La Vie En Rose – English Translation

For the last several days, I’ve been working on the correct semi-literal translation that works when singing it for La Vie En Rose.

La Vie En Rose – French	English Lyrics
Des yeux qui font baisser les miens	Two eyes that make mine fall away
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche	A laugh that falters on his mouth
Voila le portrait sans retouche	An honest portrait of the man
De l’homme auquel j’appartiens	To whom I belong.
Quand il me prend dans ses bras	When he takes me in his arms
Qu’il me parle tout bas	He whispers to me low
Je vois la vie en rose.	And everything seems rosy.
Il me dit des mots d’amour	He speaks words of love to me
Des mots de tous les jours	They’re just everyday words
Et ça me fait quelque chose.	But they do something to me.
Il est entré dans mon coeur	Introducing to my heart
Une part de bonheur	A little slice of joy
Dont je connais la cause.	And I know he’s the cause.
C’est lui pour moi, Moi pour lui dans la vie	It’s him for me, me for him in this life.
Il me l’a dit, l’a juré pour la vie.	He told me so, swore it was for a lifetime.
Et dès que je l’aperçois	And as soon as I see him
Alors je sens en moi	I sense within myself
Mon coeur qui bat	My heart beat so.
Des nuits d’amour a plus finir	Nights of love that never end
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place	Such happy days it overwhelms
Des ennuis des chagrins, s’effacent	My woes and sorrows fade away
Heureux, heureux a en mourir.	Happy, so happy I could die.
Quand il me prend dans ses bras	When he holds me in his arms
Il me parle tout bas	He whispers soft to me
Je vois la vie en rose.	And all my life turns rosy.
Il me dit des mots d’amour	He speaks loving words to me
Des mots de tous les jours	Just some everyday words
Et ça me fait quelque chose.	But they do something to me.
Il est entré dans mon coeur	Entering into my heart
Une part de bonheur	A little slice of joy
Dont je connais la cause.	In him I know the cause.
C’est toi pour moi. Moi pour toi dans la vie	It’s you for me, me for you all our days
Il me l’a dit, l’a juré pour la vieuuuh.	You told me so, swore it so for a lifetime.
Et dès que je t’aperçois	And the moment I see you
Alors je sens en moi	Within myself I feel
Mon coeur qui bat	My heart beat so.

As you can see, there are two versions of the song represented by the two runs through the primary verses. I escalated the intensity of the translation when there were two ways or more to say something. I’m still working on this, if anyone has any feedback.

The best part is that it can be sung to the original tune. No, I don’t care to try to make it rhyme, I wanted something that, when sung in English, means the same thing as the amazing words in French, that I simply adore singing.