Derniere Danse Meaning
Dernière Danse by Indila was the first single off her debut album “Mini World.” We review the French lyrics and English translation below, and dive into the meaning of the lyrics and some vocabulary from the song.
Dernière danse” is a French phrase that means “last dance“. It may refer to:i
indila’s song “Dernière danse” tells the story of an older woman kicking a young woman out of a building onto the streets. The song’s lyrics and music video describe the young woman’s journey through the streets and metro of Paris, where she faces sorrow and hopelessness.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| [Couplet 1] | [Verse 1] |
| Ô ma douce souffrance | Oh my sweet suffering |
| Pourquoi s’acharner tu recommences | Why do you hound me, incessantly |
| Je ne suis qu’un être sans importance | I am just an unimportant person |
| Sans lui je suis un peu paro’ | Without it I’m a bit lost |
| Je déambule seule dans le métro | I wander alone in the subway |
| Une dernière danse | A last dance |
| Pour oublier ma peine immense | To forget my immense sorrow |
| Je veux m’enfuir que tout recommence | I want to run away, for everything to begin again |
| Oh ma douce souffrance | Oh my Sweet suffering |
| [Refrain] | [Chorus] |
| Je remue le ciel le jour, la nuit | I move mountains, day and night |
| Je danse avec le vent la pluie | I dance with the wind the rain |
| Un peu d’amour, un brin de miel | A little love, a bit of honey |
| Et je danse, danse, danse, danse, danse, danse | And I dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance |
| Et dans le bruit, je cours et j’ai peur | And in the noise, I run and I’m scared |
| Est ce mon tour ? | Is it my turn? |
| Vient la douleur | Here comes the pain |
| Dans tout Paris, je m’abandonne | Throughout Paris, I abandon myself |
| Et je m’envole, vole, vole, vole, vole | And I fly, fly, fly, fly, fly |
| [Pont 1] | [Bridge 1] |
| Que d’espérance | Nothing but hope |
| Sur ce chemin en ton absence | On this path in your absence |
| J’ai beau trimer, sans toi ma vie n’est qu’un décor qui brille, vide de sens | Try as I might, without you my life is just a beautiful display, meaningless |
| [Refrain] | [Chorus] |
| Je remue le ciel le jour, la nuit | I move mountains, day and night |
| Je danse avec le vent la pluie | I dance with the wind the rain |
| Un peu d’amour, un brin de miel | A little love, a bit of honey |
| Et je danse, danse, danse, danse, danse, danse | And I dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance |
| Et dans le bruit, je cours et j’ai peur | And in the noise, I run and I’m scared |
| Est ce mon tour ? | Is it my turn? |
| Vient la douleur | Here comes the pain |
| Dans tout Paris, je m’abandonne | Throughout Paris, I abandon myself |
| Et je m’envole, vole, vole, vole, vole | And I fly, fly, fly, fly, fly |
| [Pont 2] | [Bridge 2] |
| Dans cette douce souffrance | In this sweet suffering |
| Dont j’ai payé toutes les offenses | I paid for all the offences |
| Écoute comme mon cœur est immense | Listen as my heart is immense |
| Je suis une enfant du monde | I am a child of the world |
| [Refrain] | [Chorus] |
| Je remue le ciel le jour, la nuit | I move mountains, day and night |
| Je danse avec le vent la pluie | I dance with the wind the rain |
| Un peu d’amour un brin de miel | A bit of love a bit of honey |
| Et je danse, danse, danse, danse, danse, danse | And I dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance |
| Et dans le bruit, je cours et j’ai peur | And in the noise, I run and I’m scared |
| Est ce mon tour? | Is it my turn? |
| Vient la douleur… | Here comes the pain… |
| Dans tout Paris, je m’abandonne | In all of Paris, I abandon myself |
| Et je m’envole, vole, vole, vole, vole | And I fly, fly, fly, fly, fly |
Dernière Danse by Indila: Lyrics Breakdown & Explanation
In order to really understand the lyrics, we need to know a bit about Indila. Although she has kept a lot of her life story private, Indila has described herself as a “child of the world” of Algerian descent, but also with heritage from Cambodia, India, and Egypt. Indila has sung in French, English, and also Hindi. Indila has said that she chose “Indila” as her stage name because of her love for India. Indila wrote Dernière Danse with her husband Skalpovich, the French DJ-turned-producer.
Although Indila is quite reserved in interviews, she talks about her struggle to fit the size of her emotions into words in her songs. In a 2014 interview she discussed how early on when she was writing songs she struggled because all the words seemed “too small” for the emotions she was trying to convey.
Interestingly, in the same interview she says that Dernière Danse was the first song that she wrote on her album, and that once she had written it, the rest of the album flowed very naturally.
Dernière Danse is about the emotions that a young immigrant woman feels in Paris, having to cope with racism and discrimination day in and day out.
Let’s have a look at some of the lyrics to dive deeper. Here’s the lyrics video if you want to follow along.
According to what I found, It is about dancing away the pain of feeling alone and despised because of racism (“I am an unimportant being” == je suis un être sans importance”. The pain comes again and again (“souffrance”) then dance, dance ,dance (danse in French) then flying away in imagination( vole vole vole)
There is also fear (la peur) the urge to flee
Une dernière danse A last dance
Pour oublier ma peine immense To forget my huge grief (pain)
Je veux m’enfuir I want to flee
Thanks for asking I had never gone deep into the words of this great song
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