Scandalous French? Spot the Faux Pas !
As you know, we just released a new version of the “French” song — La Chanson de Jean and published a video. (Thank you to all of you who listened & viewed.)
After the fact, our intrepid tubist Johny Blood noticed a couple of grammar errors. (Merci, Monsieur Blood!)
Rats! Were the errors bad enough to re-do the video? After lying awake one night, absolutely fussing about the errors — having an American accent is one thing, but bad grammar, is not acceptable — I decided to contact a friend and French professor with whom I studied in Montréal.
She kindly reviewed the lyrics and sent corrections. (Merci, J. Sénéchal !)
I was concerned especially about the use of definite articles. What she clarified however was way, way more than a few misplaced the’s (le, la, les).
Here’s her correction, in French of words in the 3rd verse. I’ll let you deduce.
et dites-lui que je viens, je viens
Ici, c’est un peu plus délicat. En français, “je viens”, signifie aussi “je suis au point t’atteindre l’orgasme”.
Donc, deux fois “je viens, je viens” est encore plus suggestif si tu vois ce que je veux dire
Donc, je le remplacerais par “j’arrive”.
Selon la cohérence de la mélodie et des syllabes possibles, tu peux dire:et dites-lui que j’arrive, j’arrive
ou
et dites-lui que j’arrive, que j’arrive…
Yep. I was unwittingly singing almost x-rated, certainly suggestive lines. 🫢
So, I had to re-record, and re-build the video.
All this to say, checking with a native speaker is always advised. 😉
Here is the new and improved version: