Published November 28, 2022 · Updated April 29, 2026 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson. Pronunciation audio recorded by Marie Assel Cambier, a professional voice artist and native French speaker. Lyrics provided for educational purposes to support French language learning. All rights belong to the original copyright holders.
“Comme d’habitude” is the original French song that later became Frank Sinatra’s signature hit “My Way.” Released in 1967 by Claude François, with music by Jacques Revaux and lyrics by François, the title means “as usual.” The lyrics tell the story of a couple stuck in the routine of daily life after their love has quietly faded.
In this lesson, you’ll explore the lyrics line by line with clear explanations and native pronunciation audio to help you understand and practice real French.
🎙️ Listen to the song
📘 Meaning in French
🎧 Pronunciation guide
🔊 Practice with audio
🎵 Lyrics with English
✏️ Grammar notes
🎙️ Listen to “Comme d’habitude” by Claude François
Listen to the song — how many words can you catch before checking the translation?
📘 Comme d’habitude meaning
Comme d’habitude literally means “as usual” or “like usual.” In French, the expression is used to describe something done in the normal, expected way, with no change. In the song, comme d’habitude becomes a symbol of routine, emotional distance, and a relationship that continues only by habit. The word comme means “like” or “as,” and d’habitude means “usually” or “habitually.”
🎧 Comme d’habitude pronunciation in French
The pronunciation of comme d’habitude is /kɔm da.bi.tyd/ (IPA), which sounds roughly like “kohm dah-bee-tood”.
🔊 Practice pronunciation from the song
The recordings below feature key lines from the song recorded by a native French speaker for clear, natural pronunciation. Listen and repeat each line to improve your accent and rhythm.
Je me lève, je te bouscule, comme d’habitude
I get up, and I give you a push, as usual
Et puis je m’habille très vite, sans bruit je quitte la maison
Then I get dressed very quickly, Without (making any) noise I leave the house
Toute la journée, Je vais jouer à faire semblant, comme d’habitude
All day long, I’m going to make believe, as usual
Comme d’habitude, on s’embrassera, on fera semblant
As usual, we will kiss, we’ll pretend
🎵 Comme d’habitude – Lyrics with English Translation
Je me lève
Et je te bouscule
Tu ne te réveilles pas
Comme d’habitude
Sur toi je remonte le drap
J’ai peur que tu aies froid
Comme d’habitude
Ma main caresse tes cheveux
Presque malgré moi
Comme d’habitude
Mais toi tu me tournes le dos
Comme d’habitude
I get up
And I give you a push
You don’t wake up
As usual
I put the sheet back over you
I’m afraid you’re cold
As usual
My hand caresses your hair
Almost despite myself
As usual
But you turn your back on me
As usual
Et puis je m’habille très vite
Je sors de la chambre
Comme d’habitude
Tout seul je bois mon café
Je suis en retard
Comme d’habitude
Sans bruit je quitte la maison
Tout est gris dehors
Comme d’habitude
J’ai froid, je relève mon col
Comme d’habitude
Then I get dressed very quickly
I leave the bedroom
As usual
All alone I drink my coffee
I’m late
As usual
Without (making any) noise I leave the house
Everything is gray outside
I’m cold, I pull up my collar
As usual
Comme d’habitude
Toute la journée
Je vais jouer à faire semblant
Comme d’habitude
Je vais sourire
Comme d’habitude
Je vais même rire
Comme d’habitude
Enfin je vais vivre
Comme d’habitude
As usual
All day long
I’m going to make believe
As usual
I’m going to smile
As usual
I’m even going to laugh
As usual
At least I’m going to live
As usual
Et puis le jour s’en ira
Moi je reviendrai
Comme d’habitude
Toi tu seras sortie
Et pas encore rentrée
Comme d’habitude
Tout seul j’irai me coucher
Dans ce grand lit froid
Comme d’habitude
Mes larmes je les cacherai
Comme d’habitude
Then the day will go
I’ll come home
As usual
You’ll be gone
And not come home yet
As usual
All alone I’ll go to bed
In this big cold bed
As usual
I will hide my tears
As usual
Mais comme d’habitude
Même la nuit
Je vais jouer à faire semblant
Comme d’habitude
Tu rentreras
Oui, comme d’habitude
Je t’attendrai
Comme d’habitude
Tu me souriras
Oui, comme d’habitude
But as usual
Even at night
I’m going to make believe
You’ll come home
Yes, as usual
I’ll wait for you
As usual
You’ll smile at me
Yes, as usual
Comme d’habitude
Tu te déshabilleras
Comme d’habitude
Tu te coucheras
Comme d’habitude
On s’embrassera
Comme d’habitude
As usual
You will get undressed
As usual
You will go to bed
As usual
We will kiss
As usual
Comme d’habitude
On fera semblant
Oui, comme d’habitude
On fera l’amour
Oui, comme d’habitude
On fera semblant
Comme d’habitude
Comme d’habitude
On fera semblant
Oui, comme d’habitude…
As usual
We’ll pretend
Yes, as usual
We will make love
Yes, as usual
We will pretend
As usual
As usual
We will pretend
Yes, as usual…
✏️ Grammar and Vocabulary Notes
The following section highlights selected lyrics from Comme d’habitude with clear explanations of useful French vocabulary, expressions, and grammar structures to help you understand how the song works line by line.
🎵 Song Title
Comme d’habitude → literal translation: As usual.
- comme means “as” or “like”
- d’habitude means “usually,” “habitually,” or “as usual”
- See: avoir l’habitude (to be used to)
- The title suggests routine, repetition, and emotional distance
- In the song, it reflects a couple living the same empty day again and again
🧩 Sentence Structures & Grammar
Je me lève, et je te bouscule
👉 “I get up, and I jostle you.”
- se lever is a reflexive verb meaning “to get up”
- te means “you”
Sur toi je remonte le drap
👉 “I pull the sheet back over you.”
- remonter here means “to pull up”
- Inversion of normal word order for poetic style
J’ai peur que tu aies froid
👉 “I’m afraid you’re cold.”
- avoir peur means to be afraid
- tu aies is subjunctive of avoir
- avoir froid literally means “to have cold”
Ma main caresse tes cheveux
👉 “My hand strokes your hair.”
- cheveux (hair) is normally plural in French
Presque malgré moi
👉 “Almost despite myself.”
Mais toi tu me tournes le dos
👉 “But you turn your back on me.”
- tourner le dos à quelqu’un means “to turn one’s back on someone”
Et puis je m’habille très vite
👉 “Then I get dressed very quickly.”
- et puis = and then
- s’habiller is reflexive: to get dressed
- très vite means “very quickly”
Je sors de la chambre
👉 “I leave the bedroom.”
- sortir de means “to leave / go out of”
Tout seul je bois mon café
👉 “All alone I drink my coffee.”
- tout seul means “all alone”
- café means coffee
Sans bruit je quitte la maison
👉 “Without making noise, I leave the house.”
- sans bruit means “quietly / without noise”
- sans = without
- bruit = noise
Tout est gris dehors
👉 “Everything is gray outside.”
- tout means “everything”
- dehors means “outside”
J’ai froid, je relève mon col
👉 “I’m cold, I lift my collar.”
- relever means “to raise / pull up”
Toute la journée
👉 “All day long.”
- journée emphasizes the span of the day
Je vais jouer à faire semblant
👉 “I’m going to pretend.”
- aller + infinitive forms the near future
- faire semblant means “to pretend”
Je vais sourire, je vais même rire
👉 “I’m going to smile, I’m even going to laugh.”
Enfin je vais vivre
👉 “At last I’m going to live.”
- enfin means “finally / at last”
Et puis le jour s’en ira
👉 “Then the day will go away.”
- s’en aller means “to leave / go away”
- Future tense of aller: ira (will go)
Moi je reviendrai, toi tu seras sortie
👉 “I will come back, you will have gone out.”
- reviendrai is future of revenir
- seras sortie is future perfect using être
- moi and toi are stressed pronouns used to create emphasis
Et pas encore rentrée
👉 “And not back yet.”
- pas encore means “not yet”
Tout seul j’irai me coucher
👉 “All alone I’ll go to bed.”
- se coucher means “to go to bed”
Dans ce grand lit froid
👉 “In this big cold bed.”
- Adjective placement: grand before noun, froid after noun
Mes larmes je les cacherai
👉 “My tears, I will hide them.”
- les replaces mes larmes; les is a direct object pronoun
Même la nuit
👉 “Even at night.”
- même means “even”
Tu rentreras, je t’attendrai, tu me souriras
👉 “You will come home, I will wait for you, you will smile at me.”
- Three verbs in the simple future tense
Tu te déshabilleras, tu te coucheras, on s’embrassera
👉 “You will get undressed, you will go to bed, we will kiss.”
- Reflexive future forms
- Pronoun on often means “we”
On fera semblant, on fera l’amour
👉 “We will pretend, we will make love.”
- faire semblant = to pretend
- faire l’amour = to make love
🔤 Verb Forms & Tenses
- Present tense: lève, bouscule, caresse, bois, sors
- Near future: je vais jouer, je vais sourire
- Futur simple: reviendrai, rentreras, attendrai, souriras
- Future perfect: seras sortie
- Subjunctive: tu aies
💬 Expressions & Idioms
- comme d’habitude → as usual
- avoir peur → to be afraid
- avoir froid → to be cold
- faire semblant → to pretend
- tourner le dos → to turn one’s back
- faire l’amour → to make love
- pas encore → not yet
📘 Vocabulary
- le drap — sheet
- les cheveux — hair
- le dos — back
- la chambre — bedroom
- la maison — house
- le col — collar
- la journée — daytime / whole day
- le jour — day
- le lit — bed
- les larmes — tears
- la nuit — night
🎶 Take your learning to the next level!
FrenchLearner offers one of the largest collections of French song lessons online. Visit the French song lyrics hub to explore classics from the 1950s to the 2000s.
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About this lesson: I create these song-based lessons to help French learners improve vocabulary, grammar, and cultural understanding in a fun, engaging way. Song lyrics are provided for educational purposes under fair use. All rights to the original works belong to their respective copyright holders.
