Charles Aznavour – La Bohème (French Lyrics English Translation)

“La Bohème” is the most famous song by French-Armenian legend Charles Aznavour. In this lesson, you’ll find the full lyrics with English translation, along with clear explanations of the vocabulary and grammar. It’s a great way to improve your French while exploring a timeless classic.

La Bohème: Song Background

Recorded in 1965, La Bohème was written by Charles Aznavour and lyricist Jacques Plante. The title means “The Bohemian,” and the lyrics tell the story of a painter reminiscing about his youth in Montmartre—the artists’ quarter of Paris known for its bohemian spirit.

The song evokes a deep nostalgia for the carefree days of love, passion, and poverty shared by struggling artists. During the Belle Époque (1872–1914), Montmartre was home to painters like Monet, Renoir, Picasso, and Van Gogh.

Listen to La Bohème

La Bohème Lyrics with English Translation

Je vous parle d’un tempsI talk to you about a timeQue les moins de vingt ansThat people under 20 years oldNe peuvent pas connaîtreCannot knowMontmartre en ce temps-làMontmartre during that time

Accrochait ses lilasHanging lilacsJusque sous nos fenêtresJust under our windowsEt si l’humble garniAnd if the humble furnished roomsQui nous servait de nidThat we used as (love) nestsNe payait pas de mineAppeared to be modestC’est là qu’on s’est connuIt is there where we met each otherMoi qui criait famineMe who was crying famineEt toi qui posais nueAnd you who posed in the nude

La bohème, la bohèmeThe bohemian, the bohemianÇa voulait direThat meantOn est heureuxWe were happyLa bohème, la bohèmeThe bohemian, the bohemianNous ne mangions qu’un jour sur deuxWe only ate every other day

Dans les cafés voisinsIn the neighboring cafésNous étions quelques-unsThere were a few of usQui attendions la gloireWho waited for gloryEt bien que miséreuxAnd although poorAvec le ventre creuxWith an empty stomachNous ne cessions d’y croireWe did not stop believing in itEt quand quelque bistroAnd when some bistroContre un bon repas chaudIn exchange for a hot mealNous prenait une toileAccepted one of our paintingsNous récitions des versWe recited versesGroupés autour du poêleGrouped around the stoveEn oubliant l’hiverForgetting winter

La bohème, la bohèmeThe bohemian, the bohemianÇa voulait direThat meantTu es jolieYou are prettyLa bohème, la bohèmeThe bohemian, the bohemianEt nous avions tous du génieAnd we all had some genius

Souvent il m’arrivaitIt often happened to meDevant mon chevaletIn front of my easelDe passer des nuits blanchesTo spend entire nights awakeRetouchant le dessinTouching up my drawingDe la ligne d’un seinOf the breast lineDu galbe d’une hancheOf the curve of a hipEt ce n’est qu’au matinAnd it’s only in the morningQu’on s’asseyait enfinThat we finally sat downDevant un café-crèmeIn front of a coffee with creamÉpuisés mais ravisExhausted but delightedFallait-il que l’on s’aimeWe must have loved each otherEt qu’on aime la vieAnd that we loved life

La bohème, la bohèmeThe bohemian, the bohemianÇa voulait direThat meantOn a vingt ansWe were twenty years oldLa bohème, la bohèmeThe bohemian, the bohemianEt nous vivions de l’air du tempsAnd we lived off the spirit of the times

Quand au hasard des joursWhen on some random dayJe m’en vais faire un tourI go for a walkÀ mon ancienne adresseTo my former addressJe ne reconnais plusI no longer recognizeNi les murs, ni les ruesNeither the walls, nor the streetsQui ont vu ma jeunesseThat saw my youthEn haut d’un escalierAt the top of a staircaseJe cherche l’atelierI look for the workshopDont plus rien ne subsisteIn which nothing remainsDans son nouveau décorIn its new sceneryMontmartre semble tristeMontmartre seems sadEt les lilas sont mortsAnd the lilacs are dead

La bohème, la bohèmeThe bohemian, the bohemianOn était jeunesWe were youngOn était fousWe were crazyLa bohème, la bohèmeThe bohemian, the bohemianÇa ne veut plus rien dire du toutThat no longer means anything at all

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Vocabulary and grammar of the French lyrics

Je vous parle d’un temps

This line translates to “I speak to you about a time”. The entire song is about the recounting of a time when life is Monartre was carefree and happy. Temps means time in French.

Accrochait des lilas jusque, Jusque sous nos fenêtres

These two lines translate to “Hanging lilacs, just under our windows”. The verb accrocher means to hang up. By using lilacs, these two lines the lyrics paint an image of liveliness and color in the particular setting of this artists’ quarter.

Et si l’humble garni, Qui nous servait de nid

These two lines translate to “And if the humble furnished rooms, That we used as (love) nests“. The word garni is an old-French word for furnished room. Nid means nest. A figurative meaning of nid is “love nest” or un nid d’amour.

Ne payait pas de mine

We translated this line to “appeared to be modest”. The expression ne pas payer de mine means to “not look good” or “to not look much”.

C’est là qu’on s’est connu

This line translates to “It is there where we met each other”. Se connaître (to meet each other) is an example of a reciprocal reflexive verb, which are used to indicate “to each other”.

Moi qui criait famine

This line translate to “Me who was crying famine”. The expression crier famine translates literally to “to cry famine” and means to starve.

La bohème, la bohème

Each time the chorus is sung, it starts with “La bohème, la bohème”, which translate to to “the Bohemian, the Bohemian”. Bohème is both a noun and adjective in French.

Ça voulait dire

This line translated to “that meant”. The expression vouloir dire means “to mean”.

On est heureux

This line translate to “we are happy”. The lyrist could have also written in the imperfect tense: “On était heureux” as he’s refering to the past. The pronoun on translates to “one” but is used to mean “we”.

Nous ne mangions qu’un jour sur deux

This line translates to “we only at every other day”. Un jour sur deux translates literally to “one day on two”. Sur means on. The French use the word “sur” to indicate “out of” for fractions. Ne…que is a negation meaning “only”.

Dans les cafés voisins

This line means “in the neighboring cafés”. The cafés in Monmartre were known as lively artist hangouts. Café means both cafe (coffee shop) and coffee and voisin literally means “neighbor”.

Nous étions quelques-uns

We translated this line to “there were a few of us”. The translation of quelques-uns is few, or a few. “Étions” is the verb être (to be) conjugated in the imperfect tense.

Qui attendions la gloire

We translated this line to “Who waited for glory“. Attendre can translated to both “to wait” and “to expect”. The word qui is a relative pronoun that means “who”.

Et bien que miséreux, Avec le ventre creux

These two lines translate to “And although poor, With an empty stomach”. Bien que is a conjunction which translates to both “though” and “although”. The adjective creux translates to both “hollow” and “empty”.

Nous ne cessions d’y croire

This line translate literally to “We did not stop believing in it”. Here, the y is an indirect object pronoun meaning “it” for inanimate objects. In analyzing the lyrics, the “y” or “it” most likely refers to “la gloire” or glory from a few lines above.

Et quand quelque bistro, Contre un bon repas chaud

These two lines translate to “And when some bistro, In exchange for a hot meal”. Normally, contre translates to against. However, the translation which applies in this context is “in exchange for”. Repas means “meal” in French.

En oubliant l’hiver

While we translated this line to “forgetting winter”, the literal translation is “while forgetting winter”. This is an example of the French gerund, which combines the preposition en with the present participle.

Souvent il m’arrivait

We translated this line to “It often happened to me”. Arriver translates to both “to arrive” and “to happen” or “to occur”. The word “il” here doesn’t mean “he”, as in the subject pronoun, but “it”. Souvent means “often” in French.

De passer des nuits blanches

This line translates to “To spend entire nights awake”. The French expression passer une nuit blanche (literally to spend a white night) means “to have a sleepless night” or “get no sleep”.

Et ce n’est qu’au matin

This line translates to “And it’s only in the morning”. This is an example of the ne…que (only) negation.

Fallait-il que l’on s’aime

We translated this line to “We must have loved each other”. This line uses the expression il faut (must, to be necessary) in the imperfect tense.

Et nous vivions de l’air du temps

It was difficult to come up with a good translation for this line. Our translation was “And we experience the spirit of the times“. The French verb vivre means both “to live” and “to experience”. L’air du temps translates to “the spirt of the times” refers to the atmosphere or feeling of the bohemian time period.

Quand au hasard des jours

This line translates to “When on some random day“. The translation of au hasard is “at random”. In these lines, the singer is talking about being older and going back to visit his former residence in Monmartre and not recognizing it.

Je m’en vais faire un tour

We simply translated this line to “I go visit“. The verb s’en aller means both “to go” and “to leave”. It is a reflexive for of the verb aller (to go). The expression faire un tour means both “to have a stroll” and “go for a walk”.

À mon ancienne adresse

This line translates to “My former address“. The “À mon” part of the line means “at my”. When the adjective ancien precedes a noun, it means “former”. When it follows a noun, it means “old”.

Je ne reconnais plus

We translated this line to “I will no longer recognize” because the singer is singing about a future event. The negation ne…plus means “anymore”.

Ni les murs, ni les rues

This line translates to “Neither the walls, nor the streets“. Another negation rule, ni…ni means neither…nor.

Qui ont vu ma jeunesse

This line translates to “that saw my youth”. Another translation could have been “that witnessed my youth”.

En haut d’un escalier, Je cherche l’atelier

These two lines translate to “At the top of the stairs, I look for the workshop”. In these lines, the singer is revisiting the exact places in Montmartre where he spent his youth painting.

Dont plus rien ne subsiste

This line translates to “In which nothing remains”. Dont has several translations and usages including “in which”. In the context of this line, the verb subsister means “to remain”.

Dans son nouveau décor

This line translates literally to “in its new decor”. However, we translated it to “in its new scenery”. This is because the singer is describing visiting Montmartre after many years and not recognizing its scenery.

Montmartre semble triste, Et les lilas sont morts

The lyrics of La Bohème end on a sad not as the singer goes back to visit his old neighborhood where he lived as a happy painter in his youth and sings, “Montmartre seems said, And the lilacs are dead”.

La Bohème, La Bohème, Ça ne veut plus rien dire du tout

On the very last line of the song, Aznavour sings, “The bohemian, the bohemian, That no longer means anything at all”. Essentially, what he’s conveying is that the happy and carefree days of being a youthful painter in Montmartre are finished and completely a thing of the past.

Lyrics of more French songs:

• La vie en Rose (Edith Piaf)
• Non, je ne regrette rien (Edith Piaf)
• C’est si bon (Yves Montand)
• La mer (Charles Trenet)
• Ne me quitte pas (Jacques Brel)
• Le Port d’Amsterdam (Jacques Brel)
• Les Champs-Elysées (Joe Dessin)
• Les feuilles mortes (Yves Montand)
• C’est si bon (Yves montand)
• Les Champs-Élysées (Joe Dassin)

Keep Learning with More Songs and French Words

Want to keep learning? Check out our French song lyrics page for more classics with translations and explanations. You can also explore our French Word of the Day series to grow your vocabulary, one word at a time.

David Issokson Founder & French Teacher at FrenchLearner.com David Issokson is the founder of FrenchLearner.com, where he’s been helping students master French through vocabulary, grammar, and cultural lessons since 2012. See Full Bio French language French grammar French vocabulary French verbs French expressions Learning French online French culture French songs and music