Papaoutai was a huge international hit for Stromae, the popular singer from Belgium who sings in French. Although this hit song is very catchy, it has a *very* deep message about loss and fatherhood. French lyrics and English translation after the jump.
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| French | English |
|---|---|
| [Couplet 1] | [Verse 1] |
| Dites-moi d'où il vient | Tell me where he's from |
| Enfin je saurai où je vais | Finally I'll know where I'm going |
| Maman dit que lorsqu'on cherche bien | Mom says that when we really look |
| On finit toujours par trouver | We always end up finding it |
| Elle dit qu'il n'est jamais très loin | She says that he's never very far away |
| Qu'il part très souvent travailler | That he often leaves for work |
| Maman dit "travailler c'est bien" | Mom says "to work is good" |
| Bien mieux qu'être mal accompagné | Better than being in bad company |
| Pas vrai ? | Isn't that right? |
| [Pont] | [Bridge] |
| Où est ton papa ? | Where is your Dad? |
| Dis-moi où est ton papa ? | Tell me where is your Dad? |
| Sans même devoir lui parler | Without even talking to him |
| Il sait ce qui ne va pas | He knows what's wrong |
| Ah sacré papa | Oh what a Dad |
| Dis-moi où es-tu caché ? | Tell me, where are you hiding? |
| Ça doit, faire au moins mille fois que j'ai | It must be at least a thousand times that I |
| Compté mes doigts | Counted on my fingers |
| [Refrain] | [Chorus] |
| Où t'es, papaoutai? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es, où t'es où, papaoutai ? | Where are you, where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es, où t'es où, papaoutai ? | Where are you, where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| [Couplet 2] | [Verse 2] |
| Quoi, qu'on y croit ou pas | Whether we believe or not |
| Y aura bien un jour où on n'y croira plus | There will surely be a day when we no longer believe |
| Un jour ou l'autre on sera tous papa | One day or another we will all be a Dad |
| Et d'un jour à l'autre on aura disparu | And from one day to the next we will have disappeared |
| Serons-nous détestables ? | Will we be detestable? |
| Serons-nous admirables ? | Will we be admirable? |
| Des géniteurs ou des génies ? | Breeders or geniuses? |
| Dites-nous qui donne naissance aux irresponsables ? | Tell us who gives birth to the irresponsible? |
| Ah dites-nous qui, tiens | Ah tell us who, come on |
| Tout le monde sait comment on fait les bébés | Everyone knows how babies are made |
| Mais personne sait comment on fait des papas | But no one knows how to make Dads |
| Monsieur Je-sais-tout en aurait hérité, c'est ça | Mr. Know-it-all would have inherited it, that's it |
| Faut l'sucer d'son pouce ou quoi ? | Should it be sucked out of the thumb or what? |
| Dites-nous où c'est caché, ça doit | Tell us where it's hidden, it must |
| Faire au moins mille fois qu'on a, bouffé nos doigts | Be a thousand times that we've eaten our fingers |
| [Refrain ] | [Chorus] |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es, où t'es où, papaoutai ? | Where are you, where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es ? | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es, où t'es où, papaoutai ? | Where are you, where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| [Pont] | [Bridge] |
| Où est ton papa ? | Where is your Dad? |
| Dis-moi où est ton papa ? | Tell me where is your Dad? |
| Sans même devoir lui parler | Without even talking to him |
| Il sait ce qui ne va pas | He knows what's wrong |
| Ah sacré papa | Oh what a Dad |
| Dis-moi où es-tu caché ? | Tell me, where are you hiding? |
| Ça doit, faire au moins mille fois que j'ai | It must be at least a thousand times that I |
| Compté mes doigts | Counted on my fingers |
| [Refrain] | [Chorus] |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es, où t'es où, papaoutai ? | Where are you, where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es, papaoutai ? | Where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es, où t'es où, papaoutai ? | Where are you, where are you, Dad where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
| Où t'es | Where are you? |
Translation of Papaoutai by Stromae – Vocabulary Breakdown and Explanation
After the vocabulary breakdown and explanation below I’ve shared a *great* video of Stromae performing Papaoutai live!
Verse 1
In this verse Stromae tells the story of a young boy whose father is absent from his family. The boy wonders where his father is and tries to find him. This is likely autobiographical; Stromae’s father was Rwandan and his mother is Belgian. Stromae’s father was often working in Rwanda during his childhood while he remained home in Belgium with his mother. Stromae’s father was later tragically killed in the Rwandan genocide.
While we shouldn’t assume this song is 100% autobiographical, the speaker in the song explores themes that clearly Stromae has had to grapple with in his own life.
In the first verse the speaker sounds quite naive, childlike and bewildered (especially compared to the second verse). He is trying to figure out where his dad is and has been asking his mother, but he appears to be questioning her explanation for his father’s absence.
The vocabulary in this verse is actually quite basic (unsurprising as it seems to be in the voice of a child). There is some interesting phrasing and some common French sayings used in this verse. Let’s break it down!
Maman dit que lorsqu’on cherche bien / On finit toujours par trouver
This is a play on something that parents often tell their children: “cherche bien tu vas trouver,” which translates too “look hard, you’ll find it.” You can imagine parents saying this to children who come to them complaining about not being to find their toy, book, etc even though they haven’t looked that hard and the frustrated parent telling them to “look properly and you’ll find it!”
In this line the speaker takes on the voice of his mother speaking to her son – he has likely been told “cherche bien tu vas trouver” many times, and now he is applying the saying to his search for his absent father.
/ Elle dit qu’il n’est jamais très loin / Maman dit “travailler c’est bien” / Bien mieux qu’être mal accompagné / Pas vrai ?
Here the speaker repeats his mother’s explanation for his father’s absence. She is saying “he’s never very far” and “it’s good to work!” “Bien mieux qu’étre mal accompagné” is a play on a French expression.
The full expression (which is not in the song but is well known in French) is: Mieux vaut être seul que mal accompagné.
Vaut is from valloir but “il vaut mieux” means more like “it’s better to…” in the sense of giving advice or making a recommendation. This expression means “it’s better to be alone than in bad company” (as in: accompanied by someone you don’t like or who isn’t a good companion). This is often used when someone breaks up or is single as a comforting statement. Like “better to be alone than in a bad relationship.”
So the line in the song “mieux qu’étre mal accompagné” – is using the latter half of the expression to say “it’s better than your father works than be in bad company.” While the mother is the one saying “it’s good to work,” the son is thinking “better than being in bad company.” It’s not 100% clear who the “bad company” is here. It sounds like boy is wondering if he and his mom are “bad company” and is feeling bad or resenting his father for preferring to work. Especially as he follows it up with “isn’t that right?” which can be interpreted here as a bit of a sarcastic or angry question.
Sacré Papa: What a dad!
This was surprisingly difficult to translate!
So the best translation I believe is “what a dad!” I was going to translated it as “good old Dad” or “dear old dad” but those weren’t quite right because they are uniformly positive.
The saying “sacré” means more like “what a…” as in “what a guy” which could be positive or negative depending on the tone and the context. If someone is complaining about their boyfriend’s bad behaviour, you can say “what a guy” sarcastically to show your disapproval.
Because when we first hear the speaker say “sacré papa” he’s saying it after having said “without even asking, he knows what is wrong.” So it seems like he is saying “sacré papa” (what a Dad!) in a positive way, as a complement. But we know from the first verse that the speaker’s father is never around. So when he says “without even asking, he knows what’s wrong” it sounds like he is fantasizing about the role his father would play in his life, rather than commenting on the role that he plays in reality. This makes the “sacré papa” a lot more ambiguous, especially as he follows it up by asking his father where he is hiding.
I believe the choice of an ambiguous phrase (one that could be used as a complement/positive or an insult/negative) was deliberate. The whole song is about the speaker grappling with his father’s absence from his life. But the sad subject matter is juxtaposed by a jaunty piano line and upbeat dance beat.
Ça doit, faire au moins mille fois que j’ai / Compté mes doigts
Literally “it must be at least a thousand times that I’ve counted on my fingers.”
This is another example of Stromae using childish expressions – this one refers of course to playing hide and seek and the habit that young children have of counting on their fingers. He can’t find his dad even after counting a thousand times… it’s like hide and seek but you never find the person you’re looking for.
Verse 2
The second verse contrasts the first, as it seems to be in the voice of a grown man. Presumably the speaker who is a young boy in the first verse is now all grown up, and yet still asking the same question “where are you dad?”
The tone is noticeably angrier. The vocabulary is more “grown up” compared to the first verse. The speaker is asking rapid fire questions in a way that demands answers. Let’s look at each group of questions.
Quoi, qu’on y croit ou pas /Y aura bien un jour où on n’y croira plus
Whether we believe or not / There will surely be a day when we no longer believe
Un jour ou l’autre on sera tous papa / Et d’un jour à l’autre on aura disparu
One day or another we will all be Dad / And from one day to the next we will all disappear
He’s essentially saying that everyone will be a Dad someday, and anyone could disappear overnight.
In these two lines the speaker sounds like he is throwing up his hands after years of trying to figure out where his Dad is and what he means to him, he is giving up by saying “we’re all going to be Dads and any one of us could disappear overnight.” He sounds like a man who has given up trying to understand why his father disappeared from his own life, and his reflection on his own father has turned to a reflection on fatherhood in general.
Serons-nous détestables ? / Serons-nous admirables ? / Des géniteurs ou des génies ? / Dites-nous qui donne naissance aux irresponsables ?
Will we be detestable? Will we be admirable? Breeders or geniuses? Tell us who gives birth to the irresponsible?
Here the speaker is asking the world (and himself) what kind of people they will be – and seemingly what kind of father? Will they be terrible or admirable? Implicitly he seems to ask, will they be good fathers or bad fathers? Will they be “breeders” or geniuses? The word “breeder” was likely chosen because of its similarity to the word for “genius” in French. Then he asks “who gives birth to these irresponsible people” – the implication being “who is having these children who go on to abandon their own children?”
Ah dites-nous qui, tiens / Tout le monde sait comment on fait les bébés / Mais personne sait comment on fait des papas
Ah tell us who, come on / Everyone knows how babies are made / But no one knows how to make Dads
In this section the speaker becomes noticeably angrier. He sounds like he is demanding answers, and this section is much more of a critique of the state of fatherhood in society than an actual inquiry.
The speaker is reflecting on how common it is for men to have children without knowing how to be a father.
Monsieur Je-sais-tout en aurait hérité, c’est ça / Faut l’sucer d’son pouce ou quoi ?/ Dites-nous où c’est caché, ça doit / Faire au moins mille fois qu’on a, bouffé nos doigts
Mr. Know-it-all would have inherited it, that’s it / Should it be sucked out of the thumb or what?
Tell us where it’s hidden, it must / Be a thousand times that we’ve eaten our fingers
Sucer: to suck
Bouffer: to eat (slang term – a bit impolite)
The speaker is angrily demanding answers (from whom we’re not sure – the universe?) and is obviously upset.
Here the speaker is essentially saying that if these guys (Mr. Know It All) were so smart they would have inherited the knowledge of how to be a father. Or if the knowledge isn’t inherited maybe it should be “sucked out of the thumb” – a funny way of saying we should somehow acquire the knowledge in early childhood. He says “We must have eaten our fingers a thousand times,” which harkens back to the bridge where he says “I must have counted on my fingers a thousand times.” This shows an increased desperation (eating one’s fingers is weird!) and also an evolution from naive child playing hide and seek to an angry young man who is desperately looking for answers.
The speaker then launches into the chorus, the bridge, and the chorus a final time – always asking the same question “Dad, where are you?”
Stromae performing Papaoutai live
See if you notice the change in body language and tone between the first and second verses. This is a fantastic video.
—
Although this song is a great song to dance to, I personally find it very sad. I cried a lot during this translation, even though I am lucky to have a wonderful and very present father! It’s such a sad reflection on a man whose father was absent from much of his childhood. And knowing that Stromae’s father was absent, and then tragically killed in the Rwandan genocide makes this song that much sadder.
Did you like this translation? Have questions? Please leave a comment below!