Published May 24, 2026 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online. Lyrics provided for educational purposes to support French language learning. All rights belong to the original copyright holders.
La foule (1957) by Édith Piaf is a dramatic French song about a chance encounter in a crowded city that turns into a brief moment of happiness before being suddenly taken away. While the melody is lively and energetic, the lyrics tell a much sadder story of love, loss, and separation.
The lyrics contain more advanced vocabulary than many classic French songs, with poetic imagery and vivid action verbs such as éclater, rebondir, s’élancer, and s’envoler. This makes the song especially helpful for upper-intermediate B2) French learners who want to build vocabulary through expressive, descriptive French.
🎙️ Listen to the song
📘 Meaning in French
✏️ Lyrics and notes
🎙️ Listen to “La Foule”
Listen to La Foule and see how much of the French lyrics you can understand before reading the translation and notes below.
📘 La Foule meaning
La foule translates to “the crowd”. In the song, the crowd acts almost like a symbol of fate, sweeping the singer into the arms of a stranger before cruelly pulling him away forever.
Beyond the literal story, the song can be read as a metaphor for life itself: people are unexpectedly placed in our path, sometimes creating intense moments of connection, only to disappear just as suddenly. This contrast between the song’s energetic rhythm and its tragic theme reflects one of Édith Piaf’s most recurring themes — love that is found briefly, deeply felt, and painfully lost.
✏️ La Foule lyrics and grammar notes
In this section I explain the French vocabulary, expressions, and grammar structures from La Foule to help you better understand the song’s lyrics.
🎵 Song Title
La foule → literal translation: The crowd
- La foule means “the crowd”
- It refers to a large moving mass of people
- The title presents the crowd as an active force controlling the lovers’ fate
- It introduces the song’s themes of chance encounter, passion, and sudden loss
🧩 Sentence Structures & Grammar
Je revois la ville en fête et en délire
👉 “I see again the city in celebration and frenzy”
- Je revois = revoir (to see again) in the present tense
- En fête means “celebrating” or “festive”
- En délire means “in a frenzy” or “wild with excitement”
Suffoquant sous le soleil et sous la joie
👉 “Suffocating under the sun and under joy”
- Suffoquant is the present participle of suffoquer (to suffocate, feel overwhelmed)
- Sous means “under”
Et j’entends dans la musique les cris, les rires
👉 “And I hear in the music the cries, the laughter”
- J’entends = entendre (to hear) in the present tense
- Les cris means “the cries”
- Les rires means “the laughter”
Qui éclatent et rebondissent autour de moi
👉 “Which burst and echo around me”
- Qui = relative pronoun meaning “which” or “that”
- Éclatent = éclater (to burst, explode) in the present tense
- Rebondissent = rebondir (to bounce back, echo) in the present tense
Et perdue parmi ces gens qui me bousculent
👉 “And lost among these people who jostle me”
- Perdue is the feminine past participle of perdre (to lose), used adjectivally
- It agrees with the female speaker
- Bousculent = bousculer (to push, jostle) in the present tense
Étourdie, désemparée, je reste là
👉 “Dazed, helpless, I remain there”
- Étourdie means “dazed” or “stunned”
- Désemparée means “helpless” or “disoriented”
- Je reste = rester (to remain, stay) in the present tense
Quand soudain, je me retourne, il se recule
👉 “When suddenly, I turn around, he steps back”
- Je me retourne = se retourner (to turn around) in the present tense
- Se recule = se reculer (to move back, step backward) in the present tense
- Soudain means “suddenly”
Et la foule vient me jeter entre ses bras
👉 “And the crowd comes to throw me into its arms”
- Vient = venir (to come) in the present tense
- Jeter means “to throw”
Emportés par la foule qui nous traîne
👉 “Carried away by the crowd that drags us”
- Emportés is the past participle of emporter (to carry away, sweep away)
- It agrees with the plural subject
- Traîne = traîner (to drag, pull along) in the present tense
Nous entraîne, écrasés l’un contre l’autre
👉 “Pulls us along, crushed against one another”
- Entraîne = entraîner (to carry along, sweep away) in the present tense
- Écrasés is the past participle of écraser (to crush)
- L’un contre l’autre means “against one another”
Nous ne formons qu’un seul corps
👉 “We form only one single body”
- Formons = former (to form) in the present tense
- Ne… que means “only”
Et le flot sans effort nous pousse, enchaînés l’un et l’autre
👉 “And the flow effortlessly pushes us, chained to one another”
- Pousse = pousser (to push) in the present tense
- Enchaînés is the past participle of enchaîner (to chain, bind)
- Sans effort means “without effort”
Et nous laisse tous deux épanouis, enivrés et heureux
👉 “And leaves us both fulfilled, intoxicated, and happy”
- Laisse = laisser (to leave, let) in the present tense
- Épanouis is the past participle of épanouir (to blossom, flourish), used adjectivally
- Enivrés is the past participle of enivrer (to intoxicate)
Entraînés par la foule qui s’élance
👉 “Swept away by the crowd rushing forward”
- Entraînés is the past participle of entraîner (to carry along)
- S’élance = s’élancer (to rush forward, spring ahead) in the present tense
Et qui danse une folle farandole
👉 “And which dances a wild farandole”
- Danse = danser (to dance) in the present tense
- Farandole is a traditional Provençal chain dance
Nos deux mains restent soudées
👉 “Our two hands remain joined”
- Restent = rester (to remain) in the present tense
- Soudées is the feminine plural past participle of souder (to join, fuse together)
Et parfois soulevés, nos deux corps enlacés s’envolent
👉 “And sometimes lifted, our two entwined bodies fly away”
- Parfois = somtimes
- Soulevés is the past participle of soulever (to lift)
- Enlacés is the past participle of enlacer (to embrace, entwine)
- S’envolent = s’envoler (to take flight) in the present tense
Et retombent tous deux épanouis, enivrés et heureux
👉 “And fall back down, both fulfilled, intoxicated, and happy”
- Retombent = retomber (to fall again, fall back down) in the present tense
- Repetition reinforces the wave-like motion of the crowd
- Heureux = happy
Et la joie éclaboussée par son sourire
👉 “And the joy splashed by his smile”
- Éclaboussée is the feminine past participle of éclabousser (to splash)
- Used metaphorically for joy spreading suddenly
Me transperce et rejaillit au fond de moi
👉 “Pierces me and springs back deep inside me”
- Transperce = transpercer (to pierce through) in the present tense
- Rejaillit = rejaillir (to spring back, surge up again) in the present tense
- Au fond de moi means “deep inside me”
Mais soudain je pousse un cri parmi les rires
👉 “But suddenly I let out a cry among the laughter”
- Mais = but
- Pousse = pousser (to let out, emit) in the expression pousser un cri
- This expression means “to let out a cry”
Quand la foule vient l’arracher d’entre mes bras
👉 “When the crowd comes to tear him from my arms”
- Arracher means “to tear away”
- D’entre mes bras means “from between my arms”
Nous entraîne, nous éloigne l’un de l’autre
👉 “Pulls us along, moves us away from each other”
- Éloigne = éloigner (to move away, separate) in the present tense
- Contrasts with earlier closeness
Je lutte et je me débats
👉 “I struggle and fight”
- Lutte = lutter (to struggle) in the present tense
- Me débats = se débattre (to struggle violently, fight against) in the present tense
Mais le son de ma voix s’étouffe dans les rires des autres
👉 “But the sound of my voice is smothered in the others’ laughter”
- S’étouffe = s’étouffer (to become muffled, be smothered) in the present tense
- Creates the image of her voice being swallowed by the crowd
Et je crie de douleur, de fureur et de rage et je pleure
👉 “And I cry out in pain, fury, and rage, and I weep”
- Crie = crier (to cry out) in the present tense
- Pleure = pleurer (to cry, weep) in the present tense
- Emotional accumulation intensifies the climax
Et traînée par la foule qui s’élance
👉 “And dragged by the crowd rushing forward”
- Traînée is the feminine past participle of traîner (to drag)
- It agrees with the female speaker
- S’élance = s’élancer (to rush forward)
Je suis emportée au loin
👉 “I am carried far away”
- Emportée is the feminine past participle of emporter (to carry away)
- Au loin means “far away”
Et je crispe mes poings, maudissant la foule qui me vole
👉 “And I clench my fists, cursing the crowd that steals from me”
- Crispe = crisper (to clench, tighten) in the present tense
- Maudissant is the present participle of maudire (to curse)
- Vole = voler (to steal) in the present tense
L’homme qu’elle m’avait donné et que je n’ai jamais retrouvé
👉 “The man she had given me and whom I never found again”
- M’avait donné is the pluperfect of donner (to give)
- N’ai jamais retrouvé is the passé composé of retrouver (to find again)
- See: jamais (never)
- The pluperfect contrasts with the completed loss expressed in the passé composé
🔤 Verb Forms & Tenses
- Present tense: revois, entends, reste, lutte, pleure
- Pluperfect: m’avait donné
- Passé composé: n’ai jamais retrouvé
- Present participles: suffoquant, maudissant
- Reflexive verbs: se retourner, s’élancer, s’étouffer
- Key infinitives: emporter, entraîner, arracher, retrouver
💬 Idioms & Natural Expressions
- l’un contre l’autre → against one another
- au fond de moi → deep inside me
- pousser un cri → to let out a cry
- se débattre → to struggle violently
- au loin → far away
- d’entre mes bras → from between my arms
📘 Vocabulary
- la foule — crowd
- la ville — city
- la joie — joy
- le soleil — sun
- le cri — cry
- le rire — laughter
- le bras — arm
- le flot — flow
- la farandole — chain dance
- la douleur — pain
- la fureur — fury
- la rage — rage
- le poing — fist
- le sourire — smile
- l’homme — man
🎶 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.
🎵 More Édith Paif songs you’ll love
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👉 Padam, padam »
👉 Mon Dieu »
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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.
