Learn French With L.E.J. with these 11 Song Recommendations (Full Translations Included!)

L.E.J.
LF Content Team | Updated on 2 February 2023
Learning French with L.E.J.'s music is fun, engaging, and includes a cultural aspect that is often missing from other language learning methods. It is also great way to supplement your learning and stay motivated to keep learning French!
Below are 11 song recommendations by L.E.J. to get you started! Alongside each recommendation, you will find a snippet of the lyric translations with links to the full lyric translations and lessons for each of the songs!
CONTENTS SUMMARY
Je Suis Malade (I'm Sick)
Je ne rêve plus
Je ne fume plus
Je n'ai même plus
D'histoire
I don't dream anymore
I don't smoke anymore
I don't even have
a story

Je Suis Malade is the ultimate French power-ballad about lovesickness, and L.E.J. delivers it with raw, modern energy. Instead of describing a cold or fever, the singer lists all the symptoms of a broken heart: she no longer dreams, smokes, or even has stories to tell. Without the person she loves, she feels ugly, orphaned, and utterly adrift. Every daily object turns into a painful reminder: her bed becomes a train platform, every boat seems to wave her lover’s flag, and every glass of whisky tastes exactly the same.
The chorus hammers the diagnosis: “Je suis malade” – “I’m sick,” completely and perfectly sick with love.

The song paints a dramatic picture of dependency. The beloved appears and disappears without warning, leaving the singer suspended between hope and despair for almost two years. She clings to this person “like a rock” or “like a sin,” exhausted from pretending to be happy in front of others. By comparing her adult heartache to the childhood terror of being left alone when her mother went out at night, the lyrics show how abandonment wounds can resurface in romance. In short, Je Suis Malade is a theatrical cry of obsession, loneliness, and the stubborn refusal to heal when love feels more like an illness than a cure.

Ne Me Quitte Pas (Do Not Leave Me)
Ne me quitte pas
Il faut oublier
Tout peut s'oublier
Qui s'enfuit déjà
Don't leave me
We must forget
Everything can be forgotten
That's already slipping away

Ne Me Quitte Pas is a heartfelt French ballad in which the singer clings to love with every ounce of imagination and devotion she has. From the very first line – "Don’t leave me" – we enter a dramatic plea that mixes regret over past misunderstandings with a fierce hope of starting anew. The narrator begs her partner to forget old mistakes and give their relationship another chance, promising a fresh world where love rules and joy is queen.

Throughout the song she paints dazzling pictures to prove her dedication: "pearls of rain from lands where it never rains," fields that bloom richer than spring, even the rebirth of a dormant volcano. These poetic vows grow more intense until she is willing to shrink her own existence just to stay close, content to be "the shadow of your shadow." The result is a moving portrait of raw vulnerability, showing how far a broken heart will go to keep love alive — a powerful lesson in both passion and the beauty of French expression.

Foule Sentimentale X La Vie En Rose (Sentimental Crowd X La Vie En Rose)
La vie en rose
La-la, la vie en rose
Le rose qu'on nous propose
D'avoir les quantités d'choses
Life in pink
la-la, life in pink
The pink they offer us
To have loads of stuff

L.E.J’s mash-up “Foule Sentimentale x La Vie En Rose” paints two pictures at once. First we taste the sweet, dreamy pink of la vie en rose—Edith Piaf’s famous way of seeing life through love-tinted glasses. Then the trio flips the canvas with Alain Souchon’s Foule Sentimentale, a sharp look at how advertising and nonstop shopping try to fill our closets and minds. The result is a playful duet between optimism and irony, where sunny vocal harmonies hide a thoughtful wink.

What is the song really saying? True happiness is not the mountain of stuff we are told to buy. We are “thirsty for ideals,” drawn to the stars and the sails—symbols of freedom, travel, and dreams that cannot be sold. The repeated line “Il faut voir comme on nous parle” reminds us to notice how marketing speaks to us from birth, treating us as fools. L.E.J encourages us to keep our hearts romantic and our eyes critical, so we can choose wonder over wallet and paint our own life in rose.

La Bohème (Bohemian)
Je vous parle d'un temps
Que les moins de vingt ans
Ne peuvent pas connaître
Montmartre en ce temps-là
I'm talking about a time
that people under twenty
can't know
Montmartre back then

La Bohème invites us to wander back to Paris in the days when painters, poets, and dreamers filled the steep streets of Montmartre with color and hope. The singer remembers a tiny, shabby room that felt like a bird’s nest of creativity: he was a starving artist, she was a nude model, and together they lived on coffee, lilacs, and big dreams. Money was scarce, meals were skipped, yet happiness overflowed because every brushstroke, poem, and friendship promised future glory.

Years later he returns, only to find the old studio vanished and the lilacs gone. Success might have arrived, but the carefree spirit of la vie bohème has faded. This bittersweet contrast—joyful past versus changed present—reminds us that true wealth can be found in passion, love, and youthful madness rather than in comfort or fame.

Acrobates (Acrobats)
Assieds-toi, je t'invite
J'ai un jeu qui pourrait te plaire
Repoussons nos limites
Si tu n'choisis pas je te ressers
Sit down, I invite you
I've got a game that might please you
Let's push our limits
If you don't choose I'll serve you again

**Fasten your seatbelt, because L.E.J’s “Acrobates” feels like an intense round of Would You Rather? set to music. One voice invites us to sit, play, and keep choosing between extreme, sometimes absurd dilemmas: be Trump’s look-alike or Hitler’s officer? eat dirt, fall from the sky, or wait for war? stay with a cheating lover or live a passionless routine? By piling up these uncomfortable choices, the trio shines a spotlight on how society, the media, and even our own relationships constantly push us to pick sides, label ourselves, and fight battles that drain our energy.

Yet the chorus flips the script: “La vie défile vite… viens, on défie l’vide, acrobates.” Life rushes by, so instead of wearing ourselves out, let’s become acrobats who dare to leap over the void. The song is a playful but urgent call to stop obsessing over false dilemmas and reclaim the thrill of taking risks, trusting ourselves, and dancing above the chaos before time runs out.

Tous Les Deux (Both Of You)
J'peux le regarder danser
Je peux l'écouter penser parler seul
Et comme l'accord est parfait
Je sais qu'on pourrait l'faire pendant des heures
I can watch him dance
I can listen to him think, talk to himself
And since the harmony's perfect
I know we could do it for hours

“Tous Les Deux” invites us onto an imaginary dance floor where love twirls between certainty and doubt. L.E.J sings about that magical moment when two people lock eyes and suddenly the rest of the room fades away. She watches her partner “dance” and even loves the way he thinks out loud, showing that real connection is built on the little, everyday details. The chorus repeats “tous les deux” (just the two of us) like a heartbeat, reminding us that, whatever happens, they keep choosing each other.

Yet the song is not blind to reality. The lyrics wonder if they will fall, get back up, or part ways someday. Instead of fearing the unknown, they decide to savor the present, to “pass a bit of life” together and let bystanders watch them dance. It’s an anthem for anyone who knows that relationships can wobble, but with mutual trust and resilience, both partners can always rise again—together. نعم

Pas Peur (Not Afraid)
J'ai pas peur de l'orage, pas peur des fantômes et des monstres
Pas peur d'une rage de dents, j'ai pas peur de la fin du monde
J'ai pas peur des bombes, de la peine maximale
J'ai pas peur du jugement des autres, du temps qui fait si mal
I'm not scared of storms, not scared of ghosts and monsters
Not scared of a toothache, I'm not scared of the end of the world
I'm not scared of bombs, of the maximum sentence
I'm not scared of others' judgment, of time that hurts so bad

Pas Peur is L.E.J.'s playful inventory of fears she doesn't have - from thunderstorms and ghosts to bad tattoos and spiders. Line after line, she presents herself as almost invincible, brushing off disasters, sickness, even the end of the world with a carefree shrug. The repetition is catchy and funny, but it also builds suspense: if she fears nothing, what could possibly scare her?

The punch line arrives in the chorus. After laughing in the face of bombs, heartbreak, and family dinners, she admits the one thing that truly terrifies her: the idea that you might be able to live without her. This sudden confession turns the song into a tender love letter, revealing that behind the bravado lies a vulnerable heart. "Pas Peur" reminds us that even the boldest people hide a single, soul-deep fear - losing the person they love.

Tu Es (You Are)
Bigflo Oli
Tu connais, non
J't'ai déçu
Tes yeux n'sont plus les mêmes
Bigflo Oli
You know, right
I disappointed you
Your eyes aren't the same anymore

“Tu Es” feels like a musical mirror where every reflection argues with itself. L.E.J.’s silky vocal layers set the stage, then Bigflo & Oli jump in with rapid-fire confessions, creating a sharp contrast of harmony versus raw rap. The hook keeps flipping the words tu es (you are) and tué (killed), turning a simple phrase into a clever riddle: the very qualities that define us can also destroy us.

The lyrics read like a duel between past and present selves. Childhood innocence collides with grown-up ego, love turns into rivalry, and the chase for success leaves emotional “bullet holes.” Lines about pulling the trigger on someone else really point to self-sabotage: by trying too hard to “save yourself,” you end up killing the parts that made you authentic. It is a bittersweet anthem about identity, fame, and the inner battles we all fight when we look in the mirror and ask, Who am I – and what have I done to get here?

Pas L'time (Not Time)
Arrête tes conneries, j'ai pas l'time et tant pis si tu trouves ça drôle
Tu fais gole-ri mais t'es pas d'taille, t'es pas synchro
Quand tu fais une cover, t'as pas l'time avec un cello et pas d'micro
On fera pas d'feat' sur ton album
Stop your bullsh*t, I ain't got time and tough luck if you think it's funny
You're clowning but you're outta your league, you're out of sync
When you do a cover, you ain't got time with just a cello and no mic
We're not gonna do a feature on your album

Pas L'time is L.E.J.'s turbo-charged declaration of “I’m on a mission, move out of my way!” Throughout the lyrics, the French trio brushes off half-hearted collaborators, would-be suitors and anyone who slows down their creative sprint. Their mantra pas l'time – “no time” – keeps coming back like a rhythmic punchline, reminding us that they value hard work, ambition and authenticity over small talk or cheap shortcuts.

Everything in the song revolves around speed, hustle and self-worth. The singers reject empty compliments, last-minute dinner invites and even lucrative offers if the vibe is off, because success for them means staying focused and true to their craft. The result is a playful yet fierce anthem for anyone who has ever felt too driven to waste a single second.

Liberté, Égalité (Liberty Egality)
On pensait jouer en 4-4-2 Oublier l'4-9-3, 4-9-3
On est tous devant le même écran mais on ne se regarde pas
Pousse-toi, pousse-toi
De ceux qui s'en foutent à ceux qui ne vivent que pour ça
We thought we'd play 4-4-2, forget the 49-3, 49-3
We're all in front of the same screen but we don't look at each other
Move over, move over
From those who don't care to those who live only for it

“Liberté, Égalité, Mbappé!” L.E.J. turn the roar of a soccer crowd into a sharp social snapshot of modern France. The trio mix playful stadium chants with clever word-play, swapping the historic motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité for the name of star striker Kylian Mbappé. Behind the fun lies a pointed message: while the nation unites in front of screens for a 4-4-2 formation, politicians slip controversial laws through article 49-3, and people jostle for space without truly seeing one another. Football becomes a mirror reflecting political tension, media frenzy, and the longing for real togetherness.

From Marine Le Pen retweeting Paul Pogba to the hopeful cries on the Champs-Élysées, the lyrics celebrate the moments that make France cheer while questioning whether unity ends with the final whistle. L.E.J. remind us that even when La Gaule a la gueule de bois (France wakes with a hangover), the rooster still sings. Their song invites listeners to puff out their chests like Ntolo Kanté trapping a pass, take responsibility for change “now,” and remember that the true match is not on the pitch but in the way citizens play side by side every day.

La Nuit (The Night)
La nuit on n'dort pas, on danse
Et quand on n'danse pas, on pense
On cherche des réponses
À toutes ces questions qu'on ne pose pas
At night we don't sleep, we dance
And when we don't dance, we think
We're looking for answers
To all those questions we don't ask

La Nuit drops us into the electric blur of French nightlife, where the rule is simple: on ne dort pas, on danse – we don’t sleep, we dance. L.E.J. paints a vivid picture of bodies moving, drinks clinking, and verses shouted over a bar, all while a quiet voice inside keeps asking, “Why are you really here?” Each beat is a distraction from nagging doubts about fitting in, finding love, or just proving something to friends. The night invites bold lies, spontaneous trips, and flirtations that feel profound until the lights come up.

Beneath the glitter, though, the trio exposes a tug-of-war between motion and thought. The moment your feet stop, your mind races, trying to answer questions you never voice in daylight. Empty glasses, fleeting smiles, and hazy smoke become props in a search for meaning that always seems one song away. La Nuit is both a celebration of after-dark freedom and a playful confession that most of us are simply postponing our uncertainties until tomorrow’s sunrise.

We have more songs with translations on our website and mobile app. You can find the links to the website and our mobile app below. We hope you enjoy learning French with music!