Francis Cabrel (1953-) is a popular French singer-songwriter and guitarist. Since the late 1970s, he has released a number of albums falling mostly within the realm of folk, with occasional forays into blues or country. Several of his songs, such as “L’encre de tes yeux” and “Petite Marie” have become enduring favourites in French music. Others have since been covered by many artists, such as “C’était l’hiver” by Canadian Isabelle Boulay or “Je l’aime à mourir” by Colombian Shakira.
“Je l’aime à mourir” was released in 1979 on his second album Les chemins de traverse. Despite the fact that it was completely out of keeping with the French disco boom of the late 70′s, it proved phenomenally successful (selling over 2 million copies!). The album sales promptly rocketed to 500,000 and Francis Cabrel found himself transformed from an anonymous singer into a national star almost overnight!

Moi je n’étais rien
Mais voilà qu’aujourd’hui
Je suis le gardien
Du sommeil de ses nuits
Je l’aime à mourir

Me, I was nothing
But, well, today
I am the keeper
Of her nights’ sleep
I love her to death

Vous pouvez détruire
Tout ce qu’il vous plaira
Elle n’a qu’à ouvrir
L’espace de ses bras
Pour tout reconstruire
Pour tout reconstruire
Je l’aime à mourir

You can destroy
Anything you’ll like
She will only have to open
The space of her arms
To rebuild everything
To rebuild everything
I love her to death

Elle a gommé les chiffres
Des horloges du quartier
Elle a fait de ma vie
Des cocottes en papier
Des éclats de rires

She has erased the numbers
From the clocks of the area
She transformed my life into
Cootie catchers
Bursts of laughter

Elle a bâti des ponts
Entre nous et le ciel
Et nous les traversons
A chaque fois qu’elle
Ne veut pas dormir
Ne veut pas dormir
Je l’aime à mourir

She built bridges
Between us and the sky
And we cross them
Everytime she
Doesn’t want to sleep
Doesn’t want to sleep
I love her to death

Elle a dû faire toutes les guerres
Pour être si forte aujourd’hui
Elle a dû faire toutes les guerres
De la vie, et l’amour aussi

She must have been part of all wars
To be so strong today
She must have been part of all wars
Of Life and Love as well

Elle vit de son mieux
Son rêve d’opaline
Elle danse au milieu
des forêts qu’elle dessine
Je l’aime à mourir

She lives as best as she can
Her opalin dream
She dances in the middle
Of the forests she draws
I love her to death

Elle porte des rubans
qu’elle laisse s’envoler
Elle me chante souvent
que j’ai tort d’essayer
De les retenir
De les retenir
Je l’aime à mourir

She wears ribbons
That she lets fly away
She often sings to me
That I am wrong to try
To hold them back
To hold them back
I love her to death

Pour monter dans sa grotte
Cachée sous les toits
Je dois clouer des notes
A mes sabots de bois
Je l’aime à mourir

To come up to her cave
Hidden beneath the roofs
I have to nail notes
To my wooden clogs
I love her to death

Je dois juste m’asseoir
Je ne dois pas parler
Je ne dois rien vouloir
Je dois juste essayer
De lui appartenir
De lui appartenir
Je l’aime à mourir

I must only sit
I must not talk
I must not want anything
I must only try
To belong to her
To belong to her
I love her to death