Song overview
“Non, je ne regrette rien“ (meaning: No, I do not regret anything) is French singer Édith Piaf‘s second most famous song. The song, also called “No Regrets” in English, was written by composed by Charles Dumont and Michel Vaucaire in 1956 and recorded by Piaf in 1960. The song is seen as her last great work as she passed away three years later. The lyrics portray a message of having no regrets for the past and an optimistic outlook for the future.
Non, Je ne regrette rien lyrics and translation
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu’on m’a fait
Ni le mal; tout ça m’est bien égal!
No, nothing at all
No, I do not regret anything
Neither the good people have done to me
Nor the bad, it’s all the same to me.
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
C’est payé, balayé, oublié
Je me fous du passé!
No, nothing at all
No! I do not regret anything
It’s paid for, swept away, forgotten
I do not care about the past!
Avec mes souvenirs
J’ai allumé le feu
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
Je n’ai plus besoin d’eux!
With my memories
I lit the fire
My troubles, my pleasures
I do not need them anymore!
Balayés les amours
Et tous leurs trémolos
Balayés pour toujours
Je repars à zéro
The lovers are all swept away
And all of their drama
Swept away forever
I am starting from scratch
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu’on m’a fait
Ni le mal; tout ça m’est bien égal!
No, nothing of nothing
No, I do not regret anything
Neither the good people did to me
Nor the bad, it’s all the same to me.
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Car ma vie, car mes joies
Aujourd’hui, ça commence avec toi!
No, nothing at all
No, I do not regret anything
Because my life, because my joys
Today it starts with you!
Vocabulary and grammar of the lyrics
In this section I explain the vocabulary and grammar of the lyrics. In in some instances I have not done direct translations. I’ve also provided links to further resources wherever applicable.
Je ne regrette rien
The song’s title translates to “I don not regret anything”. Other people translate the title to “No regrets”. Rien means both nothing and anything and is used in the negation ne…rien.
Non, rien de rien
This line translates to literally to “no, nothing of nothing” and I translate it to “No, nothing at all”.
Ni le bien qu’on m’a fait
This line translates to “Neither the good people did to me”. The negation ni…ni… means “neither…nor”. The adverb bien means “well” but as a noun it means “the good”. The pronoun on in this line refers to “other people”. Fait is the past participle of the verb faire (to make, to do).
Ni le mal; tout ça m’est bien égal!
This line translates to “Nor the bad, it’s all the same to me”. The adverb mal means “badly” or “poorly”. As a noun it means “evil” or “bad”. The expression ça m’est égal means “I don’t mind”, “it doesn’t matter” or “it’s all the same to me”.
Je me fous du passé!
This line translates to “I do not care about the past”. The expression je m’en fous is strong language for “I don’t care”. The informal verb foutre is used in many expressions.
Avec mes souvenirs
This line translates to “With my memories”. Avec means “with” in French. Souvenir means “memory” and is a word English borrowed from French. The reflexive verb se souvenir means “to remember”. Mes is a possessive adjective meaning “my”.
J’ai allumé le feu
This line translates to “I lit the fire”. Allumer means “to light” or “to turn/switch on”. This line is in the passé composé, a French past tense.
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
This line translates to “My troubles, my pleasures”. The masculine noun chagrin can translate to grief, sorry, sadness and unhappiness.
Je n’ai plus besoin d’eux!
This line translates to “I do not need them anymore”. The line uses the expression avoir besoin (to need) and the negation ne…plus (anymore). Eux is a stressed pronoun meaning “them”.
Balayés les amours
This line translates to “The lovers are all swept away”. The verb balayer means “to sweep”.
Et tous leurs trémolos
This line translates to “And all of their drama”. Trémolo in French refers to the quavering of the voice. It is also a term used in singing.
Balayés pour toujours
This line translates to “Swept away forever”. The adverb toujours has several usages including always, still and forever.
Je repars à zéro
This line translates to “I am starting from scratch”. Repartir à zéro is an expression meaning “to start over” or “to start from scratch”.
Car ma vie, car mes joies
This line translates to “Because my life, because my joys”. Car can translate to both “because” and “for”. La vie means “life” and la joie means “joy” in French.
Aujourd’hui, ça commence avec toi!
This line translates to “Today it starts with you”. The word ça translates to both “it” and “that” and is used to refer back to previously mentioned topics . Aujourd’hui means today in French.
Discover more:
- To 12 Édith Piaf Songs
- La vie en rose (Édith Piaf)
- Hymne à l’amour (Édith Piaf)
- Mon Dieu (Édith Piaf)
- Milord (Édith Piaf)
- Sous le ciel de Paris (Édith Piaf)
- Padam, Padam (Édith Piaf)
- C’est Si Bon (Yves Montand)
- Ne me quitte pas (Jacques Brel)
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French songs | Lessons by David Issokson
