Véronique Marie Line Sanson (-1949) is a French singer-songwriter and record producer. Ten years after Barbara, she became one of the first French female singer-songwriters to break into stardom with her debut album Amoureuse in 1972. She also became one of the most successful and most prominent members of the Seventies “Nouvelle chanson française” (“New French chanson”), alongside Alain Souchon, Bernard Lavilliers, Jacques Higelin, Michel Polnareff, etc. Unlike most previous French artists of the Sixties Yé-yé era, who mostly released EPs consisting of a collection of singles, B-sides and covers, Sanson and her counterparts of the “nouvelle chanson française” established the dominance of singer-songwriters on the Seventies French charts thanks to albums with full-length artistic statements
She brings a very personal vocal style to the singing of French pop songs: Her voice has a very strong vibrato.
Comme je l’imagine, il sourit d’un rien
Comme je l’imagine, il pense bien
Comme je l’imagine, il pourrait même
Être celui qui sera l’homme que j’aime
[Refrain 1]
When I picture him, he smiles easily [for nothing]
When I picture him, he is thoughtful
When I picture him, he might even
Be the one that will be the man I’ll love
Comme je l’imagine, et comme toujours
Il va près des gens qui aiment l’amour
Comme je l’imagine, il pourrait même
Être celui qui sera l’homme que j’aime
When I picture him, and as always,
He loves to meet people who love romance
When I picture him, he might even
Be the one that will be the man I’ll love
Et comme je l’imagine, il aime l’aurore
Les matins d’hiver et la brume qui dort
Les nuages rouges quand l’aube se lève
Et vient le moment où finit mon rêve
And when I picture him, he loves the sunrise
The winter mornings and the sleeping mist
The red clouds when the sun starts to set
And then I awake from my dream
Où vit-il ?
Peut-être dans le sud
Dans les villes
Où le soleil vous brûle
Mais je regarde vers le nord
Je regarde vers le sud
Et tout disparaît
Avec mes certitudes.
[Refrain 2]
Where does he live?
Perhaps down in the south
In cities
where the Sun is intense [is burning]
But I turn my head to the North
I turn my head to the South
And everything disappears,
with all my certainties
Refrain 1
Et comme je l’imagine, il vient de loin
Comme je l’imagine, c’est un musicien
Comme je l’imagine, il pourrait même
Être celui qui sera l’homme que j’aime
When I picture him, he comes from afar,
When I picture him, he is a musician
When I picture him, he might even
Be the one that will be the man I’ll love
Comme je l’imagine, s’il est malheureux
Il sait qu’il se sent devenir vieux
Mais je sens le vent qui se soulève
Souffle dans la nuit, emporte mon rêve
When I picture him, if he’s unhappy,
he knows he is growing older
But I feel the wind that now rises
Breathing into the night, carrying away my dreams
Refrain 2
Comme je l’imagine, il sourit d’un rien
Son destin va croiser mon chemin
Comme je l’imagine, il pourrait même
Être celui qui sera l’homme que j’aime
When I picture him, he smiles easily [reasonless]
His destiny will cross my path
When I picture him, he might even
Be the one that will be the man I’ll love
Comme je l’imagine, il aime l’aurore
Les matins d’hiver et la brume qui dort
Mais je sens le vent qui se soulève
Emporte la nuit, emporte mon rêve
When I picture him, he loves the sunrise
The winter mornings and the sleeping mist
But I feel the wind that now rises
Breathing into the night, carrying away my dreams