L'effet de masse [English translation]

He used to be in my class, he used to live on your street

It was the one [who used to live] opposite, yes you've seen him before

He used to share your bus on nasty mornings1

You would laugh at him because he was different

Nowadays, it's always the same old story

In life or with rumors

In the beautiful glass offices

As in the school hallways

It's always herd mentality

That breaks us and isolates us

On the screens, behind masks

In looks that laugh

It's always herd mentality

That breaks us and isolates us

He used to be in my class, he used to live on your street

He was the one who walks by, but his name I don't know anymore

How stupid we can be when we are more numerous

I admit it with a heavy heart, yes I laughed with them

Nowadays, it's always the same old story

In life or with rumors

In the beautiful glass offices

As in all the schoolyards

It's always herd mentality

That labels us and hits us hard

On the screens, behind masks

In looks that laugh

It's always herd mentality

That breaks us and isolates us

He was out of the way and there were several of us

One needs a foil to feel superior

He used to be in my class, he used to live on your street

It was the one [who used to live] opposite, we've never seen him again

Note: these French lyrics follow the second video. The first video does not follow a few words of the written lyrics (Maëlle says "classe" instead of "casse"(2x); "les couloirs d’école" instead of "toutes les cours d’école"; and "casse" instead of "classe").

1. presumably a reference to bad weather

• Artist:Maëlle
• Album:Maëlle (2019)