Monday, September 7, 2020

"Michelle"

I was thinking about "Michelle" this morning, and I realized that the French lines aren't quite the same as the English.  Essentially, the lines "Michelle, my belle / These are words that go together well" are translated into French as "Michelle, ma belle / Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble" (although I'm not sure whether it's really "my" or "ma," since they sound similar when sung).

A more literal translation of the French would be:  "Michelle, my belle / Are some words that go very well together."  To match the English exactly, it would be something like:  "Michelle, ma belle / Ce sont mots qui vont bien ensemble."  In English, it's simply "well," but in French, it's "very well" ("très bien").