Francis – Coeur de Pirate / French Lyrics and English Translation

Francis was the final single released off Coeur de Pirate’s eponymous debut album. It’s a beautiful song of encouragement for Béatrice’s best friend. Here are the lyrics, English translation, explanation of vocabulary, and an analysis of the song.

The song Francis was written by Coeur de Pirate for her best friend. When asked in an interview who the Francis in the song was, Coeur de Pirate said:

“Francis is my best friend. He is one of the best people on Earth and he is single.”

Read the full interview (in French) here.

So this is a song that Coeur de Pirate wrote to encourage her friend Francis. More analysis of the song, plus a breakdown of the vocabulary after the lyrics and translation below.

French	English
[Couplet 1]	[Verse 1]
Francis tu as tant de choses à dire	Francis you have so much to say
Mais le tout reste enfermé	But everything remains locked inside
Et quand tu ne sais plus quoi dire	And when you don't know what to say anymore
Tu te mets à pleurer	You start to cry
Mais ça ton public le voit pas	But your public doesn't see this part
Tu l'incites à rêver	You invite them to dream
Pendant que toi tu le regardes	While you watch
[Couplet 2]	[Verse 2]
Francis les mots restent bien coincés	Francis the words stay trapped inside
Devant cette fille qui ne demande	When faced with this girl who asked for nothing
Pas mieux que de se faire aimer	But to be loved
Mais toi tu ne sais pas comment t'y prendre	But you, you don't know how to go about it
Ta gorge se resserre et ton cœœur bat de plus belle	Your throat tightens and your heart beats faster
Alors que tes yeux sont sur elle	When your eyes are on her
[Refrain]	[Chorus]
Mais moi je ne t'oublierai pas	But me, I won't forget you
Et je compte sur toi	And I'm counting on you
Pour venir en aide	To help
À ceux qui ressentent pour toi	Those who feel for you
Ce que tu écris dans	What you write in
Ces chansons pour elle	Those songs about her
[Couplet 3]	[Verse 3]
Francis je m'en vais bientôt	Francis, I'm leaving soon
Et je pense très très fort à toi	And I think about you all the time
Pendant que mes doigts au piano	When my fingers are on the piano
Jouent tout ce que je te dois	Playing everything that I owe you
Et rappelle-toi que tu peux	And reminding you that you can
Avoir le monde à tes pieds	Have the world at your feet
Si tu te laisses pas abattre	If you don't let yourself be defeated by
Par ceux qui te laissent de côté	Those who cast your aside
[Refrain x2]	[Chorus x2]
Mais moi je ne t'oublierai pas	But me, I won't forget you
Et je compte sur toi	And I'm counting on you
Pour venir en aide	To help
À ceux qui ressentent pour toi	Those who feel for you
Ce que tu écris dans	What you write in
Ces chansons pour elle	Those songs about her

Vocabulary in “Francis”

This song is about the singer (Coeur de Pirate/Béatrice Martin) encouraging her best friend Francis, who appears to be a struggling writer or artist of some kind. There are a couple mentions of words being trapped within him, so I think he’s a writer, poet, or lyricist.

tant de choses: lots of (many) things

enfermé: locked, or in this context “locked in” or “kept inside”

coincé: trapped
You could also translate the line “les mots restent bien coincés” as “the words don’t come” but it literally translates to “the words stay trapped.

pas mieux que: only
The line “cette fille qui ne demande pas mieux que de se faire aimer” is an example of the French using the negative “ne pas” to mean something other than “not.” “Pas mieux que” literally means “not better than” – so you can see how this means “only” (i.e. “the girl wants no better than to be loved = the girl only wants to be loved).

comment t’y prendre: how to go about it

je compte sur toi: I have great faith in you OR I’m counting on you
In the context of this song, the meaning is probably a mixture of both. Béatrice is saying that she is counting on Francis to help the people who “feel about you the way that you feel about her.”

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