Alors qu’est-ce que c’est ? [English translation]

It's a word, it's a game.

It's brand new, it's very dated

It makes you laugh, it makes you cry

It makes you live, it makes you die.

It's Gallic, it's Roman.

It's Chinese, it's German.

And everyone here knows this, so

What is it?

At school, the sentence

In speech, in speaking

Ephemeral, eternal

It's heaven or hell

In Marlene, in Margot

In back slang, in jargon

And everyone here knows this, so

What is it?

It's yours, it's mine

And we like it.

And everyone here knows this, so

What is it?

It's pretty and it has a girl's name for me

It's life and it has a child's name for you.

It's stronger than all loneliness in the city

It's still the best thing done a long time through

It's Juliette and Tristan.

Marinette and Adam

The snake and the apple

The mices and the men

It's Venice and Capri

It's Denise and Marie.

And everyone here knows this, so

What is it?

It's the wind, it's the glory...

The novel and the story

Cleopatra and Bardot

Henry IV and Tino

It's a word, it's a god

It's very nice, it's by two.

And everyone here knows this, so

What is it?

It's yours, it's mine.

And we like it.

And everyone here knows this, so

What is it?

It's pretty and it has a girl's name for me

It's life and it has a child's name for you.

It's stronger than all loneliness in the city

It's still the best thing done a long time through

• Artist:Joe Dassin