Françoise Madeleine Hardy (1944-) is a French singer-songwriter. She made her musical debut in the early 1960s on Disques Vogue and found immediate success with her song Tous les garçons et les filles (1962). As a leading figure of the yé-yé movement, Hardy “found herself at the very forefront of the French music scene” and became “France’s most exportable female singing star”, recording in various languages, appearing in movies, touring throughout Europe, and gaining plaudits from musicians such as Bob Dylan, Miles Davis and Mick Jagger. She later began working with more accomplished songwriters such as Serge Gainsbourg, and Patrick Modiano. Her 1971 album La question represented an important turning point in her career, moving towards a more mature style; it remains her most acclaimed work and has generated a dedicated cult following over the years.
C’est le temps de l’amour,
Le temps des copains et de l’aventure
Quand le temps va et vient,
On ne pense à rien malgré ses blessures
Car le temps de l’amour
C’est long et c’est court,
Ça dure toujours, on s’en souvient
It is the time of love,
The time of friends and adventure
As the time comes and goes
One thinks of nothing despite of one’s wounds
Because the time of love
It’s long and it’s short,
It lasts forever, one remembers it
On se dit qu’à vingt ans, on est le roi du monde,
Et qu’éternellement il y aura dans nos yeux
Tout le ciel bleu
At twenty, we tell ourselves that we rule the world,
And that all the blue sky will be in our eyes forever
Refrain (chorus)
Car le temps de l’amour
Ça vous met au cœur
beaucoup de chaleur et de bonheur
For the time of love
It fills your heart
With so much warmth and happiness
Un beau jour c’est l’amour et le cœur bat plus vite,
Car la vie suit son cours
Et l’on est tout heureux d’être amoureux
One fine day it’s love and the heart beats faster,
For life follows its course
And one is totally happy to be in love
Refrain (chorus)