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Là-bas lyrics – Jean Jacques Goldman And Sirima

Là-bas lyrics – Jean Jacques Goldman And Sirima

Là-bas (meaning over there) is a hit song from 1987 by Jean Jacques Goldman and Sirima. The song is a duet with a couple confronting each other about the idea and dream of immigrating to another country for a better life.

Là-bas (over there) lyrics by Jean-Jacques Goldman and Sirima.

Là-bas lyrics – Jean Jacques Goldman And Sirima

La-bas French lyrics and English translation

(Goldman)
Là-bas
Tout est neuf et tout est sauvage
Libre continent, sans grillage
Ici, nos rêves sont étroits
Oh-oh, c’est pour ça que j’irai là-bas

Over there
Everything is new and wild
Free continent, without fences
Here our dreams are limited
Oh, that’s why I’m going over there

Là-bas
Faut du cœur et faut du courage
Mais tout est possible, à mon âge, hmm
Si tu as la force et la foi, oh-oh
L’or est à portée de tes doigts
C’est pour ça que j’irai là-bas

Over there
You need heart and courage
But everything is possible at my age
If you have strength and faith
You can hold gold in your fingers
That’s why I’m going over there

(Simira)
N’y va pas
Y a des tempêtes et des naufrages
Le feu, les diables et les mirages
Je te sais si fragile parfois
Reste au creux de moi

Don’t go
There are storms and disasters
Fire, demons and delusions
You know I’m sometimes so fragile
Stay with me

(Goldman and Simira)
On a tant d’amour à faire
Tant de bonheur à venir
Je te veux mari et père
Et toi, tu rêves de partir
Ici, tout est joué d’avance
Et l’on n’y peut rien changer
Tout dépend de ta naissance
Et moi, je ne suis pas bien né

We have so much love to make
So much happiness is to come
I want you as husband and father
And you dream of leaving
Here everything predetermined
There’s nothing we can do now
Everything depends on your birth
And I wasn’t born well

(Simira)
Là-bas
Loin de nos vies, de nos villages
J’oublierai ta voix, ton visage
J’ai beau te serrer dans mes bras
Tu m’échappes déjà, là-bas

Over there
Far from our lives, from our towns
I’ll forget your voice, your face
I may well hold you in my arms
You’re already getting away from me, over there

(Goldman and Simira)
J’aurai ma chance, j’aurai mes droits (N’y va pas)
Et la fierté qu’ici je n’ai pas (Là-bas)
Tout ce que tu mérites est à toi (N’y va pas)
Ici, les autres imposent leur loi (Là-bas)
Je te perdrai peut-être là-bas (N’y va pas)
Je me perds si je reste là (Là-bas)
La vie ne m’a pas laissé le choix (N’y va pas)
Toi et moi, ce sera là-bas ou pas (Là-bas)
Tout est neuf et tout est sauvage (N’y va pas)
Libre continent sans grillage (Là-bas)
Beau comme on n’imagine pas (N’y va pas)
Ici, même nos rêves sont étroits (Là-bas)
C’est pour ça que j’irai là-bas (N’y va pas)
On ne m’a pas laissé le choix (Là-bas)
Je me perds si je reste là (N’y va pas)
C’est pour ça que j’irai là-bas (N’y va pas)

I’ll have my opportunties, I’ll have my rights (Don’t go)
And the dignity that I don’t have here (Over there)
Everything you deserve belongs to you (Don’t go)
I may lose you over there (Over there)
Life didn’t leave me the choice (Don’t go)
You and me, it will be over there or not (Over there)
Everything is new and wild (Don’t go)
Free continent without fences (Over there)
Beautiful like you can’t imagine (Don’t go)
Here are dreams are limited (Over there)
That’s why I’m going over there (Don’t go)
I wasn’t given any other choice (Over there)
I’ll lose myself if I stay here (Don’t go)
That’s why I’ll go over there. (Don’t go)

Lyrics vocabulary and grammar

In this section we highlight and explain vocabulary and grammar of interest.

Là-bas

The song title, là-bas means “over there”. means “there” in French.

Tout est neuf et tout est sauvage

This line translates to “Everything is new and wild”. The adjective neuf/neuve translates to “new” as in brand new. Hence, une voiture toute neuve (a brand new car).

Libre continent, sans grillage

This line translates to “Free continent, without fences”. The masculine noun grillage can translate to fence, wire mesh and chicken wire.

Ici, nos rêves sont étroits

This line translates to “Here our dreams are limited”. As a noun, étroit means narrow and close (emotionally).

Oh-oh, c’est pour ça que j’irai là-bas

This line translates to “Oh, that’s why I’m going over there”. J’irai is the verb aller (to go) in the futur simple tense.

Faut du cœur et faut du courage

This line translates to “You need heart and courage”. Faut is a shortening of il faut, which translates to “it’s necessary” but also can mean “you need”. Courage can translate to courage and bravery.

Si tu as la force et la foi, oh-oh

This line translates to “Si you have strength and faith”. Force can translate to strength, force and power.

L’or est à portée de tes doigts

This line translates literally to “Gold is to be carried of your fingers”. The verb porter means to carry and to wear.

N’y va pas

This line is repeated many times in the song and means “Don’t go”. This is the imperative mood of aller (to go). The indirect object pronoun y means “there”.

Y a des tempêtes et des naufrages

This line translates to “There are storms and disasters”. Y a is a shortening of il y a, which means there is, there are and ago. Naufrage means both disaster and catastrophe.

Je te sais si fragile parfois

This line translates to “You know I’m sometimes so fragile”. The adverb parfois means sometimes, occasionally and from time to time.

Reste au creux de moi

This line translates to “Stay with me”. Creux can translate to hollow or depression and a quiet moment.

On a tant d’amour à faire

This line translates to “We have so much love to make”. The object pronoun on means “we”. Tant de + noun means “so much”.

Ici, tout est joué d’avance

This line translates to “Here everything predetermined”. The verb jouer means “to play”. Hence, jouer d’avance (played out in advance).

Et l’on n’y peut rien changer

This line translates to “There’s nothing we can do now”. The negation ne + verb + rien means nothing or anything.

Et moi, je ne suis pas bien né

This line translates literally to “And I wasn’t born well” and suggests “I was not born to favorable circumstances”.

J’ai beau te serrer dans mes bras

This line translates to “I may well hold you in my arms”. The expression avoir beau means “may well”.

Tu m’échappes déjà, là-bas

This line translates to “You’re already getting away from me, over there”. The reflexive verb s’échapper means to escape or slip away.

J’aurai ma chance, j’aurai mes droits

This line translates to “I’ll have my opportunties, I’ll have my rights”. J’aurai is the verb avoir (to have) in the futur simple tense. Chance means both luck and opportunity.

Tout ce que tu mérites est à toi

This line translates to “Everything you deserve belongs to you”. Ce que is an indefinite relative pronoun meaning “what”.

Je te perdrai peut-être là-bas

This line translates to “I may lose you over there”. Perdrai is the futur simple tense of perdre (to lose). Peut-être can translate to may, maybe and perhaps.

Je me perds si je reste là

In this line, perdre becomes reflexive, se perdre. Hence, to lose oneself.

More French hit songs from the 1980s

Reference

Là-bas (Wikipedia page)

French song lyrics | Lessons by David Issokson

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David Issokson
David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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