I love Coeur de pirate. I saw her perform last summer in Vancouver, and I was worried that she wouldn’t be as good live. Fortunately, she was AMAZING! She sounded great, was very sweet and engaging, and was all around a great entertainer. “Ensemble” (“Together” in English) is another single off her debut album. Lyrics, translation, and video after the jump!
Vocabulary and explanation of the translation and phrases will follow the video and translation. My apologies if the video doesn’t work – you can watch it on YouTube but unfortunately it has become very difficult to embed videos with copyrighted content.
Check our the full track list of all Coeur de Pirate’s songs, lyrics, and translations.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| [Couplet 1] | [Verse 1] |
| Côte contre côte nos corps vibrent partant | One against the other, our bodies vibrate gamely |
| Et dans ces courses sans dérive | And in these races, without drifting |
| On tombe presque hors champ | We're nearly out of sight |
| Et dans tes rires qui défoncent plus que l'égo qui te prend | And your destructive laughter, even more than your giant ego |
| Tu nous réduis à l'impossible dans tes tourments | Reduces us to the impossible, with its tormenting |
| Et sans gêne tu te défonces, tu ne comprends pas | And shamelessly, you freak out, you don't understand |
| Car nous avions une belle histoire, tu le nieras pas | Because we had a beautiful story, you can't deny it |
| Par contre tes cris défoncent les murs de ton appartement | On the other hand, your shouting knocks down the walls of your apartment |
| Pour atteindre mon coeur qui meurt un peu plus à chaque instant | To reach my heart, which dies a little more with each passing moment |
| [Chorus] | [Chorus] |
| Car ensemble rime avec désordre, | Because "together" rhymes with "chaos" |
| Et l'homme que tu es n'est plus que discorde | And the man that you are, is nothing but strife |
| Car ce que tu es rime avec regret | Because what you are rhymes with "regret" |
| De ma part je n'ai que ceux qui restent à jamais | As for me, I'll only have those who will stay forever |
| [Couplet 2] | [Verse 2] |
| Tête contre tête tu m'as vaincu juste à temps | Head to head, you beat me just in time |
| Et quand tu es revenu | And when you came back |
| Tu n'étais plus comme avant | You weren't like before |
| Et tes mensonges tiennent le seul homme que tu pourrais être | And your lies tarnish the man that you could be |
| Mes plaies s'ouvrent un peu plus à chaque fois que tu t'entêtes | And my wounds open a little more each time you persist |
| Et sans gêne tu te défonces, tu ne comprends pas | And shamelessly you freak out, you don't understand |
| Que tu détruis une belle histoire, je le nierai pas | That you're destroying a beautiful story, I won't deny it |
| Par contre nos cris détruisent les murs de ton appartement | On the other hand our shouting knocks down the walls of your apartment |
| Pour atteindre l'amour qui meurt un peu plus à chaque instant | To reach the love that dies a bit more with each passing moment |
| [Chorus x2] | [Chorus x2] |
| Car ensemble rime avec désordre, | Because "together" rhymes with "chaos" |
| Et l'homme que tu es n'est plus que discorde | And the man that you are, is nothing more than strife |
| Car ce que tu es rime avec regret | Because what you are rhymes with "regret" |
| Pour ma part je n'ai que ceux qui restent à jamais | As for me, I'll only have those who will stay forever |
Vocabulary:
The entire first verse is quite challenging so let’s go through it:
Côte contre côte: this is a play on words. “Côte à côte” means “side by side” but here she is using “contre” rather than “à”. So it directly translates as: “side against side” (contre = against). So I’ve translated it as “one against the other.”
les courses (fem.): races
dérive: drift
“à la dérive” translates as drifting.
“hors champ”: is a cinematic term that means “off-screen.” It literally means “outside the field” (as in the field of vision).
“Dans ces courses, sans dérive
On tombe presque hors champ”
This lyric is a bit complicated – let’s break it down.
What she is saying is that in their races they haven’t drifted (off the racecourse) but they have fallen out of view (off-screen). This is clearly metaphorical – what do you think she is referring to?
défoncer: This verb is used over and over again in this song. It has a few different translations, including:
to smash in
to demolish
to break (something) down
“tes rires qui défoncent”: Literally “your laughs which demolish”
réduire: to reduce
This verb can be used in French in many of the same ways that it is used in English, including: to reduce something to a pulp, or to reduce something to ashes.
“l’égo qui te prend”: l’égo = ego
The phrase “qu’est-ce qui te prend?” means “what’s wrong with you?”, so she is saying the this guy’s ego is what’s wrong with him. Literally I would translate this as: “the ego, which is what’s the matter with you.” I’ve chosen to translate it as “your giant ego” since I think it’s implicitly obvious that she considers his ego to be a problem. (Haven’t we all been there?)
Let’s look at this entire lyric since it’s pretty tough:
Et dans tes rires qui défoncent plus que l’égo qui te prend
Tu nous réduis à l’impossible dans tes tourments
I think it’s almost easier to read it as a sentence like this:
Et dans tes rires (qui défoncent plus que l’égo qui te prend) tu nous réduis à l’impossible dans tes tourments.
This translates as: “And in your laughs (which destroy more than your giant ego) you reduce us to the impossible in your torments.” That doesn’t really make sense, so let’s make it a bit more idiomatic:
“And your laughter (which is more destructive even than your ego) reduces us to the impossible with your tormenting.” I believe that in this context “tes tourments” refers to “torments” as jeers or harassment. In this case his laughter is tormenting the speaker.
If anyone has a better or clearer translation of these lines I am open to suggestions!
Don’t worry – the rest of the song is more straightforward!
gêne: shame – hence “sans gêne” = “without shame” or “shamelessly”
se défoncer: se défoncer means a few different things. In this context it means “to freak out” hence “tu te défonces” means “you freak out.” Se défoncer is also a slang term that can mean “to get high” (on drugs), but that is not how it is used in this song.
nier: to deny (tu ne le nieras pas = you will not deny it)
par contre: on the other hand, by contrast
désordre: mess, chaos
discorde: strife, discord
à jamais: forever, for life, forevermore
les mensonges (fem.): lies (untruths)
ternir: to tarnish
tes mensonges ternissent = “your lies tarnish”
tes mensonges ternissent l’homme que tu pourrais être = “your lies tarnish the man that you could be”
I think many of us have thought this about a man (or woman) in our lives, yes?
That’s all! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments. Let me know if there is a particular song that you would like to see translated!
More Coeur de Pirate Song Translations
Here is my translation and analysis of Coeur de Pirate’s hit single Comme des Enfants
Here’s my translation of Coeur de Pirate’s single Adieu (French lyrics and English translation).