“Moi… Lolita” is a popular French song by the young Alizée and was like the “Hit me baby one more time” of the French-speaking world. It was the immensely popular début single from Alizée, who was just 16 when the single was released (how very Britney Spears). The French lyrics, English translation, explanation of the phrases, and the video, are below.
When I downloaded this song on iTunes, the word “Lolita” was starred out so the song title reads: “Moi… L****a.” Perhaps Canadian iTunes thinks a 16 year-old singing about being a Lolita is too hot to handle? Any way, this song has a number of good vocabulary words and phrases in it, so let’s get started.
An explanation of the phrases and vocabulary will follow the lyrics and translation.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Moi je m'appelle Lolita | Me, my name is Lolita |
| Lo ou bien Lola | Lo or Lola |
| Du pareil au même | It's all the same |
| Moi je m'appelle Lolita | Me, my name is Lolita |
| Quand je rêve aux loups | When I consider my mistakes |
| C'est Lola qui saigne | It's Lola who has to bleed |
| Quand fourche ma langue, | When I have a slip of the tongue |
| J'ai là un fou rire aussi fou | I laugh a laugh as crazy |
| Qu'un phénomène | As a phenomenon |
| Je m'appelle Lolita | My name is Lolita |
| Lo de vie, lo aux amours diluviennes | Lo for spirit*, Lo for diluvial love |
| CHORUS: | CHORUS: |
| C'est pas ma faute | It's not my fault |
| Et quand je donne ma langue aux chats | And when I'm ready to give up |
| Je vois les autres | I see the others |
| Tout prêts à se jeter sur moi | All ready to throw themselves at me |
| C'est pas ma faute à moi | It's not my own fault |
| Si j'entends tout autour de moi | If I hear everything around me |
| L.O.L.I.T.A. | L.O.L.I.T.A. |
| Moi Lolita | Me... Lolita |
| Moi je m'appelle Lolita | Me, my name is Lolita |
| Collégienne aux bas | A schoolgirl underneath |
| Bleus de méthylène | Tight blue jeans |
| Moi je m'appelle Lolita | Me, my name is Lolita |
| Coléreuse et pas | Quick-tempered, and not |
| Mi-coton, mi-laine | Half cotton, half wool |
| Motus et bouche qui n'dis pas | Silent and a mouth that doesn't tell |
| À maman que je suis un phénomène | Mom that I am a phenomenon |
| Je m'appelle Lolita | My name is Lolita |
| Lo de vie, lo aux amours diluviennes | Lo for spirit*, Lo for diluvial love |
| CHORUS REPEATS | CHORUS REPEATS |
Vocabulary:
*lo de vie (lo for spirit) sounds like l’eau de vie (the name of a strong alcoholic drink) so this is a bit of a play on words.
du pareil au même: the same thing
rever aux loups: to consider one’s mistakes (literally: to dream of wolves)
e.g. “Je rêve aux loups” – I consider my mistakes
saigner: to bleed
fourcher la langue: to have a slip of the tongue (literally: fork tongue)
e.g. “Je fourche ma langue” – “I have a slip of the tongue.”
diluvien (fem: diluvienne): diluvial
Diluvial (adjective): of or relating to a flood or floods, particularly Biblical floods.
This is not a common word in English. Basically diluvial means “like a flood of Biblical proportions.” This adjective is typically used to describe the rain (les pluies diluvienne) but in the song it is used to describe the flood of affection (or love) that Alizée is receiving (les amours diluviennes).
collégienne (masc: collégien): schoolgirl, (masc: schoolboy)
bleus de méthylène: literally “methylene blue.” This is a bit confusing; usually the term “bleu de méthylène” is used only to describe the chemical compound (thank you Wikipedia), but in this song the lyric is “bleus de méthylène” in the plural. “Bleus” is a slang term for blue jeans, and “les bleus méthylène” are a type of very tight blue jeans. I’ve even seen them being described as more like leggings. So Alizée is talking about her tight blue jeans, not her love of chemistry.
motus: silent
A common expression is “motus et bouche cousue” which literally translates as “silent and mouth sewn” but essentially means “my lips are sealed.”
le coton: cotton
la laine: wool
“Mi-laine mi-coton” is apparently a nickname for Mylène Farmer, who wrote the song and who discovered and promoted Alizée. Mylène Farmer is a very successful singer herself, like the Madonna of the French world (in terms of popularity). I will probably translate one of her songs eventually. So “pas mi-coton mi-laine” probably means “I am not exactly like Mylène.”
coléreuse (masc. coléreux): quick-tempered
je donne ma langue au chat: I give up (typically on guessing). Literally translates as: “I give my tongue to the cat.” It is the sort of phrase that you use after a guessing game like this:
“Guess who I saw today?”
“Who? Bob?”
“No.”
“Fred?”
“No.”
“Alors je donne ma langue au chat.” (OK, I give up, tell me.)
In the context of the song “quand je donne ma langue aux chats” means “when I am ready to give up.”
Thank you for the information. I appreciate it. You have a very well-done site.
Thanks a lot you to all the help
I think you are wrong about the jeans in the translation.
She says ” collegienne aux bas bleus de methylene”, which means literally “college girl with blue stockings” – see, college is different in France and you could translate it as schoolgirl too, but the word “bleus” was related directly to the stockings of the school uniform – les bas – which is naturally a plural.
Good luck with the translations!
Great idea! Love seeing a creative mind work and gain success!!!!!! Hope it continues to grow!
Friendly reminder: The reason lolita was censored is because “lolita” is a code-word for underage child porn, that pedophiles across the internet use. Whether or not searching for it on google will get the FBI on your ass, nobody knows.
https://encyclopediadramatica.es/The_Great_ImageFap_Troll
In the chorus, methinks that when she says “Hello, Helli, t’es là”, the English equivalent would be “Hello, Helli, you’re there”. “T’es” being a contraction of tu es, or you are.
“Lo de vie” is also “L’eau de vie” as they’re homophones. That would also make sense with “Lo aux amours diluviennes.”
“Bleus” is plural because she’s talking about “bas bleus” which would be like leggings as someone else already pointed out.
Nice Song ..Nice voice ..Nice lyrics…of alizee mam….when i hear this song moi lolita i like to sing this song as it is but i cant … But trying…anyway thank you alizee mam..my God bless this mam and save her soul and her family souls amen
Thank you, for explaining this song … i just wonder why she wasnt brought to america , she should have been huge
Yes it’s hard to say why – she was a protégée of Mylene Farmer and she was underaged when this was released. Maybe her family wanted her to stay in France to finish school? It’s really hard for overseas artists (especially ones that have non-English hits) to make it in the US even now. But in the 90’s I imagine it was super hard. 🙂 Alizée was pretty big throughout the Franosphere though.
Surely the song was released in July of 2000, which would’ve made her 15 at the time?
Yes she might have been 15 – for some reason I thought she was 16 when it came out. Either way I personally think it’s borderline at best to have a teenager singing about being “Lolita.” But I have to admit the song is very catchy and it was a huge hit all over Europe in the late 90’s.
“Collégienne aux bas
Bleus de méthylène”
Any chance they could be talking about the typical blue of a school girl uniform?
That seems to fit more within the context.
Hello! I’m currently learning French and this is very helpful, as I remember this song from when I was younger. In the middle Europe too, this was such a hit. I know the videclip like I know my name😂 so I thought I should start learning with lyrics, that’s how I learned English anyway. So thank you so much for this, very helpful 🙂
The reference to the blue stockinged college girl MAY simply be a historical reference to the term used to dedcribe educated intellectual females? Or it could be darker knowing what we do about Lolita’s lifestyle.
As far as “hello helli” is concerned: this is wrong. She is actually spelling out her name in French (I’m surprised none if the language students picked this up lol (No pun intended))
Ell = L
Ohh = O
Ell = L
Ee = I
Tay = T
Ahh = A
Wow!!!
Good catch.
i remember when this song came out and I thought she was so beautiful but clearly she was sooo young. but yeh it’s super catchy but not that i know the lyrics. i decided to pick up french again recently and thought of this song and finally looked up the lyrics and meanings haha. I agreed with the above comment she’s just spelling out her name when she sings L.O.L.I.T.A.?
Yes Alizée was *super* young when this song was recorded (15) and was released (16 I believe). It’s actually really given me pause about having it on the site at all, but I hope I’m giving it some important context by showing how Alizée was essentially marketed as a product and that the song lyrics are kind of creepy. And yes I do think in that part she is spelling L.O.L.I.T.A. – I should probably update that bit. 🙂
This was played at the time in the Netherlands too.
While I was not much into music, it had a happy tune and I remember at the time trying to understand the lyrics, but I was not good in French.
I’m glad it is up on the site, there are a lot of lines that Google Translate would not explain.
I would have had no chance back then , even the few words I thought I understood I was off on.
Even now I have trouble understanding the combined meaning.
Like why does she have to bleed or laugh when she misspeaks?
A slip of the tongue is accidentally telling something. But in Dutch (and English?) speaking with a forked tongue (like a snake) is usually associated to lying. But neither really explains it.
I would argue that other then the association to the word Lolita, the lyrics are vague enough that the song is not that bad. It is knowing the age of the singer that makes it uncomfortable. Though your information suggests she may not have written it herself. (There was a picture of her in our highschool French book; she must have been around our age at the time but even at that age I thought she looked young! )
What makes it *really* creepy is the music video released along with it. It has her demanding money from a guy while rejecting his affections.
And then using that money to escape her mother and go dancing in the city.
It is unclear to me if her mother is chastising her behavior or domestically abusing her.
IBut the singer takes an even younger child (sister? daughter?) with her to the disco (brothel?) and leaves her alone on the dancefloor.
I hoped the lycics would clear this up, but it is if possible more confusing now
The best traduction by far!!