« 40% », Quiz 12: je le mène à bout

The above audio sample and transcription is from Aya Nakamura’s “40%”. Songwriters: Aya Danioko 40% lyrics © Warner Chappell Music France, Soc Sony ATV Allegro Music Publishing France, Blue Sky Publishing, Perspective Productions, Label 67, Universal Music Publishing Group. We do not own the content, we are using it for educational purposes. Listen to the entire song here.

I’m driving him crazy

Again, the chorus sounds familiar, I’ve heard something like that before…

I find this line very interesting.

For one, she uses the word “wAllah”, from Arabic – My God – which is often translated as ‘I swear’. In her English, she translates that as “yeah”. Although other bits of Arabic slang & expressions are used in this song (eg timiniks), this one she seems to use as just a “yeah” or a filler word, rather than the heavier “I swear” that it means in its original language.

It’s interesting that I write a paragraph above about that word, though the title is something else. I can just hear “wAllah” but then totally lose the “j’le mène à bout” she says immediately after.

I struggle with “je le mène à bout” as her translation doesn’t fit with how that phrase seems to show up in written French. I wonder if it means something more along the lines of ‘I’m leading him on’, which would fit with how she translates it ‘I’m driving him crazy’ and a more direct translation.

This song drive me crazy in the best way possible, and I love how phrases can be said so quickly and roll off her tongue in a way that French, as it’s learned for me, just doesn’t. It’s interesting to learn through this slang and song.

I obviously don’t want to sound like Aya, but it’s fun to try to piece together what she’s saying, and then struggle through what she means.

How much of this snippet are you understanding?
What’s your favorite part about this?

I struggle with hearing individual words in English songs, in my native tongue. It takes a couple listens to really get it..

The snippet in English

Find a translation of this snippet here, how much of this did you hear?

The above text from Aya Nakamura’s Youtube channel. Source. Songwriters: Aya Danioko 40% lyrics © Warner Chappell Music France, Soc Sony ATV Allegro Music Publishing France, Blue Sky Publishing, Perspective Productions, Label 67, Universal Music Publishing Group

What does “je le mène à bout” mean?

While Aya’s music video translates this as “I’m driving him mad”, many online translations differ. “Je le mène à bout” is a French phrase that can be translated to “I lead it to the end” or “I take it to the finish line” in English.

It is an idiomatic expression that is used to indicate that someone is going to see a task, a project, a goal or an idea through to the end, to completion. The verb “mener” means “to lead” or “to guide” and “à bout” means “to the end” or “to the finish line”. Together, the phrase “je le mène à bout” implies that the speaker is going to see through a task, a project, a goal or an idea to the end, to completion.

For example:

• “Je vais mener ce projet à bout” which means “I’m going to take this project to the finish line.”
• “Je vais mener cette idée à bout” which means “I’m going to see this idea through to the end”

It is used to indicate that someone is going to see a task, a project, a goal or an idea through to the end, to completion, it means that the person is determined and persistent to finish what they’ve started.

What words did you look up in this snippet?

This is the chorus, I looked up these words before in this post:

“doux” is an adjective in French, meaning “soft” or “gentle”

“wAllah” is an Arabic word, it’s a shortened version of “wallahou a’lam” which means “by Allah” or “I swear by Allah” it’s an expression of emphasis or certainty.

What did you love about this?

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