Les enfants s’ennuient le dimanche
Le dimanche, les enfants s’ennuient
Chanson de Charles Trenet datant de 1939. If Douce France evokes childhood in the country, this song does the same for childhood in the city.
Jacques Truffaut used the song (sung by CT) in his 1976 film Argent de poche.
The Subjunctive in Les enfants s’ennuient le dimanche
1. A nice example of the jussive or Third-Person Imperative occurs in the refrain.
- Vienne, vienne la semaine (Let the week come, let it come)
The normal (and less poetic) form of such a wish would be:
- Que la semaine vienne (Let the week come)
Cf. this famous line from the famous refrain of Apollinaire’s famous poem “le Pont Mirabeau“:
- Vienne la nuit sonne l’heure
—meaning “Let the night come, let the hour (i.e., the clock) ring,” and for which the unpoetic equivalent would be
- Que la nuit vienne, que l’heure sonne
2. In stanza two the subjunctive is used to express an alternative:
- Que ce soit promenade ou tartine (Whether it is a walk or a bit of pastry)
French Lyrics (English Translation Follows)
1 Les enfants s’ennuient le dimanche.
Le dimanche, les enfants s’ennuient.
En knickerbockers1 ou en robes blanches2,
Le dimanche, les enfants s’ennuient.
Vienne vienne3 la semaine,
Lundi mardi jeudi,4
Car la rue est toujours pleine
De lumière et de bruit !
2 Que ce soit promenade5 ou tartine,6
Pâtissier pas plus que les bois
N’auront de succès : gamins et gamines
Sont plus tristes que maman ne7 croit.
Vienne vienne la semaine,
Lundi mardi jeudi,
Car la rue est toujours pleine
De lumière et de bruit!
3 A travers les rues, sans rien dire,
On parcourt la ville sans fin.
Y a que8 les mannequins qui font des sourires,
Aux vitrines des grands magasins.
Vienne vienne la semaine,
Lundi mardi jeudi,
Car la rue est toujours pleine
De lumière et de bruit!
4 Les parents s’ennuient le dimanche.
Le dimanche, les parents s’ennuient.
Avec leurs lorgnons9 et leurs barbes blanches,
Le dimanche, les parents s’ennuient.
Vienne vienne la semaine,
Lundi mardi jeudi,
Car la rue est toujours pleine
De lumière et de bruit!
French Lyrics With English Translation
| 1 Les enfants s’ennuient le dimanche. Le dimanche, les enfants s’ennuient. En knickerbockers ou en robes blanches, Le dimanche, les enfants s’ennuient. | 1 Kids don’t enjoy themselves10 on Sunday. On Sunday, kids don’t enjoy themselves. In knickerbockers or in white gowns, On Sunday kids don’t enjoy themselves. |
| Vienne vienne la semaine, Lundi mardi jeudi, Car la rue est toujours pleine De lumière et de bruit ! | Let the week come! Monday, Tuesday, Thursday; For the street is always full Of light and sound! |
| 2 Que ce soit promenade ou tartine, Pâtissier pas plus que les bois N’auront de succès : gamins et gamines Sont plus tristes que maman ne croit. | 2 Whether it is a promenade or a pastry, The pastry-maker will have no more success Than the woods; lads and lasses Are sadder than Mom realizes. |
| Vienne vienne la semaine, etc. | Let the week come, etc. |
| 3 A travers les rues, sans rien dire, On parcourt la ville sans fin. Y a que les mannequins qui font des sourires, Aux vitrines des grands magasins. | 3 Through the streets, silently, One traverses the town without end. Only the mannequins are smiling In the windows of the department stores. |
| Vienne vienne la semaine, etc. | Let the week come, etc. |
| 4 Les parents s’ennuient le dimanche. Le dimanche, les parents s’ennuient. Avec leurs lorgnons et leurs barbes blanches, Le dimanche, les parents s’ennuient. | 4 Parents don’t enjoy themselves on Sunday. On Sunday, parents don’t enjoy themselves. With their lorgnons11 and their white beards On Sunday parents don’t enjoy themselves. |
| Vienne vienne la semaine, etc. | Let the week come, etc. |
- Pronounced [knikɛrbɔkɛr], this word is an English borrowing whose pedigree goes back to… Washington Irving! It refers to a kind of short, puffy pants, used for casual wear.[↩]
- Who wears white dresses on Sunday? Girls making their First Communion.[↩]
- Subjunctive form of venir used in the 3rd-person imperative.[↩]
- We may take Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday as implied. For French children, Saturday is a half-school day (like Wednesday), hence among the weekdays.[↩]
- A French family might well take a walk in a park on a Sunday[↩]
- a piece of baguette sliced lengthwise, with butter, marmalade, or the like spread on it[↩]
- Here we have a case of the “ne explétif,” in which the “ne” doesn’t have a truly (or completely) negative function. For its use of the second half of a comparison, go to this language topic.[↩]
- = Il n’y a que[↩]
- Alternative: Avec leur faux-cols[↩]
- The pronominal verb “s’ennuyer” is often translated as “to be or get bored,” but it can mean something stronger that that, in keeping with the meaning of the noun “l’ennui”: something like, to be/get sad or depressed.[↩]
- Or, translating”faux cols” instead of “lorgnons”: detachable/fake/false collars[↩]
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Excellent! I’ve been a big Charles Trenet fan and aspiring French speaker for a long time, so this is very helpful.
Merci beaucoup!