Published May 7, 2025 — 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.
“Hier encore” is a classic French chanson performed by Charles Aznavour and released in 1964. The title means “just yesterday” or “only yesterday,” and the song reflects on youth, life’s regrets, and the passing of time. Through emotional lyrics, Aznavour looks nostalgically back on his younger years and realizes how quickly life has gone by — a feeling many listeners can relate to in their own way.
In this lesson, you’ll explore the lyrics line by line with clear explanations to help you understand and practice real French.
🎙️ Listen to the song
📘 Meaning in French
✏️ Lyrics and notes
🎙️ Listen to “Hier encore” by Charles Aznavour
Try listening to the song first and see how much French you can understand before reading the translation.
📘 Hier encore meaning
“Hier encore” means “just yesterday” or “only yesterday.” In the song, the expression symbolizes how recent youth still feels in the singer’s mind, even though many years have passed. The title captures the song’s nostalgic and bittersweet reflection on lost time, missed opportunities, and aging.
✏️ Hier encore lyrics translation and grammar notes
The following section highlights selected lyrics that reveal useful French vocabulary, expressions, and grammar structures from Hier encore, with clear explanations to help you understand how they’re used.
🎼 Song Title
Hier encore → literal translation: Just yesterday / Only yesterday.
- Hier means “yesterday.”
- Encore can mean “still,” “again,” or “just” depending on context.
- Together, hier encore expresses something that feels emotionally recent even if time has passed.
- The title introduces the song’s nostalgic reflection on youth and aging.
🧩 Sentence Structures & Grammar
Hier encore, j’avais vingt ans
👉 “Just yesterday, I was twenty years old”
- J’avais = avoir (to have) in the imperfect tense
- The imperfect tense describes past states or ongoing situations
- Vingt ans literally means “twenty years” (See: French numbers)
Je caressais le temps, et jouais de la vie
👉 “I was stroking time, and playing with life”
- Caressais = caresser (to caress, stroke) in the imperfect tense
- Jouais = jouer (to play) in the imperfect tense
- Poetic imagery describing carefree youth
Comme on joue de l’amour, et je vivais la nuit
👉 “Like one plays with love, and I lived through the night”
- Joue = jouer (to play) in the present tense
- Vivais = vivre (to live) in the imperfect tense
- On refers to people in general
- Vivre la nuit suggests a nightlife lifestyle
Sans compter sur mes jours, qui fuyaient dans le temps
👉 “Without counting the days that were slipping away in time”
- Compter = “to count”
- Fuyaient = fuir (to flee, escape) in the imperfect tense
- Sans + infinitive means “without doing something”
- The relative pronoun qui refers to mes jours
J’ai fait tant de projets, qui sont restés en l’air
👉 “I made so many plans that remained unfinished”
- J’ai fait = faire (to do, make) in the passé composé
- Sont restés = rester (to remain) in the passé composé
- Tant de means “so many”
- Rester en l’air literally means “to stay in the air”
J’ai fondé tant d’espoirs, qui se sont envolés
👉 “I built so many hopes that flew away”
- J’ai fondé = fonder (to establish, build) in the passé composé
- Se sont envolés = s’envoler (to fly away) in the passé composé
- Poetic expression for lost dreams
Que je reste perdu, ne sachant où aller
👉 “That I remain lost, not knowing where to go”
- Reste = rester (to remain) in the present tense
- Sachant = savoir (to know) in the present participle
- Aller = “to go”
- Où aller means “where to go”
Les yeux cherchant le ciel, mais le cœur mis en terre
👉 “Eyes searching the sky, but the heart buried in the ground”
- Cherchant = chercher (to search) in the present participle
- Mis = mettre (to put) in the past participle
- Poetic contrast between hope and despair
Hier encore, j’avais vingt ans
👉 “Just yesterday, I was twenty years old”
- Repetition reinforces the nostalgic theme
- Common poetic repetition device in French songs
Je gaspillais le temps, en croyant l’arrêter
👉 “I was wasting time, believing I could stop it”
- Gaspillais = gaspiller (to waste) in the imperfect tense
- Croyant = croire (to believe) in the present participle
- Arrêter = “to stop”
- En + present participle (gerund) expresses simultaneous action
Et pour le retenir, même le devancer
👉 “And to hold onto it, even outrun it”
- Retenir = “to hold back”
- Devancer = “to get ahead of”
Je n’ai fait que courir, et me suis essoufflé
👉 “I did nothing but run, and became out of breath”
- N’ai fait = faire (to do) in the passé composé
- Courir = “to run”
- Me suis essoufflé = s’essouffler (to become out of breath) in the passé composé
- Ne… que means “only”
Ignorant le passé, conjuguant au futur
👉 “Ignoring the past, conjugating in the future”
- Ignorant = ignorer (to ignore) in the present participle
- Conjuguant = conjuguer (to conjugate) in the present participle
- Conjuguer au futur literally refers to using the future tense
- Metaphor for always thinking ahead
Je précédais de moi toute conversation
👉 “I inserted myself ahead of every conversation”
- Précédais = précéder (to precede) in the imperfect tense
- Expression suggests arrogance or self-centeredness
Et donnais mon avis, que je voulais le bon
👉 “And gave my opinion, which I believed was the right one”
- Donnais = donner (to give) in the imperfect tense
- Voulais = vouloir (to want) in the imperfect tense
- Le bon means “the right one”
Pour critiquer le monde, avec désinvolture
👉 “To criticize the world with casual arrogance”
- Critiquer = “to criticize”
- La désinvolture means carelessness or nonchalance
Hier encore, j’avais vingt ans
👉 “Just yesterday, I was twenty years old”
- The repeated refrain emphasizes passing time
- Creates emotional continuity throughout the song
Mais j’ai perdu mon temps à faire des folies
👉 “But I wasted my time doing foolish things”
- J’ai perdu = perdre (to lose, waste) in the passé composé
- Faire = “to do, make”
- Des folies means foolish acts or madness
- Perdre son temps à + infinitive means “to waste time doing”
Qui ne me laissent au fond rien de vraiment précis
👉 “Which leave me deep down with nothing truly concrete”
- Laissent = laisser (to leave) in the present tense
- Au fond means “deep down”
- Vraiment means “really, truly”
Que quelques rides au front, et la peur de l’ennui
👉 “Only a few wrinkles on my forehead, and the fear of boredom”
- Quelques means “a few”
- L’ennui means boredom
Car mes amours sont mortes, avant que d’exister
👉 “Because my loves died before existing”
- Car = because, for or as
- Sont mortes = mourir (to die) in the passé composé
- Exister = “to exist”
- Avant que de is a literary structure
Mes amis sont partis, et ne reviendront pas
👉 “My friends have left and will not return”
- Sont partis = partir (to leave) in the passé composé
- Reviendront = revenir (to return) in the future tense
- Ne… pas negation structure
Par ma faute j’ai fait le vide autour de moi
👉 “Through my fault, I created emptiness around me”
- J’ai fait = faire (to do, make) in the passé composé
- Faire le vide autour de soi means pushing others away
- Par ma faute means “because of my fault”
Et j’ai gâché ma vie, et mes jeunes années
👉 “And I ruined my life and my younger years”
- J’ai gâché = gâcher (to ruin, waste) in the passé composé
- Vie (f.) = life
Du meilleur et du pire, en jetant le meilleur
👉 “From the best and the worst, while throwing away the best”
- Jetant = jeter (to throw) in the present participle
- Meilleur = Means better and best depending on context
- Contrastive poetic structure
J’ai figé mes sourires, et j’ai glacé mes pleurs
👉 “I froze my smiles and turned my tears cold”
- J’ai figé = figer (to freeze) in the passé composé
- J’ai glacé = glacer (to freeze, chill) in the passé composé
Où sont-ils à présent…
👉 “Where are they now…”
- Sont = être (to be) in the present tense
- À présent means “now” or “at present”
À présent mes vingt ans ?
👉 “Now where are my twenty years?”
- Final emotional rhetorical question
- Reflects regret over lost youth
🔤 Verb Forms & Tenses
- Imperfect tense: avais, caressais, jouais, vivais, gaspillais, donnais
- Passé composé: j’ai fait, j’ai perdu, j’ai gâché
- Reflexive passé composé: se sont envolés, me suis essoufflé
- Future tense: reviendront
- Present participles: ignorant, conjuguant, cherchant, sachant
- Key infinitives: caresser, jouer, vivre, retenir, devancer, critiquer, exister
💬 Idioms & Natural Expressions
- rester en l’air → to remain unfinished
- faire le vide autour de soi → to drive people away
- perdre son temps → to waste one’s time
- avoir peur de l’ennui → to fear boredom
- vivre la nuit → to live for nightlife
- au fond → deep down
- à présent → now, at present
🧠 Grammar Highlights to Notice
- Frequent use of the imperfect tense for nostalgia
- Contrasting passé composé for completed regrets
- Present participles create poetic flow
- Literary inversion and poetic phrasing throughout
- Strong metaphorical imagery involving time
- Repetition of time-related vocabulary (temps, hier, présent, futur)
- Emotional contrast between youth and regret
📘 Vocabulary
- le temps — time
- la vie — life
- l’amour — love
- le projet — project, plan
- l’espoir — hope
- le ciel — sky
- le cœur — heart
- le passé — past
- le futur — future
- la conversation — conversation
- l’avis — opinion
- la désinvolture — nonchalance
- la folie — foolishness
- la ride — wrinkle
- le front — forehead
- l’ennui — boredom
- le sourire — smile
- le pleur — tear
- la jeunesse — youth
🎶 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.
