalala | Lalalalalala |
| Lalalalalala | Lalalalalala |
| Alors on chante | So we sing |
| Alors on chante | So we sing |
| Et puis seulement quand c'est fini | And only when that's done |
| [Refrain ] | [Chorus] |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| Alors on danse... | So we dance... |
| [Outro] | [Outro] |
| Et ben y en a encore... | And well there's still more... |
After the vocab breakdown you can see a great video of Stromae performing Alors On Danse live at the South by Southwest music festival (at a venue called Stubbs BBQ no less!).
This song is a pretty straightforward dance song about dancing and partying in order to forget our problems. It has some interesting vocabulary, so let’s look at that! We’ll analyze the meaning of the verses as well.
Verse 1
études: studies
travail: work
taf: work (slang – commonly used and not impolite)
thunes: money (slang – commonly used and not impolite)
argent: money
dépenses: spending
crédit: credit
créance: debt
dette: debt
huissier: bailiff (in the lyrics I translated this as “reapo man” because it makes more sense in the context of the song – we don’t really say ‘bailiff’ in English as a casual term)
merde: shit (rude in French as it is in English!)
amour: love
les gosses (masculine): children (slang/casual language)
les proches: loved ones (usually used in the plural)
deuils: mourning
tiers monde: third world (as in “developing world”)
sourd: deaf
la veille: the day before
oublier: to forget
This verse uses a recurring grammatical structure to list off a number of common problems. Essentially the speaker is listing all the problems and drudgery in life that a person might want to forget by dancing the night away.
Stromae’s voice as he lists these banalities, annoyances, and problems is very monotone. It’s a sort of sonic mimicry of the drudgeries of life. But in contrast the beat of the song and the music are pulsating and lively. So the voice and lyrics of the song pose the problem: life is full of boring and difficult things that we must do. The antidote is how alive we feel when we go out and dance away our problems, and this antidote is of course represented by the upbeat melody of “Alors On Danse.”
And of course:
Alors on danse = so we dance
Verse 2
C’est fini: it’s done or you’re/I’m done
Pire: worse
La mort: death
La zik: music (slang)
Ça t’prend les tripes: It’s a punch to the guts
les tripes = guts
If you’ve ever eaten tripe, you may be familiar with this word! This is a common French expression that means that something really bother you. In British English we can say “I was gutted.” In American English we say “it was a punch to the guts” and both expressions are similar to “ça t’prend les tripes.”
Ça te prend la tête: it’s doing your head in
This is another common expression in French. It may be a bit milder than “it’s a pain in the ass” but it essentially means that something is annoying you. You can say “ça me prend la tête” and it means “this is bugging me” or “this is doing my head in.” You could also use the translation “it’s driving me crazy.”
Prier: to pray
In this verse Stromae talks about how *just* when you think you’re getting ahead of life, something comes along to knock you back down. We all know that feeling right?
And so what do you do? We sing (alors on chante) and then of course we dance!
As promised, here is Stromae performing this song live.
I hope you enjoyed this translation. If you like it or have questions, please share it with your friends and leave a comment below!