English translations of Celine's French songs

January 20, 2009 at 12:57 PM

Ok, here's "Tout Pres Du Bonheur." I actually found this one kind of difficult, I don't know why. Maybe because I felt like the literal translations of some of the lines didn't make much sense? Anyway, feel free to correct me, people who are good at French!

And for whoever asked, it was originally a song in English that Celine wrote for Anne-Marie and sang at Anne-Marie and Marc's wedding. Marc then took the melody, re-wrote the lyrics (in French) and recorded it as a duet with Celine.

They would give it all

For their story to cross the night

For love to finally pass history

They love each other

But they ask themselves if that's enough

It's necessary to love so much, to hope so much

A life becomes itself of another life

It's a flower after the rain

A fire in the dark

Tonight

The world is so close to happiness

He holds in his heart

Two lovers with eyes full of hope

The world is so close to happiness

To the end of the night

There is life

That brings us a little closer to one another

I would do it all

For our story to escape the boredom

Beyond the walls of time that passes

I love you

And I never know if that's enough

I'm so afraid that one day love will tire

All my life

I have wanted to be in your life

And here in a cry

A child is born

They would give it all

For their story to cross the night

That at the end of rifles flowers grow

They love each other

Holding in their arms the love of their life

Asleep, so close to happiness.

January 20, 2009 at 01:33 PM

ahahaha!!!!!!!! This is hilarious!!!!!!!!
On the subject of translations, could someone translate Terre because I have fallen in love with that song.

This song is very poetic, it gets you thinking a lot! It reminds me of when I had to analyse poems for my degree!!!!

Terre (earth)

Earth,
I spent too much time on the road
Hoping for the faint
traces you scattered

Earth,
If you knew how much I missed you
Those days without compass,
I often prayed to him

Earth,
What do lovers do who meet again?
What should I wear tonight?
Some perfume, alcohol or blues?
Earth,
Soft words shaking and
nesting everywhere
Silences that tell so much,
eyelids against cheeks

No matter what the game
I get what I want
Haul up the blue flag
Because tonight I touched

Earth,
Sanctuary land, on your velvet skin
Slide the again and the always
Earth,
Promised land, birds remember
Of our bodies in flapping
flags loving each other
Earth,
Land of fire, without any emergency exit
And our red embers burn in their turn

Earth,
Forgotten the sea of taboo dreams
And the seconds pass by a
little faster every day
Earth,
Well anchored to the
ground of your charms
I left the stars to guide
my arms to your neck

And your accomplice eye
Has carved on my back
Never again, never afraid of anything
Because tonight I touched
Earth,
Sanctuary land, on your velvet skin
Curved like the end of the day
Earth,
Burned land to the language of desire
Dance from the sky
Caresses, sharing and sighs
Earth,
Foreign land, but so
close at the same time
It's here I want to die now

Earth,
Santuary land, love land
Earth,
Wild land, promised land
Earth, Earth, Earth
Tonight I touched Earth
Earth, promised land
Birds remember
Earth, Earth, Earth
Earth, Earth, Earth

Thank you for translating this. Yes, it does get you thinking a lot. It's such a beautiful song when it is translated in english. You have a degree in French language?

oo no not in French, I studied English literature. Im just trying to learn some French! It's beautiful!

January 20, 2009 at 09:43 PM

I love this thread!

Thanks everyone for the translations

January 23, 2009 at 11:56 AM

wow i can't believe i just found this topic today! it's awesome and it has helped me sooo much to understand all the french songs.. the lyrics are soooo beautiful. thanks to everyone who translated i have a request as well for a translation of the version of PQTME sung by Céline's family and friends i've always wanted to know what they're all saying maybe you guys could help and thanks a bunch!!!!!!

Do you have the original lyrics of this song and can you please post them or do you know where I can find them on the internet.

January 23, 2009 at 11:57 AM

Can someone please translate those songs from the D'elles album for me, because I like to know what the meaning is of them and with the internet translators I don't get the right meaning of them.

A Cause

Les Paradis

Si J'etais Quelqu'un

Le Temps Qui Compte

Thanks in advanced.

January 23, 2009 at 08:24 PM

You should be able to find the lyrics to pretty much any Celine song, just by Googling it

And "A Cause" has pretty much the same lyrics as "On S'est Aime A Cause."

I'll try to do more translations when I can.

January 23, 2009 at 09:16 PM

You should be able to find the lyrics to pretty much any Celine song, just by Googling it

And "A Cause" has pretty much the same lyrics as "On S'est Aime A Cause."

I'll try to do more translations when I can.

Ok, thank you.

I already did try that but some words are not transladed or

the sences make no sence. :hmm:

January 23, 2009 at 09:40 PM

Ok, here's "Tout Pres Du Bonheur." I actually found this one kind of difficult, I don't know why. Maybe because I felt like the literal translations of some of the lines didn't make much sense? Anyway, feel free to correct me, people who are good at French!

And for whoever asked, it was originally a song in English that Celine wrote for Anne-Marie and sang at Anne-Marie and Marc's wedding. Marc then took the melody, re-wrote the lyrics (in French) and recorded it as a duet with Celine.

They would give it all
For their story to cross the night
For love to finally pass history
They love each other
But they ask themselves if that's enough
It's necessary to love so much, to hope so much
A life becomes itself of another life
It's a flower after the rain
A fire in the dark

Tonight
The world is so close to happiness
He holds in his heart
Two lovers with eyes full of hope
The world is so close to happiness
To the end of the night
There is life
That brings us a little closer to one another

I would do it all
For our story to escape the boredom
Beyond the walls of time that passes
I love you
And I never know if that's enough
I'm so afraid that one day love will tire
All my life
I have wanted to be in your life
And here in a cry
A child is born

They would give it all
For their story to cross the night
That at the end of rifles flowers grow
They love each other
Holding in their arms the love of their life
Asleep, so close to happiness.

THANKS A BUNCH!!!!! :flowers:

January 23, 2009 at 11:56 PM

Here are some that I did a few months ago...I put them in my French book and forgot to post them. Hopefully they're ok, I'm not 100% sure on a few lines.

Mon Reve De Toujours.

On a beach

All in clouds

I ran, I ran,

And I heard a cry,

The wind, the sea and the storms,

All around me

Against the waves

Against my tears

I ran, I ran,

I knew that I would

Meet the magic thing

And you were there

It's my dream of forever

Even on my worst days

You are there, you are there

And I see the world shining

It's the dream that I have

Today more than ever

You are there, you are there

And my life changes with you.

In a city

Strange and empty

I'm alone, I'm alone

The shadows scare me

I will lose myself or drown

But you come and save me.

Apprends-Moi.

Teach me the little things

The colour of your door

The black of your coffee

Teach me where you rest

Your desires and your faults acknowledged

Teach me with your smile

Your manias, your causes, your phobias, your secrets

Teach me what you desire

In soft sentences and sweet kisses

And in my dreams

I have so often prayed

Where you want, where you can, where you will go, I will go

Read on my lips

Approach a little closer

Teach me about you, without ever forgetting

Teach me nothing but what counts

These crazy laughs that one dares

Since the world is deaf

Teach me that nothing else counts

But these faithful oaths of a day

Teach me the time of the delights

These wells of new drunkenness

The acts without remorse

Teach me the art of sacrifice

That one is more alive

When one dies of love

And in my dreams

I have so often prayed

Where you want, where you can, where you will go, I will go

Read on my lips

Approach a little closer

So that I find myself in you, until the last secret

Teach me your smiles, teach me your desires, teach me your phobias, teach me your manias, teach me your secrets.

January 24, 2009 at 02:51 AM

Retiens-Moi.

If you see me turn my head

Looking too much out the window

Hold me back

If you surprise me, the grey soul

Packing a single suitcase

Hold me back

Hold back my steps

Walk your siren of love

Open your nets of velvet

Hold me back, love me

To the hollow of your promises again

So close against your body

If you see weapons in my eyes

Pulling on the signal of tears

Hold me back

If I do too much, and too proud

If I take Summer over Winter

Hold me back

Prevent me

From preferring the night to the day

From saying "I love you" without "forever"

Hold me back

Take me

Without even calling for help

Hold me back, it's your turn

When all will be fragile

When I have the air of an easy prey

Please, hold me back

Give me

The peace of your wanderings

The heat of your luck and forgetting

In the hollow of your kidneys

Give me

This that I have lost a day

In these roads and these detours

Searching for the way

To your hands

Hold me back

I also have Sous Le Vent and Pour Que Tu M'Aimes Encore, but I think they're pretty easy to find translations for.

January 24, 2009 at 10:54 PM

ahahaha!!!!!!!! This is hilarious!!!!!!!!
On the subject of translations, could someone translate Terre because I have fallen in love with that song.

This song is very poetic, it gets you thinking a lot! It reminds me of when I had to analyse poems for my degree!!!!

Terre (earth)

Earth,
I spent too much time on the road
Hoping for the faint
traces you scattered

Earth,
If you knew how much I missed you
Those days without compass,
I often prayed to him

Earth,
What do lovers do who meet again?
What should I wear tonight?
Some perfume, alcohol or blues?
Earth,
Soft words shaking and
nesting everywhere
Silences that tell so much,
eyelids against cheeks

No matter what the game
I get what I want
Haul up the blue flag
Because tonight I touched

Earth,
Sanctuary land, on your velvet skin
Slide the again and the always
Earth,
Promised land, birds remember
Of our bodies in flapping
flags loving each other
Earth,
Land of fire, without any emergency exit
And our red embers burn in their turn

Earth,
Forgotten the sea of taboo dreams
And the seconds pass by a
little faster every day
Earth,
Well anchored to the
ground of your charms
I left the stars to guide
my arms to your neck

And your accomplice eye
Has carved on my back
Never again, never afraid of anything
Because tonight I touched
Earth,
Sanctuary land, on your velvet skin
Curved like the end of the day
Earth,
Burned land to the language of desire
Dance from the sky
Caresses, sharing and sighs
Earth,
Foreign land, but so
close at the same time
It's here I want to die now

Earth,
Santuary land, love land
Earth,
Wild land, promised land
Earth, Earth, Earth
Tonight I touched Earth
Earth, promised land
Birds remember
Earth, Earth, Earth
Earth, Earth, Earth

Thank you for translating this. Yes, it does get you thinking a lot. It's such a beautiful song when it is translated in english. You have a degree in French language?

oo no not in French, I studied English literature. Im just trying to learn some French! It's beautiful!

Oh..haha. Do you teach? That's my favorite subject in school is English. And French is a beautiful language....love

January 25, 2009 at 08:55 PM

'Les Paradis' from D'elles album.

Les Paradis

Under my eyes, silver sands

Lend me someone who resembles you so much

Like a trip one evening

The night of Lynch close in on me

The paradise is full of you

It's a voice that calls

It's a foreign body

A new world where I'm drowning

Read between lines, double and separate

The paradises are far from me

To leave is not to quit

The first love is the last

The paradises are not on Earth

I want to find the light

Believe what is, believe what is not

Those fragile days are infinite

Life has taught me everything

The paradises are not here

To leave is not to quit

The first love is the last

The paradises are not on Earth

I'm like a soldier who hopes

The paradises are not on Earth

I want to find the light

The thread of our eyes

This silence they heard two

It's all your strength that serves me

I roll towards Mulholland after the sea

The paradises are not on Earth

The paradises

The paradises are not on Earth

Some of this translation is the 'literal' translation (i.e. the French word in English) so make of it what you will

January 25, 2009 at 11:51 PM

This is my 4th favorite song on the album. Thank you for posting.

January 28, 2009 at 09:16 AM

'Les Paradis' from D'elles album.

Les Paradis

Under my eyes, silver sands
Lend me someone who resembles you so much
Like a trip one evening
The night of Lynch close in on me
The paradise is full of you
The paradise is full of you

It's a voice that calls
It's a foreign body
A new world where I'm drowning
Read between lines, double and separate
The paradises are far from me
The paradises are far from me

To leave is not to quit
The first love is the last
The paradises are not on Earth
I want to find the light

Believe what is, believe what is not
Those fragile days are infinite
Life has taught me everything
The paradises are not here
The paradises are not here

To leave is not to quit
The first love is the last
The paradises are not on Earth
I'm like a soldier who hopes
The paradises are not on Earth
I want to find the light

The thread of our eyes
This silence they heard two
It's all your strength that serves me
I roll towards Mulholland after the sea
The paradises are not on Earth

The paradises
The paradises are not on Earth
The paradises are not on Earth
The paradises are not on Earth
The paradises are not on Earth
The paradises are not on Earth
The paradises are not on Earth

Some of this translation is the 'literal' translation (i.e. the French word in English) so make of it what you will

Thank you so much :clap:

Can you try also please to translate those songs.

A Cause

Si J'etais Quelqu'un

Le Temps Qui Compte

February 8, 2009 at 10:44 AM

Rien N'est Vraiment Fini- Nothing Is Really Finished. (I think this is my new favourite.) :in_love: :heart: :heart:

The eternal promises

The days of great sun

The moments of gold and light

The silences of souls

The unsaid that ignites

The fire that comes from moonlight

So the water falls asleep in the eyes of Queens

As in river beds

As long as our hands remember

Nothing is really finished

Sometimes the large winds bring back

The sailor who is lost

As long as your voice follows mine

Nothing is really finished

Really

The fantasy perfumes

The nights of amber and honey

The sweet magic of the skin

To our way of life

To all this that binds us

To this past that keeps us warm

If the large winds bring you back

Nothing is really finished..

Edited February 8, 2009 at 10:54 AM by Jacqui

February 8, 2009 at 10:59 AM

Rien N'est Vraiment Fini- Nothing Is Really Finished. (I think this is my new favourite.) :in_love: :heart:

The eternal promises
The days of great sun
The moments of gold and light
The silences of souls
The unsaid that ignites
The fire that comes from moonlight

So the water falls asleep in the eyes of Queens
As in river beds
As long as our hands remember
Nothing is really finished
Sometimes the large winds bring back
The sailor who is lost
As long as your voice follows mine
Nothing is really finished
Really

The fantasy perfumes
The nights of amber and honey
The sweet magic of the skin
To our way of life
To all this that binds us
To this past that keeps us warm

If the large winds bring you back
Nothing is really finished..

ohhh thank you Jacqui! i love this one so much too. :wub:

February 8, 2009 at 12:33 PM

Wow this topic is awesome.. iv even started learning French so i could try understand her amazing french songs.. but this is a great help!! Also wish i had known about the celinedionwebcom site. Thank you to everyone who has translated songs on here - you all stars!!!

xxx

February 12, 2009 at 09:15 PM

Great topic! Thank you everyone for the translations! :flowers:

Does anyone have a translation for Si Dieu Existe? (I love this song! ^_^ )

February 13, 2009 at 02:25 PM

Can someone translate L'Abandon. When my daughter was about a year old she would hear the melody and raise her arms to be picked up and we would have to dance with her. I'm curious to know what we were dancing to. I speak only a little French so I don't catch the whole song.

Thanks.

February 13, 2009 at 09:01 PM

Thank you very much.I've always wanted to understand what Celine is singing about and now I'm able to-it's just great.I am really very thankful.Not too long ago I've started to learn french but it's not going so great:)and so fast.HUGE THANX!!!

February 13, 2009 at 10:45 PM

I love this thread! Thanks so much for taking the time to translate so many songs.

Has anyone the translation for "Papillion" from S'il Suffisait D'aimer :wub:

Thanks so much again

February 14, 2009 at 09:12 AM

This thread is really great! Thanks to everyone who has contributed with their translations! For us, who don't speak French, this is great help in understanding the magnificent songs and beautiful, poetic and profound lyrics. I wish some of her English songs were like that.

February 14, 2009 at 05:01 PM

Si J'étais Quelqu'un

If I was someone

My spirit would be king

Like the others

I would be watching a train passing by

If I was someone

I would leave far in life

If I was someone

I would laugh often

Like the others

I would think about you

If I was someone

Love would play me tricks

My look would be surprised

At your crazy happiness

The northern wind will blow through the trees and flowers

The angels will jump in madness

As if to catch hearts

Hanging on the ladder of infinity

Oh if I was someone

If I was someone

I would be on a cloud

Like the others

I would sleep like a wise one

If I was someone

Black or white

Like the others

I would be like you

I would rediscover the world

I would paint it my way

On my pages in dissorder

Like to draw a ball

That I will send you to the face

Oh If I was someone

If I was someone

I would love you passionately

Like the others

If I was someone

Like the others... someone

Like the others

Edited February 14, 2009 at 05:02 PM by CelineRules!

February 14, 2009 at 08:15 PM

J'attendais

And I listened a long time to the running water of the fountains

And I listened to the wind singing endlessly

Waves of tranquility and peace

As far as I can remember

Childhood is an immense ocean

And I dreamed for long years, long indolence

Where nothing happens, but where nothing is forgotten

I went serene and without knowing

The slightest fire of an absence

It wasn't untill I met you

That I knew, I understood

I was waiting, I was waiting

I was waiting for your look to finally explain

The why of these goodbyes

On this long road

I was waiting, I was waiting

The country of your body, the touching of your hands

My sweet compass, my north

The meaning of my tomorrows

And I approached the troubled shores of adolescence

The doubts, the games, the bad currents

I remember the strokes

Of music and words of France

Lovers in advance

There are plenty of lives that are nurished by studies or science

Destinies made for adventures, records or money

Lives of writing and travelling

Or dreams of power

I thought well about it from time to time

While listening to the wind

I was waiting, I was waiting

I was waiting for your look to finally explain

The why of these goodbyes

On this long road

I was waiting, I was waiting, I was waiting for your love

Your beautiful beautiful love

I was waiting to live at last

While giving in my turn

I was waiting

Edited February 14, 2009 at 08:16 PM by CelineRules!

February 14, 2009 at 08:34 PM

OMD thanks so much Sam for both of these translations! :flowers:

I LOVE both of these songs :throb:

February 14, 2009 at 08:59 PM

Le Temps Qui Compte

The hours of glory, punctuated by doubts

The price it costs for always wanting

The voice that shakes, that sparkles

The room filled with a love so big, so strong

That supports me, raises me, takes me

Whatever the note, singing..., is loving

The time that counts is always counted

Wether it's won, wether it's wasted

In flowing laughter, in tumbling life

The time that counts is always counted

It hammers us, urges the tempo

Time calls me, it will be ten years soon

It takes life, seizes it and leaves

The time that counts is always counted

And my love so cornered, put in danger

Through the years, too many years that have been stolen from me

How many moments, hours and days?

I've played cleverly with the words, my songs screamed your name

Verse of passion, to love you..., is to sing

It hammers us, presses the tempo

Time calls me, it will be ten years soon

It takes life, seizes it and leaves

The time that counts is always counted

And life glides over the water of time

Life resists, gains its momentum

For a kiss, it can put itself to rest

The time that counts is always counted

One kiss and life goes on

The time that counts doesn't wait for us

Even with you, even with passion

The time that counts only lasts for one song

February 15, 2009 at 07:08 AM

Can someone translate L'Abandon. When my daughter was about a year old she would hear the melody and raise her arms to be picked up and we would have to dance with her. I'm curious to know what we were dancing to. I speak only a little French so I don't catch the whole song.
Thanks.

Aww that's so cute! I really hope the translation doesn't ruin the moments with your daughter :huh: Some of the lyrics are...a little bit rude. :giggle:

The sun in Autumn, indulgent

The naked skins give themselves to the tepid wind

Over there the tempo appears

Beating to the lazy rhythm of time

The abandonment teaches everything

Caresses of waves and hot currents

The soft sand, beautiful and tender lover

Over there the infinite dances

We mix, and love likes the life

The abandonment, it's learned, the nature initiates here

We already know, these moments there

The sun has prepared that

The abandonment, so small

The islands initiate to love here

We already know, these rhythms there

The fires from below, this lustful state

The heat and the wind

Oh so gently

My island teaches me

The rum of the men softens the arms

The laugh of the women, the girls, the brilliance

The velvet nights down here

The same in Panama, same in Cuba

The love has hunger for you, and vice versa

Body to body, lover soldiers

The pleasure in the burning fights

Everything here, the water, the climate

All is desire we don't escape

The abandonment teaches everything

In the dances and the games of children

One step from you, one step from me

The pelvises stick and move very low

Teaches us everything, the abandonment

I go where you go and even beyond

All against you, the night without law

The moment that raises us and basta

The moment, this moment, nothing is more

Important than that

(Btw I think the word "basta" is a Spanish word that was thrown in there? I don't know what that means.)

And to add to our list, we now have...

Tout Pres Du Bonheur

Mon Reve De Toujours

Apprends-Moi

Retiens-Moi

Les Paradis

Rien N'est Vraiment Fini

Si J'étais Quelqu'un

J'attendais

Le Temps Qui Compte

L'abandon

Edited February 15, 2009 at 07:09 AM by Jacqui

February 15, 2009 at 02:56 PM

Thank you for the translation. Some of the lyrics spoiled it but still love the song. I'm Italian and

Basta is an Italian word that means Enough.

February 16, 2009 at 05:15 PM

Si J'étais Quelqu'un

If I was someone
My spirit would be king
Like the others
I would be watching a train passing by

If I was someone
I would leave far in life
I would leave far in life

If I was someone
I would laugh often
Like the others
I would think about you

If I was someone
Love would play me tricks
My look would be surprised
At your crazy happiness

The northern wind will blow through the trees and flowers
The angels will jump in madness
As if to catch hearts
Hanging on the ladder of infinity
Oh if I was someone
If I was someone

If I was someone
I would be on a cloud
Like the others
I would sleep like a wise one

If I was someone
Black or white
Like the others
I would be like you

I would rediscover the world
I would paint it my way
On my pages in dissorder
Like to draw a ball
That I will send you to the face
That I will send you to the face
Oh If I was someone

If I was someone
I would love you passionately
Like the others
If I was someone
Like the others... someone
Like the others

Le Temps Qui Compte

The hours of glory, punctuated by doubts
The price it costs for always wanting
The voice that shakes, that sparkles
The room filled with a love so big, so strong
That supports me, raises me, takes me
Whatever the note, singing..., is loving

The time that counts is always counted
Wether it's won, wether it's wasted
In flowing laughter, in tumbling life
The time that counts is always counted

It hammers us, urges the tempo
Time calls me, it will be ten years soon
It takes life, seizes it and leaves
The time that counts is always counted

And my love so cornered, put in danger
Through the years, too many years that have been stolen from me
How many moments, hours and days?
I've played cleverly with the words, my songs screamed your name
Verse of passion, to love you..., is to sing

It hammers us, presses the tempo
Time calls me, it will be ten years soon
It takes life, seizes it and leaves
The time that counts is always counted

And life glides over the water of time
Life resists, gains its momentum
For a kiss, it can put itself to rest
The time that counts is always counted

One kiss and life goes on
The time that counts doesn't wait for us

Even with you, even with passion
The time that counts only lasts for one song

Thank you for those translations I really love them, can you please also translate A Cause for me.

February 16, 2009 at 07:51 PM

Thank you for those translations I really love them, can you please also translate A Cause for me.

Glad you like them.. ^_^

As for "A Cause": the lyrics are identical to those of "On s'est aimé à cause" of which you can find the translation on the first page :thumbsup:

Edited February 16, 2009 at 07:53 PM by CelineRules!

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