Formidable Lyrics in English by Stromae
Formidable means "wonderful" or "great", but the genius of this song is in its wordplay. Stromae masterfully breaks the word in two to create a hidden, opposite meaning.
He sings, "Tu étais formidable, j'étais fort minable" (You were wonderful, I was very pathetic). This clever pun, where the single word formidable sounds just like the phrase fort minable, captures the entire song's theme of feeling worthless after a relationship that once felt so great.
Belgian artist Stromae turns an electronic dance track into a messy, drunken monologue on the street. The title is a clever pun on the chorus: "Tu étais formidable, j'étais fort minable" ("You were wonderful, I was very pathetic"). By splitting the word formidable into fort (very) and minable (pathetic, pitiful), he contrasts his ex-partner's brilliance with his own rock-bottom state. Freshly single since yesterday ("J'suis célibataire, depuis hier"), he wanders around slurring to random passersby that he is polite, courteous, and "un peu fort bourré" ("a bit heavily drunk").
Instead of keeping his misery to himself, he lashes out at everyone he sees. He mocks a married man by telling him a wedding ring is just a ring ("Mais ç'est qu'un anneau, mec") and predicts his wife will dump him eventually. He even lectures a child ("gamin") with harsh truths about parents cheating and growing old, before turning on the staring crowd and yelling at them: "Bande de macaques!" ("Bunch of monkeys!"). It is cynical, loud, and brutally honest about what a bad breakup looks like when you lose your filter in public.
