You really should listen to this even though it's in French

I have a friend who knows and appreciates good music and also things French, and so I recently e-mailed her to ask if she knew the K-Maro song “Sous l’oeil de l’ange,” figuring that (a) her answer would be, “Non,” and (b) she would love the song once she heard it. It was supposed to be a nice present for her. But she replied back that it’s one of her favorite songs and she listens to it all the time.

I knew there was some reason I liked her.

Seriously, I was slightly disappointed that she already knew it (because so much for my gift), but delighted to know that she likes it as much as I thought she would. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be worth trying to share with my Gentle Readers, even though most of you don’t speak French.

The title means “Under the eye of the angel,” and it is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard for people who are going through difficult times in their lives and trying to hang in there. This is only in small measure due to the fact that the lyrics encourage those under trial. That merely sets the theme. What gives the song its power is the combination of instrumental simplicity overlaid with genuinely astonishing poetic verve and intensity expressed through metric complexity so perfectly wedded to sense and sound as to seem inevitable rather than bewildering. In particular, I don’t know of any other song that has so effectively wielded internal rhyme, with near sledge-hammer emotional effect. Simply a magnificent piece of work. Even those who don’t speak French can, I think, be moved by the musical power of the piece. And if you do follow the French…why, then, I believe that this is a song that will find its way onto your iPod playlist and stay there a very long time.

Lyrics, in the original French and in my almost certainly disastrously bad translation into English, follow the embedded video. (I have no idea why there's a huge gap between the video and the lyrics, and I'm tired of trying to fix it; so it's just gonna stay there.)

By the way, I don't know whether K-Maro himself ever made a video of this song, but there are a lot of people who love this song and have used it as the background for their own homemade videos. The one I'm embedding first has the best sound quality I was able to find and also (which doesn't hurt my feelings) features a very cute girl. But you can find here a video I almost used instead, as it is by far my favorite except, alas, for the poor sound quality. It's a video featuring somewhat grainy old-style home videos of a happy kid who looks to be about ten, uploaded by somebody who dedicated it simply "a mon fils que j aime" -- "to my son, whom I love". What a completely delightful video it is. And then here is somebody who, oddly, used it as a first-year-anniversary video. (Rather an ill-omened song for a first anniversary, I would have thought, but hey, it's her anniversary.) I like this one because it gives me a chance to practice my Portuguese; as for that bikini and that spectacular Brazilian complexion...you know, I, um, actually hadn't noticed that until you mentioned it just now.

Lovely French Lyrics	Bad Peril Translation
Et il m'a dit un jour: Écoute petit	And he told me one day: Listen, child,
Va cours, rattrape ta chance	Stay the course, seize your chance
Vis ton rêve, la vie te sourit	You live your dream, life smiles at you
En une seconde, un oui, un non	In a second, a yes, a no
Tu passes à côté	You pass close by
Ne pense pas dans le vent du courage	Don’t stop to think in the wind of courage
Vas-y, élance-toi,	Go for it, charge forward
Tu seras reçu par ceux qui t'aiment	You’ll be met by those who love you
Ceux qui dans le fond d'un regard	By those who in a mere glance
En silence te comprennent	In silence understand you
Et ils partageront les mêmes peines, les tiennes	And they will share the same pain, your pain
Ces centaines de haine, les fois où tu parles trop	The hundreds of acts of hatred, the times you speak as a fool
Les fois où tu dis rien, tu fais rien	The times when you do nothing, say nothing
Quand tu as l'impression de vivre	When you feel as though you are living
Toujours le même quotidien	The same day over and over
Ne baisse pas les bras, ne lâche pas	Don’t give up the fight, don’t give up
Prends le temps de te dire	Take the time to tell yourself
Qu'il y a un ange derrière toi	That there’s an angel behind you
Relève toi, et va trouver le plus fort en toi au fond de toi	Pick yourself up and go find the strength inside you, in your deepest heart
Le bonheur est au bout des doigts, ne l'oublie pas, oh!	Luck is at your fingertips, don’t forget, oh!
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai su rester fort	I’m here to tell you that I’ve been able to stay strong
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire qu'ils n'ont rien vu encore	I’m here to tell you that they’ve seen nothing yet
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai trouver la paix	I’m here to tell you that I’ve found peace
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
J'ai su pardonner et j'ai su le chanter	I’ve been able to forgive and I’ve been able to sing
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai su rester fort	I’m here to tell you that I’ve been able to stay strong
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire qu'ils n'ont rien vu encore	I’m here to tell you that they’ve seen nothing yet
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai trouver la paix	I’m here to tell you that I’ve found peace
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
J'ai su pardonner et j'ai su le chanter	I’ve been able to forgive and I’ve been able to sing
Il va falloir que tu saches	You’ll need to know
Ce qui se cache dans une défaite et,	What lies hidden within defeat
Trouver la porte dans le noir qui t'en sortirai	Find the door in the darkness where you can escape
Et recommencer à rêver	And start again to dream
C'est dans les rêves que se cache	In your dreams hides
La porte de l'éternel conte de fée,	The door to the eternal fairy tale
Ta vie tu la bâtiras de tes mains,	You’ll build your life with your hands
La sueur de ton front	The sweat of your brow
Sera le pain pour ton lendemain,	Will become tomorrow’s bread
Va, et sois le meilleur dans ce que tu feras	Go, and be the best at whatever you do
Ne baisse pas les bras et Dieu te gardera	Never give up and God will watch over you
Il te parlera de ça de tout et de rien,	He’ll speak to you of this, of everything and of nothing
Il a les mélodies, les clefs du mal et du bien	He has the songs, the keys to evil and good
Il fera ton histoire, il écrira demain	He’ll make your story, He’ll write your tomorrow
Il aura tes mémoires dans le creux de sa main	He’ll hold your memories in the hollow of His hand
Va (va!) et sache que tu as tout ce qu'il faut,	Go, knowing that you have everything you need
Et bien plus qu'il n'en faut,	And even more than you need
Mais donne-toi le temps qu'il faut, regarde en haut, oh!	But give yourself the time you need, lift up your eyes, oh!
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai su rester fort	I’m here to tell you that I’ve been able to stay strong
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire qu'ils n'ont rien vu encore	I’m here to tell you that they’ve seen nothing yet
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai trouver la paix	I’m here to tell you that I’ve found peace
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
J'ai su pardonner et j'ai su le chanter	I’ve been able to forgive and I’ve been able to sing
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai su rester fort	I’m here to tell you that I’ve been able to stay strong
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire qu'ils n'ont rien vu encore	I’m here to tell you that they’ve seen nothing yet
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai trouver la paix	I’m here to tell you that I’ve found peace
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
J'ai su pardonner et j'ai su le chanter	I’ve been able to forgive and I’ve been able to sing
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai su rester fort	I’m here to tell you that I’ve been able to stay strong
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire qu'ils n'ont rien vu encore	I’m here to tell you that they’ve seen nothing yet
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai trouver la paix	I’m here to tell you that I’ve found peace
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
J'ai su pardonner et j'ai su le chanter	I’ve been able to forgive and I’ve been able to sing
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai su rester fort	I’m here to tell you that I’ve been able to stay strong
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire qu'ils n'ont rien vu encore	I’m here to tell you that they’ve seen nothing yet
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Je suis venu te dire que j'ai trouver la paix	I’m here to tell you that I’ve found peace
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
J'ai su pardonner et j'ai su le chanter	I’ve been able to forgive and I’ve been able to sing
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel
Sous l'oeil de l'ange	Under the eye of the angel