The Long Tail | Music | Elisa Erka · Soleil vrille
A Spinning Sun and Changing Seasons
Soleil vrille / Acoustic Version
Soleil vrille
Soleil vrille by Elisa Erka came across my music queue one day. I flagged it to add to my mix of liked songs and as time went on I found myself coming back to it. The instrumentation felt like a nod to the Caribbean and the rhyming scheme was an ear worm. The lyrics are below and I go over a few words and phrases that were new to me.
Verse 1
Le soleil est revenu
The sun is back
Je l'ai tant attendu
I've been waiting for it for so long
Dans mon coeur en continu
In my heart, all the time
Cette année, il a plu
This year, it rained
Les coquillages chuchotent
The seashells whisper
Leur drôle d'anecdotes
Their funny little stories
De son côté, la mer
Meanwhile, the sea
Fait rouler ses paupières
Lulls its eyelids
Chorus 1
Et ce soleil qui brille, mon Amour avec toi
And this shining sun, my love, with you
Ne m'en veut pas, je vrille, et je ne comprends pas
Don’t be mad at me—I’m spinning, and I don’t understand
Ce grand fond, ce vide, qui s'accroche à mes pas
This vast depth, this emptiness, that clings to my footsteps
Je voudrais bien le vivre cet été avec toi
I’d love to experience this summer with you
Cet été avec toi
This summer with you
J'ai peur que l'hiver me rattrape
I’m afraid winter will catch up with me
Verse 2
Ça m'avait tellment manqué
I’d missed it so much
La chaleur de l'été
The warmth of summer
Les pieds dans le sable chaud
Feet in the warm sand
Et le coeur au bord de l'eau
And my heart at the water’s edge
J'en ai le souffle coupé
It takes my breath away
Je me sens connectée
I feel connected
À cet océan immense
To this vast ocean
À ces vagues qui dansent
To these dancing waves
Chorus 2
Et ce soleil qui brille, mon Amour avec toi
And this shining sun, my love, with you
Ne m'en veut pas, je vrille, et je ne comprends pas
Don’t be mad at me—I’m spinning, and I don’t understand
Ce grand fond, ce vide qui s'aggrippe à mes pas
This vast depth, this emptiness clinging to my footsteps
Je voudrais bien le vivre cet été avec toi
I’d love to experience this summer with you
Cet été avec toi
This summer with you
J'ai peur que l'hiver me rattrape
I’m afraid winter will catch up with me
Verse 3
C'est l'été le plus beau
It’s the most beautiful summer
C'est l'été le plus chaud
It’s the hottest summer
Après toutes ces averses
After all those downpours
Nos coeurs pleins d'ivresse
Our hearts are full of joy
Je t'aime au soleil
I love you in the sunshine
L'été nous réveille
Summer awakens us
Nos corps de concert
Our bodies in harmony
Se mêlent à mer
Mingle with the sea
Chorus 3
Et ce soleil qui brille, mon Amour avec toi
And this shining sun, my love, with you
Ne m'en veut pas, je vrille, et je ne comprends pas
Don’t be mad at me—I’m spinning, and I don’t understand
Ce grand fond, ce vide qui m'attire loin de toi
This vast depth, this emptiness that pulls me away from you
Je voudrais bien le vivre cet été avec toi
I’d love to experience this summer with you
Cet été avec toi
This summer with you
J'ai peur que l'hiver me rattrape
I’m afraid winter will catch up with me
Verse 4
C'est l'été le plus beau
It’s the most beautiful summer
C'est l'été le plus chaud
It’s the hottest summer
Après toutes ces averses
After all those downpours
Nos coeurs pleins d'ivresse
Our hearts are full of joy
Je t'aime au soleil
I love you in the sunshine
L'été nous réveille
Summer awakens us
Nos corps de concert
Our bodies in harmony
Se mêlent à mer
Mingle with the sea
Review | Breakdown
Notes on words and phrases that I was unfamiliar with.
Verse 1
Je l'ai tant attendu
I've been waiting for it for so long
tant
adverb
Definition: so much
Notes: I've heard of tant pis which is like "oh well" or "nevermind." Phrase for resignation.
Les coquillages chuchotent
The seashells whisper
chuchoter
verb
Definition: to whisper
Notes: notice the way she pronounces the -e at the end, typical when singing to add another syllable. Silent if spoken. Les-koh-qui-ahge-uh-shoo-shote
De son côté, la mer
Meanwhile, the sea
De son côté
Definition: Not sure about this one. Meanwhile is how DeepL translated it. Searching for it resulted in "for their part."
Fait rouler ses paupières
Lulls its eyelids
paupière
Definition: eyelid
Notes: Faire rouler means "to roll." Fait rouler les yeux, would be to roll your eyes, same meaning in english, dismissive. But this is different. Reverse lookup for lull in French is "bercer" and other phrases. So there's nuances here I'm not understanding.
Chorus 1
Ne m'en veut pas, je vrille, et je ne comprends pas
Don’t be mad at me—I’m spinning, and I don’t understand
Ne m’en veux pas
informal expression
Meaning: Don't be mad at me
Origin: en vouloir à
Notes: Lawless French (link) goes into all the nuances of this one, quite complex, "used informally to acknowledge that you may have wronged another person while simultaneously, albeit unapologetically, requesting exoneration."
Vriller
verb
Definition(s):
spin (or twist)
to coil something
for something to zigzag
Ce grand fond, ce vide, qui s'accroche à mes pas
This vast depth, this emptiness, that clings to my footsteps
fond
noun
Definition: depth
Notes: There's various meanings and expressions as well with the word bottom (bottom of sea floor), in the middle of etc.)
s'accrocher à [qch]
verb
Definition: cling to (something)
Notes: Lots of various uses for it depending on use. Hang on, cling to ... it can be literal and also figurative. In the song this word changes in each chorus progressively.
J'ai peur que l'hiver me rattrape
I’m afraid winter will catch up with me
Verse 2
J'en ai le souffle coupé
It takes my breath away
avoir le souffle coupé
locution verbale - group of words acting as a verb
Meaning: be out of breath, short of breath, winded; figuratively, take your breath away or be speechless.
Notes: This one is interesting, avoir le souffle coupé is to be shocked or amazed. It happens from a physical action from feeling something like beauty, shock, fear. Souffle is breath, coupé is cut. Cutting your breath literally.
I also though of the film Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard, À bout de souffle (Breathless). This is different in that you're worn out and exhausted. You have nothing left in the tank
Chorus 2
Ce grand fond, ce vide qui s'aggrippe à mes pas
This vast depth, this emptiness clinging to my footsteps
s'agripper
verb
Meaning: grab, grab onto, grab hold of
Notes: So we've gone from s'accrocher to s'agripper as the difference from chorus 1 to 2. I found a thread on what the difference is. S'agripper is stronger, more desperate than s'accrocher, so there's a progression in the song.
Verse 3
Nos coeurs pleins d'ivresse
Our hearts are full of joy
ivresse
noun
Meaning: euphoria, exhilaration; drunkeness, intoxication (abuse of alcohol)
Notes: Our hearts are full from euphoria, exhilaration. This feels poetic.
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