Learn French with a song. This clip from “40%” is 9 seconds long and has 29 words. Listen and transcribe what you can, improve your French listening skills
Learn French with a song snippet! This clip is from Aya Nakamura’s “40%”. We do not own the rights to this song, nor do we pretend to own them. Listen to this sample and transcribe what you hear. Find the full song here.
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 move further…
In researching this clip, I was attracted to this phrase. In some contexts it can mean “I walk away” and in other contexts it could mean “I digresss”. And in this context Aya translates it as “I move further”
Wild that these two expressions can be said the same way, when in my mind their meaning is different. The difference is the action involved. I’m used to the idea of getting off on a tangent and digressing is a more passive thing – at lesast in the English meaning – stray, wander, ramble – they are things that happen to someone. Walking away is active for the speaker. It’s late, and I may be overthinking this.
When we digress or stray off topic we want to get back on topic. In French, if digress and walk away are the same verb, does that conflate the “leaving” in this clip? Makes me wonder.
Also love the “j’ai eu ma dose” as I’ve had enough or my fill. “Dose” as in a dose of medicine.
Also, TIL ouais is how you spell “Yeah” that one hears everywhere in France. At least I did when I was last there in September of 2019.
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.
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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?
Toc toc toc, mais qui-va-là ?
J’ai eu ma dose, stop, qui va là ?
Tu t’approches, je m’éloigne (ouais, eh ouais)
Et maintenant tu veux deviner mes failles
Knock knock knock (knock), who’s there?
I’ve had enough, stop, who’s there?
You get closer, I move further (yeah, eh yeah) And now you want to guess my weaknesses
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 m’éloigne” mean?
“Je m’éloigne” is a French phrase that can be translated to “I am moving away” or “I am getting away” in English. Aya’s lyrics in English translate it as “I move further”.
It expresses the action of moving physically away from a place, person or thing. It can be used in different contexts, it can be used to express that someone is leaving a place, a job, a relationship, among others.
The verb “éloigner” means “to move away” or “to distance oneself” and the pronoun “je” means “I”, the combination of the two forms the phrase “je m’éloigne” meaning “I am moving away”
For example:
- “Je m’éloigne de cette ville, j’ai besoin de changement” which means “I’m moving away from this city, I need a change.”
- “Je m’éloigne de cette relation, elle ne me convient plus” which means “I’m getting away from this relationship, it no longer suits me.”
It expresses the action of moving physically away from a place, person or thing, it can also imply that someone is leaving a situation or a relationship behind.
What words did I look up in this snippet?
Find keywords for this snippet below
À vrai dire
tu vois bien
trop
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