“Dingue dingue dingue” (Crazy, crazy, crazy) is Christophe Maé’s new single, and is currently very popular in France. Check out the French lyrics and English translation, plus an explanation of the phrases and vocabulary, after the jump!
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Je sais qu'on revient pas en arrière | I know we can't go back in time |
| Et que tu ne reviendras pas non plus | And that you won't come back anymore |
| Mais si tu changeais d'avis quand-même | But if you change your mind any way |
| J'te jure que tu ne serais pas déçue | I swear you won't be disappointed |
| J'ferais des efforts vestimentaires | I'll try to dress better |
| Je rentrerais à l'heure prévue | I'll be home on time |
| On passerait les dimanches à la mer | We'll spend Sundays at the sea |
| Comme on faisait au tout début | Like we used to do |
| Alors laisse-toi faire | So let yourself go |
| Et laisse-moi faire | And let me do it |
| Oui laisse-moi faire | Yes, let me do it |
| Je saurai faire | I know how to do it |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Ça me rend fou, dis-moi où je vais avec toi | It's driving me crazy - tell me where I'm going with you |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Car je suis raide dingue, dingue de toi | Because I'm totally crazy, crazy for you |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Ça me rend fou d'avoir tout gâché avec toi | It's driving me crazy to have thrown it all away with you |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Car je suis raide dingue de toi | Because I'm totally crazy for you |
| Je dirai à mes potes la chance que j'ai | I'll tell my friends how lucky I am |
| Ceux que t'aimes pas je les verrai plus | The ones you don't like, I won't see anymore |
| Tu verras cette fois-ci je changerai | You'll see, this time I will change |
| Même si tu m'as jamais vraiment cru | Even if you never really believed me |
| J'ai trop le cœur en bandoulière | I wear my heart on my sleeve too much |
| Et le corps aux objets perdus | And my body needs you too much |
| J'préfère encore tout foutre en l'air | I'd rather f**k it up again |
| Que d'être sûr que c'est foutu | Than to be sure that I'm really screwed |
| Alors laisse-toi faire | So let yourself go |
| Et laisse-moi faire | And let me do it |
| Oui laisse-moi faire | Yes, let me do it |
| Je saurai faire | I know how to do it |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Ça me rend fou, dis-moi où je vais avec toi | It's driving me crazy - tell me where I'm going with you |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Car je suis raide dingue, dingue de toi | Because I'm totally crazy, crazy for you |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Ça me rend fou d'avoir tout gâché avec toi | It's driving me crazy to have thrown it all away with you |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Car je suis raide dingue de toi | Because I'm totally crazy for you |
| Et je cours après toi | And I run after you |
| Même s'il est tard | Even if it's too late |
| Et je crie sur les toits | And I shout from the rooftops |
| L'envie de te revoir | That I want to see you again |
| Il n'est jamais trop tard | It's never too late |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Ça me rend fou, dis-moi où je vais avec toi | It's driving me crazy - tell me where I'm going with you |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Car je suis raide dingue, dingue de toi | Because I'm totally crazy, crazy for you |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Ça me rend fou d'avoir tout gâché avec toi | It's driving me crazy to have thrown it all away with you |
| Dingue, dingue, dingue | Crazy, crazy, crazy |
| Car je suis raide dingue de toi | Because I'm totally crazy for you |
Vocabulary and Explanation:
So the challenging thing with Christophe Maé’s lyrics is that he uses a lot of slang, and he sometimes slurs words together.
revenir: to come back, to return
This verb is in both the first and second lines:
“qu’on revient pas en arrière” = “that we can’t go back to the past”
“tu ne reviendras pas non plus” = “you won’t come back anymore”
changer d’avis: to change one’s mind, to come around, or to have a change of heart
J’te jure: I swear to you
This is an example of a slangy slurring of words: he joins je and te together as one word.
être déçu: to be disappointed
Hence: tu ne serais pas déçue = you won’t be disappointed
J’ferais des efforts vestimentaires
Again, Christophe slurs together the words “je” and “ferais” (I will make). “Vestimentaires” means “sartorial.” But I prefer to think of it as an adjective that is made out of the word clothing. So imagine if we were to take the word “clothing” in English and make it into an adjective – we would come up with the equivalent of “vestimentaire.” Basically in this line he promises to try to dress better.
Dingue = crazy (of course)
Ça me rend fou: it’s driving me crazy (literally: it’s making me crazy)
gâcher: to waste, to throw away, to spoil, or to ruin
Je suis dingue de toi: I’m crazy for you, I’m mad about you
Je suis raide dingue de toi: I’m totally crazy for you, I’m totally mad for you
un pote: friend, mate, pal (a slang term)
avoir le coeur en bandoulière: to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve
*Note: I could not confirm this in my translation dictionary, nor have I ever heard this phrase before. If someone has a better translation please let me know!
Literally, the lyric translates:
J’ai trop le coeur en bandoulière = I have too much heart on my shoulder strap.
The next line is also tricky:
Et le corps aux objets perdus
Literally this translates as: And my body to the lost objects
Now that seems non-sensical, but judging by the way that it is phrased in French, I believe that he is referring to the Freudian concept of “l’objet perdu.” Freud believed that baby boys longed for “the lost object” which was their mother’s body. I think that this line is a reference to that theory since it seems to fit in the context of the speaker detailing the excesses of his love. The fact that he pluralizes the word “objects” may allude to the particular parts of his lover’s body that he is so taken with (if I had to guess, I’d say breasts).
Hence I have translated the lyrics thusly:
J’ai trop le coeur en bandoulière = I wear my heart of my sleeve too much
Et le corps aux objets perdus = and I need your body too much
foutre en l’air: screw it up, f**k it up (WARNING: VULGAR!)
c’est foutu: it’s screwed up (beyond repair)
Don’t use either of these in polite or professional company! They are both considered very vulgar!
Alright that’s all! Please leave any questions and/or comments in the comments!
Do you believe that vulgar words in French translation or Turkish or Chinese or any other translations should be preserved or you’d rather see milder words being used? Do you think it is important to “warn” the reader of such words?
It’s so catchy! I love it, and please keep updating this blog!
Looove your blog! Keep bringing ’em to us!
What a great blog! I’m posting this to my site for my French 3 students! Keep ’em coming! 🙂
Wow, you have really studied a lot of french vocabulary! Thanks for the breakdown at the bottom. It really helps everything come together.
Thanks for putting together a blog like this; the best way to learn a language, by far, is through music. I’ve done it with Catalan when I was moving to Barcelona, and now I want to do it with French.
Consider me a loyal customer already 😉
Although I like your Freudian analysis for the phrase “le corps aux objets perdus” , I am not sure that Christophe Maé should be credited with such depth…! Les objets perdus (used for the rhyme) is a sometimes-synonym of “les objets trouvés” (always plural), i.e. lost & found. “le corps aux objets perdus”, could mean “my body [is] in the lost and found”. I think he means his body belongs to her and no one has claimed it since she left him. Also note that in the last ten-fifteen years “trop” is used in place of “très” in slang. It means “very much” instead of literally “too much”, e.g. “elle est trop cool” = she’s super/really nice.
Amazing blog… really lovely, i just started learning french and this will help me a great deal, thanks alot 🙂
I’m glad I found this. I’ve been trying to learn French on my own for quite some time by watching French TV, textbook, reading short stories but you easily get bored. This is a fresh new way to learn!
salut..and thanx an ocean for such a great website…
i have a question…why did u choose french songs for teaching french?..we all know that many songwriters shorten the words or use other means for preserving the rythm of the lyrics and make it easy to sing, this is what ive noticed in english songs atleast…do u still think that learning french by studying the lyrics is a good way?
le coeur en bandouliere means to say smth without thinking about it. so really directly. sometimes it can cause problems you know what i mean? bcs u dont think abot the consequences.
hi! one of my dreams is thespeke french. i’ve been searching for a long time after an intresting way to learn it. music is defently the best way to do so….and your blog is amazing!… thank you. keep on the good work :)))))
yam
Pour l’expression “le coeur en bandouliere”, voir http://www.francaisfacile.com/forum/lire.php?num=7&msg=93334&titre=+le+coeur+en+bandouli%E8re+
Cette expression se trouve egalement dans une chanson de Thomas Dutronc, “A la vanille”.