Et si tu n’existais pas (Meaning: and if you didn’t exist) is a song by French-American singer, Joe Dassin (1938-1980). Released in 1976, the lyrics were written by Pierre Delanoë. Et si tu n’existais pas and Les Champs-Élysées are among Dassin’s greatest hits.
Song overview
The song, “Et si tu n’existais pas“ is a love song in which the singer is asking himself how his life would be if his lover didn’t exist. Each verse starts with “And if you didn’t exist”.
Then, the singer follows with various questions and scenarios illustrating how his life would be without his lover. For example, he describes trying to “invent” love by himself, sleeping with people he doesn’t love and a sentiment of feeling lost.
Et si tu n’existais pas French lyrics and English translation
Et si tu n’existais pas
Dis-moi pourquoi j’existerais
Pour traîner dans un monde sans toi
Sans espoir et sans regrets
And if you didn’t exist
Tell me why I’d exist
To hang around in a world without you
Without hope and without regrets
Et si tu n’existais pas
J’essaierais d’inventer l’amour
Comme un peintre qui voit sous ses doigts
Naître les couleurs du jour
Et qui n’en revient pas
And if you didn’t exist
I would try to invent love
Like a painter who sees under his fingers
Born the colors of day
And can’t believe it
Et si tu n’existais pas
Dis-moi pour qui j’existerais
Des passantes endormies dans mes bras
Que je n’aimerais jamais
And if you didn’t exist
Tell me for whom I’d exist
Passers-by sleeping in my arms
Who I’d never love
Et si tu n’existais pas
Je ne serais qu’un point de plus
Dans ce monde qui vient et qui va
Je me sentirais perdu
J’aurais besoin de toi
And if you didn’t exist
I’d just be one more point
In this world that comes and goes
I’d feel lost
I’d need you
Et si tu n’existais pas
Dis-moi comment j’existerais
Je pourrais faire semblant d’être moi
Mais je ne serais pas vrai
And if you didn’t exist
Tell me how I’d exist
I could pretend to be myself
But I wouldn’t be genuine
Et si tu n’existais pas
Je crois que je l’aurais trouvé
Le secret de la vie, le pourquoi
Simplement pour te créer
Et pour te regarder
(Et si tu n’existais pas)
And if you didn’t exist
I think I would have found it
Life’s secret, the reason
Simply to create you
And to look at you
(And if you didn’t exist)
Lyrics analysis
In the following section we go through the song line-by-line and highlight interesting points about French grammar and vocabulary.
Et si tu n’existais pas, Dis-moi pourquoi j’existerais
The song’s first two lines translate to “And if you didn’t exist, Tell me why I’d exist”. The first line and title is in the imperfect tense (mostly used for describing past events) and the second line is in the conditional tense (the “would” tense in French).
This is an example of a si-clause using the imperfect and conditional. These are clauses which are used to describe hypothetical situations: “Si + imperfect, then + conditional”. Hence: “Et si tu n’existais pas (imperfect), Dis-moi pourquoi j’existerais (conditional).
Pour traîner dans un monde sans toi, Sans espoir et sans regrets
These two lines of the first verse translate to “To hang around in a world without you, Without hope and without regrets”. The verb traîner has several translations including “to drag (an object) around”, “to hang around” or “to dawdle” and “to lag behind”. The preposition sans means “without”.
J’essaierais d’inventer l’amour
This line translates to “I would try to invent love”. The verb essayer is always followed by de + infinitive. For example, “J’essaie de chanter” (I try to sing).
Comme un peintre qui voit sous ses doigts
This line translates to “Like a painter who sees under his fingers”. Un peintre means “painter” and the verb peindre means “to paint”. For the word doigt (finger), the -gt are silent.
Et qui n’en revient pas
This line translates to “And can’t believe it”. The verb revenir means “to come back” or “to return”. However, the expression ne pas revenir de quelque chose means “to not be able to believe something”.
Des passantes endormies dans mes bras, Que je n’aimerais jamais
These two lines translate to “Passers-by sleeping in my arms, Who I’d never love”. In French the word passant translate to “passer-by”. The word que in these lines is a relative pronoun and means “that”, “which” or “who”. Aimerais means “would love” and is aimer in the conditional tense. Jamais means never, and is a more advanced French negation.
Je ne serais qu’un point de plus
This line translate to “I’d just be one more point”. Serais (would be) is the conditional form of the verb être (to be). The ne…que negation structure means “only” in French.
This line was difficult to translate. The essence of the line is that the singer is saying that if his lover didn’t exist, he’d seem insignificant in the world, like “one more number”.
Dans ce monde qui vient et qui va
This line translates to “In this world that comes and goes”. Va (go) and vient (comes) are the third-persona singular forms of aller (to go) and venir (to come). Qui is this line is a relative pronoun meaning “that”.
Je me sentirais perdu, J’aurais besoin de toi
These two lines translate to “I’d feel lost, I’d need you”. Sentir means “to smell” and “to feel”. As a reflexive verb, se sentir means to feel within oneself. J’aurais besoin means “I would need”. This is the verb avoir (to have) conjugated in the conditional tense. Avoir besoin de means “to need”.
Dis-moi comment j’existerais
This line translate to “Tell me how I’d exist”. The word comment means “how”.
Je pourrais faire semblant d’être moi
This line translate to “I could pretend to be myself”. Je pourrais means “I could”. This is the verb pouvoir (can, able to) conjugated in the conditional. The expression, faire semblant means to pretend.
Mais je ne serais pas vrai
This line translate to “I would not be genuine”. The adjective vrai translates to “true” as well as “genuine”, “real” and “authentic”.
Je crois que je l’aurais trouvé
This line translate to “I think I would have found it”. “Je l’aurais trouvé” is the past conditional of trouver (to find), meaning “would have found”.
Le secret de la vie, le pourquoi
This line translates to “Life’s secret, the reason”. Pourquoi means why in French but as a noun can mean the motive or reason.
Simplement pour te créer, Et pour te regarder
These two lines translate to “Simply to create you, And to look at you”. The “te” in these lines translates to “to you” or “at you”.
Discover more:
- Les Champs-Élysées (Joe Dassin)
- Ne me quitte pas (Jacques Brel)
- Le port d’Amsterdam (Jacques Brel)
- La mer (Charles Trenet)
- C’est si bon (Yves Montand)
- La Bohème (Charles Aznavour)
- Je t’aime…moi non plus (Serge Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin)
- La vie en rose (Édith Piaf)
- Non, je ne regrette rien (Édith Piaf)
- Hymne à l’amour (Édith Piaf)
French songs | Lessons by David Issokson
