Updated December 20, 2025 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who learn French online.
Lyrics provided for educational purposes to support French language learning. All rights belong to the original copyright holders.
“Love Story” is one of Indila’s most popular songs, released in 2014 on her album Mini World. In this lesson, you’ll explore the French lyrics with English translation, learn useful vocabulary and grammar in context, and improve your French naturally through this modern classic — with clear explanations to help everything click.
🎤 Love Story – Song synopsis
Indila’s Love Story tells the story of two lovers separated by time and circumstance, with the narrative unfolding through alternating perspectives of the man and the woman. The video opens with an elderly man placing a rose on his lost love’s grave, reflecting on their shared past.
Through flashbacks, we see a young couple dressed in World War II–era clothing saying a final goodbye at a port. The woman sings lines filled with regret, including Arrête, comme je regrette (Stop, how I regret), capturing the emotional weight of their separation.
🎶 Listen to Love Story by Indila
Indila Love Story French Lyrics & English Translation
L’âme en peine
Il vit mais parle à peine
Il attend devant cette photo d’antan
Il, il n’est pas fou
Il y croit c’est tout
Il la voit partout
Il l’attend debout
Une rose à la main
À part elle il n’attend rien
Lost soul
He lives but barely speaks
He waits in front of this picture from years ago
He’s not crazy
He believes in it, that’s all
He sees her everywhere
He waits for her standing
With a rose in his hand
Besides her, he’s not waiting for anything
Rien autour n’a de sens
Et l’air est lourd
Le regard absent
Il est seul et lui parle souvent
Il, il n’est pas fou
Il l’aime c’est tout
Il la voit partout
Il l’attend debout
Debout une rose à la main
Non, non plus rien ne le retient
Nothing around him makes any sense
The air is very heavy
An absent expression
He’s alone and speaks to her often
He’s not crazy
He loves her, that’s all
He sees her everywhere
He waits for her standing up
With a rose in his hand
No, nothing else is holding him back
Dans sa love story (3x)
Sa love story
In his love story
His love story
Prends ma main
Promets-moi que tout ira bien
Serre-moi fort
Près de toi, je rêve encore
Oui, oui je veux rester
Mais je ne sais plus aimer
J’ai été trop bête
Je t’en prie, arrête
Arrête, comme je regrette
Non, je ne voulais pas tout ça
Take my hand
Promise me everything will be okay
Hold me tight
Near you, I still dream
Yes, yes I want to stay
But I don’t know how to love anymore
I was too stupid
Please, stop
Stop, as I’m sorry
No, I didn’t want all that
Je serai riche
Et je t’offrirai tout mon or
Et si tu t’en fiches
Je t’attendrai sur le port
Et si tu m’ignores
Je t’offrirai mon dernier souffle de vie
I’ll be rich
And I’ll offer you all my gold
And if you don’t care
I’ll wait for you at the harbor
And if you ignore me
I’ll give you my last breath of life
Dans ma love story (3x)
Ma love story
In my love story
My love story
Une bougie
Peut illuminer la nuit
Un sourire
Peut bâtir tout un empire
Et il y a toi
Et il y a moi
Et personne n’y croit
Mais l’amour fait d’un fou un roi
Et si tu m’ignores
J’me battrai encore et encore
A candle
Can light up the night
A smile
Can build an empire
And there’s you
And there’s me
And nobody believes it
But love makes a crazy person into a king
And if you ignore me
I’ll fight again and again
C’est ta love story
C’est ta love story
C’est l’histoire d’une vie
Love story
It’s your love story
It’s your love story
It’s the story of your life
Love story
Des cris de joie
Quelques larmes on s’en va
On vit dans cette love story
Love story (9x)
Love story
Screams of joy
A few tears, let’s go
We live in this love story
Love story (9x)
Love story
Discover more Indila songs
Indila is known for her poetic lyrics, emotional intensity, and clear, expressive French, with songs that combine strong storytelling and universal themes. If you like Love Story, you’ll also like these songs:
👉 Dernière danse »
👉 Ainsi bas la vida »
👉 Tourner dans le vide »
✏️ Grammar and Vocabulary Notes
The following section highlights selected lyrics that reveal useful French vocabulary, expressions, and grammar structures from Love Story, with clear explanations to help you understand how they’re used.
🧩 Sentence Structures & Grammar
L’âme en peine
👉 “A soul in pain / a lost soul.”
- Âme means “soul.”
- Peine means sorrow, grief, or emotional pain.
- L’âme en peine describes someone heartbroken or emotionally distressed.
- This expression also appears in Tous les garçons et les filles by Françoise Hardy.
Il vit mais parle à peine
👉 “He lives but barely speaks.”
Il attend devant cette photo d’antan
👉 “He waits in front of this photo from long ago.”
- Attend comes from attendre (to wait, to expect).
- Devant means physically in front of.
- Antan is a literary word meaning long ago or of former times.
Il, il n’est pas fou
👉 “He’s not crazy.”
- Fou / folle means crazy.
- Est is the third-person singular form of être (to be).
Il y croit, c’est tout
👉 “He believes in it, that’s all.”
- Croit is the third-person singular of croire (to believe).
- Y is an indirect object pronoun meaning “it,” used with verbs followed by the preposition à.
- Here, y likely refers to his love or hope.
Il la voit partout
👉 “He sees her everywhere.”
- La is a direct object pronoun meaning “her.”
- Do not confuse it with the feminine article la (the).
Il l’attend debout
👉 “He waits for her standing.”
- L’ replaces la (her).
- Debout means standing or upright.
Une rose à la main
👉 “A rose in his hand.”
- French uses definite articles (la main) with body parts, not possessive adjectives.
À part elle, il n’attend rien
👉 “Besides her, he waits for nothing.”
- À part means except for or besides.
- Rien can mean nothing or anything depending on context.
- Ne + verb + rien forms a negation.
Rien autour n’a de sens
👉 “Nothing around him makes sense.”
- Rien can also be the subject of a sentence.
- Ne pas avoir de sens means to make no sense.
Et l’air est lourd
👉 “And the air is heavy.”
- Air can mean air or atmosphere.
- Lourd often describes emotional heaviness.
Le regard absent
👉 “An absent expression.”
- Regard means gaze, look, or expression.
- Refers to someone mentally elsewhere.
Non, non plus rien ne le retient
👉 “No, nothing else is holding him back.”
- Plus rien means nothing more or nothing else.
- Retenir means to hold back or restrain.
Promets-moi que tout ira bien
👉 “Promise me everything will be okay.”
- Tout ira bien literally means “everything will go well.”
- Uses the future tense of aller (to go).
- Aller is commonly used to describe how things are going (ça va).
Serre-moi fort
👉 “Hold me tight.”
- Serrer means to squeeze, grip, or hold tightly.
Oui, oui je veux rester
👉 “Yes, yes, I want to stay.”
Mais je ne sais plus aimer
👉 “But I don’t know how to love anymore.”
- Ne + verb + plus means no longer or anymore.
J’ai été trop bête
👉 “I was too stupid.”
- J’ai été is the passé composé of être (to be).
- Bête means silly or stupid.
Je t’en prie, arrête
👉 “Please, stop.”
- Je t’en prie literally means “I beg you.”
- Common way to say please.
Non, je ne voulais pas tout ça
👉 “No, I didn’t want all that.”
- Voulais is the imperfect tense of vouloir.
Je serai riche / Et je t’offrirai tout mon or
👉 “I’ll be rich / And I’ll give you all my gold.”
- Both verbs are in the future tense.
- Offrir means to offer or give as a gift.
Et si tu t’en fiches
👉 “And if you don’t care.”
- S’en ficher de means to not care about.
Une bougie peut illuminer la nuit
👉 “A candle can light up the night.”
- Peut is the third-person singular of pouvoir (can, to be able).
Un sourire peut bâtir tout un empire
👉 “A smile can build an entire empire.”
- Sourire is both a noun (smile) and a verb (to smile).
Et il y a toi / Et il y a moi
👉 “And there’s you / And there’s me.”
- Il y a means there is / there are / ago.
- Toi and moi are stressed pronouns.
Et personne n’y croit
👉 “And nobody believes it.”
- Personne means nobody or anyone depending on context.
J’me battrai encore et encore
👉 “I’ll fight again and again.”
- Se battre is a reflexive verb meaning to fight.
- J’me is a spoken contraction of je me.
Des cris de joie
👉 “Cries of joy.”
- Cri means cry or scream.
- Related to the verb crier (to scream).
Quelques larmes, on s’en va
👉 “A few tears, let’s go.”
- S’en aller means to leave, go, or head off.
🔤 Verb Forms & Tenses
- Present tense: vit, parle, attend, voit, croit
- Passé composé: ai été
- Imperfect: voulais
- Future tense: serai, offrirai, ira, battrai
- Imperative: promets, serre, arrête
- Key infinitives: vivre, parler, attendre, croire, voir, rester, aimer, offrir, se battre, s’en aller
💬 Idioms & Natural Expressions
- l’âme en peine — a heartbroken soul
- à peine — barely, hardly
- à part — except for, besides
- tout ira bien — everything will be okay
- s’en ficher de — not to care about
- ne plus + verb — no longer / anymore
- encore et encore — again and again
🧠 Grammar Highlights to Notice
- Direct object pronouns: la, l’
- Indirect object pronoun: y
- Use of definite articles with body parts
- Future tense for promises and emotional projection
- Spoken contractions (j’me) common in song lyrics
- Negation with rien, personne, plus
📘 Vocabulary
- l’âme — soul
- la peine — sorrow, pain
- fou / folle — crazy
- debout — standing
- la rose — rose
- le sens — meaning
- l’air — air, atmosphere
- le regard — gaze, expression
- retenir — to hold back
- serrer — to squeeze, hold tightly
- bête — silly, stupid
- l’or — gold
- la bougie — candle
- le sourire — smile
- l’empire — empire
- les cris — cries, screams
- la joie — joy
- les larmes — tears
❓ Want to feel more confident in French?
🎯 À Moi Paris — This is my top recommendation for online French courses, and it pairs wonderfully with my website’s lessons. Camille Chevalier teaches with engaging audio stories that she records at three speeds. Her specialty is helping students with pronunciation and bridging the gap between textbook French and real spoken French as you hear it on the streets of Paris.
👉 Explore À Moi Paris »
👉 Read my review »
🎧 French Verb Drills — Having trouble with French verb conjugations? Camille’s audio drills break everything down step by step so you can finally lock in the patterns and speak with confidence.
If you purchase the courses, I may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you.
Become an expert in French song lyrics!
Using song lyrics is one of the most effective ways to learn French. In addition to “Love Story”, we’ve also covered Indila’s hit songs “Ainsi bas la vida“, “Tourner dans le vide“, “S.O.S“, “Dernière danse“, “Caroussel“.
Stromae is a leading French-speaking Belgian singer. We’ve covered Stromae’s hit songs “Alors on danse“, “Papaoutai” and “Formidable“.
Edith Piaf is undoubtedly France’s most famous singer of all time. We’ve covered the following Edith Piaf songs: “La vie en rose“, “Non, je ne regrette rien“, “Sous le ciel de Paris“, “Milord” and “Mon Dieu“.
Looking for some more classic options? Consider “Ne me quitte pas” by Jacques Brel or “C’est si bon” by Yves Montand!
Want some more modern options? Check out “La symphonie des éclairs” by Zaho de Sagazan and “Mon amour – France’s 2024 Eurovision entry” by Slimane.
🎶 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.
🚀 Continue learning French online on FrenchLearner!
👉 French Word of the Day »
👉 French Vocabulary lists »
👉 French for beginners guide »
👉 French conjugations hub »
Love Story by Indila — Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is “Love Story” by Indila about?
“Love Story” tells the story of two lovers separated by time and circumstance. The song explores love, regret, and hope through alternating perspectives.
Is “Love Story” by Indila good for learning French?
Yes. The lyrics use clear, emotional French with common verb tenses and everyday expressions, making the song useful for A2–B1 level French learners.
Does this lesson include English translation and explanations?
Yes. This lesson includes selected French lyrics with English translation, along with vocabulary and grammar notes written by David Issokson, French teacher and founder of FrenchLearner.com, to help you understand the language in context.
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.
