What is the song about?
The singer is in a train station in the evening. They look at the timetable screen, wait for their train with their ticket, and go down to the platform. But the screen announces a fifteen-minute delay. No problem: they go grab a coffee. Finally, the doors open, they find a seat, and the train leaves the city. The chorus comes back to track number five and the connection they need to catch quickly.
Useful words and expressions
- la gare: the building where you catch the train (train station)
- l'écran, les horaires: the board showing train times (screen, timetable)
- le départ / l'arrivée
- le billet: the ticket for traveling
- l'annonce: the message over the loudspeaker (announcement)
- entrer en gare: to arrive at the station (for a train)
- les bagages: suitcases and bags (luggage)
- l'escalier mécanique: stairs that move on their own (escalator)
- le quai: the place where you wait for the train (platform)
- la voie: the tracks where the train stops (voie numéro cinq)
- une correspondance: a second train to take to continue the journey (connection)
- un retard: when the train arrives later than scheduled (delay)
- une place assise: an available seat
- monter dans le train / descendre du train
- Ça ne fait rien.: it doesn't matter / it's no big deal
- Ça me fera du bien.: it will make me feel good, give me energy (it will do me good)
- Il ne va plus tarder.: it will arrive very soon (it won't be long now)
- remettre sur de bons rails: to get something going properly again (a figurative expression that comes from trains: to get back on track)
- Prochain arrêt...: the next station where the train stops (Next stop...)
Grammar
- The present tense to tell what is happening right now: je regarde, je cherche, j'attends, je monte.
- The near future (futur proche) (aller + infinitive): le train va arriver, je vais boire un café.
- The simple future (futur simple): ça me fera du bien (verb faire).
- The passé composé: le programme a changé, l'attente a été longue, le temps s'est arrêté (with être for reflexive verbs).
- Reflexive verbs (verbes pronominaux): les horaires s'affichent, les portes s'ouvrent / se ferment, le moteur se réveille.
- Il y a to introduce something: il y a un retard.
- The negation ne... plus: il ne va plus tarder.
- On instead of nous in spoken French: on quitte la ville.
Note: choices made for the rhyme
- J'attends dans le noir: a train station is usually lit; the expression is mainly there to rhyme with départ.
- L'escalier mécanique vers le quai me porte: the word order is inverted for the rhyme. Normally, you would say: L'escalier mécanique me porte vers le quai.
- Le moteur s'avance: a poetic image. You would usually say: le train s'avance or le train arrive.
- Le programme a changé: for a train, you would usually say l'horaire a changé.
- On quitte le portail: this is not natural for a train; the word was chosen to rhyme with rails. You would say: on quitte la gare or on quitte le quai.
- Il entre en gare, il ne va plus tarder: in real life, you first say il ne va plus tarder, and then il entre en gare.