“Milord“ (Meaning: my lord; pronunciation mee-lor) is a hit French song written by Georges Moustaki in 1959 and famously sung by the great Edith Piaf. The song is also called “Ombre de la Rue” (“Shadow of the Street”). The song is about a French courtesan who secretly admires a higher-class English man. This post provides the French lyrics to Milord, English translation as well as line-by-line lyrics analysis.
Song overview
Like many of Edith Piaf’s songs, Milord is about the pains of romance. The singer (Piaf) is a working girl in a port. She describes herself as the shadow in the street (l’ombre de la rue) but she’s in love with a man, Milord, who’s never noticed her (Vous n’m’avez jamais vue) and walks down the street with another beautiful woman (Qu’elle était belle).
In the end, Milord leaves on his boat (Quand le navire s’en va) in sadness (L’amour, ça fait pleurer). The singer, pleased with Milord looking at her, laughs and sings (Regardez-moi, Milord, riez, chantez!).
Listen to Milord
The official video for Milord by Edith Piaf on YouTube has over 500,000 views.
You can also listen to Milord on Spotify:
Line-by-line Lyrics Analysis
In the following section we have hand-selected lines from the song lyrics which we feel offer interesting insights into French vocabulary and grammar.
Allez, venez, Milord, Vous asseoir à ma table
These two lines translate to “Come on, Milord, Sit down at my table”. “Allez” translates literally to “go”. It is “aller” (to go) in the third-person plural (vous) form. A loose translation of “allez” is “come on”. This page on our site covers the verb aller in detail.
The reflexive verb “s’asseoir” means to to sit down. “Venez vous asseoir” translates literally to come sit yourself down”. The word “vous” here is a reflexive pronoun meaning “yourself”. This page on our site covers reflexive verbs in detail.
Il fait si froid, dehors
This line translates to “It’s so col outside”. “Il fait froid” means “it’s cold out”. This page on our site covers French weather expressions.
The word “si“ translates to both “yes”, “if” and “so”. A synonym for “si” for this line is “tellement“.
“Dehors” means outside. The pronunciation is tricky. This page on Forvo.com offers some audio samples of dehors.
Laissez-vous faire, Milord, Et prenez bien vos aises
These lines translate to “Relax, Milord, Take it easy”. “Laissez-vous faire” translates literally to “Let yourself do/make” or “let yourself go”. The expression, “prendre ses aises“ means “to take it easy” or “get comfortable”.
Vos peines sur mon cœur
This line translates to “Your troubles on my heart”. This line could translate loosely to “Let me take away your pain” or “I feel your pain”.
Je vous connais, Milord
This line translates to “I know you, Milord”. There are two verbs for “to know” in French: “savoir“ and “connaître“. The French use “savoir” for facts and “connaître” for people. This page on our site covers “savoir” vs “connaître”.
Vous n’m’avez jamais vue
This line translates to “You’ve never seen me”. The “n'” is a shortening of “ne”. “Jamais“ means “never”. “Ne + verb + jamais” is used to indicate “never” in French. This page on our site covers French negation in detail.
Je n’suis qu’une fille du port, Qu’une ombre de la rue
These two lines translate to “I’m just a girl from the port, Just a shadow in the street”. In French, “ne + verb + que” means “only”. We cover this structure on the previously mentioned negation page. “Shadow of the Street” is a secondary name given to this song.
Pourtant j’vous ai frôlé
This line translates to “Yet I brushed by you”. The word “pourtant” translates to both “yet” and “however”. The verb “frôler“ means to “brush up against” or “brush past”.
Quand vous passiez hier, Vous n’étiez pas peu fier
These lines translate to “When you were passing by yesterday, You weren’t proud”. In this sentence, both verbs are in the imperfect tense. This tense is used to express “was verb + ing” or “used to” in the past. This page on our site covers the imperfect tense (l’imparfait) in detail.
Dame! Le ciel vous comblait
This line translates loosely to “God! Heaven made you perfect”. “Dame” translates literally to “woman”. The verb “combler“ translates literally to “to fulfill”.
Votre foulard de soie, Flottant sur vos épaules
These lines translate to “Your silk scarf, Floating on your shoulders”. There are two words for scarf in French: “foulard“ and “écharpe“.
The word “épaule“ means shoulder. This page on our site covers body parts in French.
On aurait dit le roi
This line translate to “You could have been the king”. “On aurait dit” translates literally to “One could have said”. This is the past conditional. We cover the conditional on this page.
Au bras d’une demoiselle
This line translates to “In a woman’s arms”. “Demoiselle“ is a somewhat outdated term for “young woman”. The term “mademoiselle” means miss and “madame” means “Mrs.”. On this page we cover “mademoiselle vs. madame“ in detail.
J’en ai froid dans le cœur
This line translates to “My heart is cold”. This is an expression of Piaf’s frustration with love, a common theme in her song lyrics.
Dire qu’il suffit parfois, Qu’il y ait un navire
These two lines translate to “Saying it’s enough sometimes, That there is a ship”. The verb “suffire“ means “to be enough”. Hence, the expression: “Ça suffit!” (Enough!).
In French, “Il y a” means there is or there are. “Qu’il y ait” means “that there is” but is written in the subjunctive mood. This page on our site covers the French subjunctive in detail.
Pour que tout se déchire, Quand le navire s’en va
These two lines translate to “To make everything fall apart, When the boat goes away”. The verb “déchirer“ means to tear, hurt or damage.
The reflexive verb “s’en aller“ means to go away or to leave. “Navire“ is a synonym for “bateau”, meaning “boat”.
Il emmenait avec lui, La douce aux yeux si tendres
These two lines translate to “It brings with him, The sweetheart so tender in his eyes”. The verb “emmener“ means to take or to take with. The adjective doux/douce means “soft”. However, as a noun, “douce“ means sweetie or sweetheart.
Qui n’a pas su comprendre, Qu’elle brisait votre vie
These two lines translate to “Who didn’t know to understand, That she ruined your life”. The verb “briser“ means to break or smash. We translated the verb loosely to “ruin”.
L’amour, ça fait pleurer
We translated this line loosely to “Love makes you cry”. However, the literal translation is “Love, that makes to cry”.
Comme quoi l’existence
This line translates to “Saying that life”. The expression “comme quoi“ means “saying that”.
Ça vous donne toutes les chances, Pour les reprendre après
These to lines translate to “Gives you all the opportunities, To take them back after”. In French “chance“ translates to chance, probability and likelihood.
Eh ben, voyons, Milord! Souriez-moi, Milord!
These two lines translate to “Well, let’s see, Milord, Smile at me, Milord”. “Voyons” is the first-person plural form of the verb “voir” (to see), to mean “let’s see”. “Souriez” is the second-person plural (vous) form of the verb “sourire“ (to smile). Both of these verbs are in the imperative or commanding tense.
Mieux qu’ça! Un p’tit effort
This line translates to “Better than that! A little effort”. “P’tit” is shortening of “petit” meaning little, short or small.
Voilà, c’est ça!
This line translates to “There, that’s it!”. The French word “Voilà!” means “that’s it!”. This page on our site covers “voilà“ in detail.
Milord lyrics French Lyrics & English Translation
Allez, venez, Milord
Vous asseoir à ma table
Il fait si froid, dehors
Ici c’est confortable
Laissez-vous faire, Milord
Et prenez bien vos aises
Vos peines sur mon cœur
Et vos pieds sur une chaise
Je vous connais, Milord
Vous n’m’avez jamais vue
Je n’suis qu’une fille du port
Qu’une ombre de la rue
Come on, Milord
Sit down at my table
It’s so cold outside
It’s so comfortable here
Relax, Milord
Take it easy
Your troubles on my heart
and your feet on a chair
I know you, Milord
You have never seen me
I’m just a girl from the port
Just a shadow in the street
Pourtant j’vous ai frôlé
Quand vous passiez hier
Vous n’étiez pas peu fier
Dame! Le ciel vous comblait
Votre foulard de soie
Flottant sur vos épaules
Vous aviez le beau rôle
On aurait dit le roi
Vous marchiez en vainqueur
Au bras d’une demoiselle
Mon Dieu! Qu’elle était belle
J’en ai froid dans le cœur
Yet I brushed by you
When you were passing by yesterday
You weren’t proud
God! Heaven made you perfect
Your silk scarf
Floating on your shoulders
You were so beautiful
You could have been the king
You were walking as a winner
In a woman’s arms
My God! She was beautiful
My heart is cold
Allez, venez, Milord
Vous asseoir à ma table
Il fait si froid, dehors
Ici c’est confortable
Laissez-vous faire, Milord
Et prenez bien vos aises
Vos peines sur mon cœur
Et vos pieds sur une chaise
Je vous connais, Milord
Vous n’m’avez jamais vueJe n’suis qu’une fille du port
Qu’une ombre de la rue
Come on, Milord
Sit down at my table
It’s so cold outside
It’s so comfortable here
Relax, Milord
Take it easy
Your troubles on my heart
and your feet on a chair
I know you, Milord
You have never seen me
I’m just a girl from the port
Just a shadow in the street
Dire qu’il suffit parfois
Qu’il y ait un navire
Pour que tout se déchire
Quand le navire s’en va
Il emmenait avec lui
La douce aux yeux si tendres
Qui n’a pas su comprendre
Qu’elle brisait votre vie
L’amour, ça fait pleurer
Saying it’s enough sometimes
That there is a ship
To make everything fall apart
When the boat goes away
It brings with him
The sweetheart so tender in his eyes
Who didn’t know to understand
That she ruined your life
Love makes you cry
Comme quoi l’existence
Ça vous donne toutes les chances
Pour les reprendre après
Saying that life
Gives you all the opportunities
To take them back after
Allez, venez, Milord!
Vous avez l’air d’un môme!
Laissez-vous faire, Milord
Venez dans mon royaume
Je soigne les remords
Je chante la romance
Je chante les milords
Qui n’ont pas eu de chance!
Come on, Milord!
You seem like a kid
Relax, Milord
Come into my kingdom
I treat the remorse
I sing romance
I sing to my lords
Who were not lucky
Regardez-moi, Milord
Vous n’m’avez jamais vue
Mais vous pleurez, Milord?
Ça j’l’aurais jamais cru
Look at me, Milord
You’ve never seen me
But you cry, Milord
I would have never seen that
Eh ben, voyons, Milord!
Souriez-moi, Milord!
Mieux qu’ça! Un p’tit effort
Voilà, c’est ça!
Allez, riez, Milord!
Allez, chantez, Milord!
Well, let’s see, Milord
Smile at me, Milord
Better than that! A little effort
There, that’s it!
Come on, laugh, Milord!
Come on, sing, Milord!
Pa lalalalala
Lalalala lala
Lalalala lala
Lalalala lala
La lalalalala
Mais oui, dansez, Milord!
Pa lalalalala
Lalalala lala
Ta lalalalala
Bravo Milord
Palalala lala
Best, dance, Milord!
Very good, Milord!
Lalalala lala
Palalala lala
Encore Milord
Palalala lala
Lalalala lala
Palalala lala
Again, Milord!
Pa la la la lala
Lalalala lala
Lalalala lala
Ta pa lalalalala
Discover more Edith Piaf songs:
Keep going wit your discovery of Edith Piaf song lyrcs and check out our pages covering: La Vie En Rose, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, Sous Le Ciel De Paris and Mon Dieu. For more classic French songs, we have pages covering: Dominique (by The Singing Nun), La Bohème (by Charles Aznavour), La Mer (by Charles Trenet) and Ne Me Quitte Pas (by Jacque Brel).
