What is the song about?

The singer comes home and shows us around his house. He goes through the hallway (couloir), the kitchen (cuisine), the living room (salon), the bathroom (salle de bain) and the bedroom (chambre), and describes what he does there. For him, home is a quiet refuge, a safe place where he can rest, laugh and dream, far from the noise of the street.

Useful words and expressions

The rooms

  • la pièce: a part of the house, a room (les pièces de ma maison)
  • le couloir (hallway), la cuisine (kitchen), le salon (living room), la salle de bain (bathroom), la chambre (bedroom)
Furniture and objects
  • les meubles (furniture): la table (table), le canapé (sofa), le lit (bed), l'armoire (wardrobe)
  • le frigo: a very common informal word for le réfrigérateur (refrigerator)
  • le tapis (rug), la télévision (television), le miroir (mirror), la lampe (lamp), les tableaux (paintings)
  • des tableaux aux murs: paintings hanging on the walls
Expressions
  • chez moi: in my house, at home (j'entre chez moi, Bienvenue chez moi)
  • un nid douillet: a comfortable and warm home ("a cozy nest")
  • un coin de paradis: a very pleasant place ("a corner of paradise")
  • quand le jour s'éteint: when night falls (poetic expression)
  • jusqu'au petit matin: until the early hours of the morning
  • se sentir bien (to feel good): je me sens très bien

Grammar

The present indicative. The whole song is in the present tense: j'ouvre, j'entre, je bois, je lis.

Aller dans + room. To say where you are going in the house: je vais dans la cuisine, je vais dans la salle de bain.

Reflexive verbs. They are very frequent:

  • je m'assois (you can also say je m'assieds)
  • je me lave les mains: with a part of the body, we use the article les, not mes
  • je me sens très bien
  • me reposer, me retrouver
Possessive adjectives. ma maison, mon salon, mes vêtements. Note: we say mon armoire and mon endroit, not ma armoire, because the word begins with a vowel.

De + plural adjective. de beaux meubles: when the adjective is placed before a plural noun, des often becomes de.

Pour + infinitive / à + infinitive. un tapis pour jouer, une histoire à raconter: to express purpose or what can be done.

Watch out for choices made for the rhyme

  • « loin des étincelles »: this image is chosen to rhyme with belles. It means "far from the hustle and bustle", but it is not a common expression. Say loin de l'agitation or loin du bruit instead.
  • « Je regarde le miroir »: in everyday French, we usually say je me regarde dans le miroir.
  • « Le couloir est petit, mais je suis le roi »: this is a play on words to rhyme with moi. The idea is "in my home, I'm the one who decides".