S’il suffisait d’aimer (If Loving Were Enough)
Dion & Goldman, 1999, Stade de France
This was the lead song on the 1998 album by the same name that Jean-Jacques Goldman wrote for Céline Dion during their close collaboration that resulted in the two albums “D’eux” in 1995 and “S’il suffisait d’aimer” in 1998. Those two albums became the best-selling French-language albums in history. The song and album were recorded in 1996-97 and produced by Goldman and Erick Benzi (a French songwriter, composer and producer).
Goldman is a crafty but evasive symbolist poet. His songs are very much an expression of his personality: elusive, discrete, reticent, and retiring. Let us recall that he quit performing in 2004, moved to London shortly thereafter, and studiously avoids media exposure. Similarly, in his songs he drops tantalizing images and questions but avoids logical narratives leading to closure. Note the finesse in the title "S'il suffisait d'aimer" instead of a more direct "Si l'amour suffisait." In this song, Céline’s powerful voice and delivery offset the endemic ambiguity in Goldman’s lyrics.
Goldman’s song provides a good introduction to the use of conditional verbs and phrases in language and the distinction between “real” and “unreal” conditional sentences. A real conditional sentence represents events with a high level of certainty (“if it rains, I will stay home”). An unreal conditional sentence represents events that are uncertain or unlikely (“if it were to rain, I would stay home”).
There is a tendency to believe that the question posed in the title of this song (“S’il suffisait d’aimer”) (“If loving were enough”) is actually a statement with the effect that all we need to change the world is more love. Consequently, most interpretations of the song focus on the transformative power of love. The real question that the song’s title poses, however, is whether it is true that “loving is enough.” Fortunately, the title’s conditional verb “were” points us in the right direction. In combination with the refrain’s use of “ferais” and “ferions” (“would”) describing the consequences, we can conclude that we are in the realm of an uncertain hypothetical about the sufficiency of love.
The song’s title therefore is a hypothetical and it is repeated in the 3 refrains (“If loving were enough…”) and the final lines of the refrains provide something of a sequitur about changing the world. The questions remain, however: “is love enough?” “What’s next?” And “Why isn’t it working?” The sequitur in the refrains magnifies the confusion with its clever inversion of terms that leaves things unsettled. The first two refrains end with “I would make a dream of this world” but in the final refrain “I” becomes “We” and the words “dream” and “world” change places: “We would make a world of this dream”—which is it and what does it imply?
There are 7 stanzas, each with 8 lines, and rhymes throughout, mostly in an ABAB configuration. The song has 4 verses (1,2,4,5) and 3 refrains (3, 6,7). Each verse begins with a short and ambiguous statement: “I dream of his face but avoid his body;” “How do others do it who succeed at everything?” “I have blood in my dreams, a dry petal;” “A child in a garden on a balcony of flowers.” It is as though Goldman snipped images from Céline’s scrapbooks and scattered them into the song.
Ultimately, one concludes that the question posed in the title is something of a “red herring” that requires a tough and more inclusive answer. Perhaps, love is not enough. Perhaps, lasting relationships require more than love—things like communication, intimacy, common interests, symmetrical needs and congruent personalities. Goldman’s talent is prodding the bear with images and questions while leaving much to the imagination.
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Je rêve son visage Je décline son corps Et puis je l’imagine Habitant mon décor J’aurais tant à lui dire Si j’avais su parler Comment lui faire lire Au fond de mes pensées? Mais comment font ces autres À qui tout réussit? Qu’on me dise mes fautes Mes chimères aussi Moi j’offrirais mon âme, Mon coeur et tout mon temps Mais j’ai beau tout donner, Tout n’est pas suffisant Refrain S’il suffisait qu’on s’aime, S’il suffisait d’aimer Si l’on changeait les choses un peu, Rien qu’en aimant donner S’il suffisait qu’on s’aime, S’il suffisait d’aimer Je ferais de ce monde un rêve, Une éternité J’ai du sang dans mes songes, Un pétale séché Quand des larmes me rongent Que d’autres ont versées La vie n’est pas étanche, Mon île est sous le vent Les portes laissent entrer les cris Même en fermant Dans un jardin l’enfant, Sur un balcon des fleurs Ma vie paisible où j’entends Battre tous les coeurs Quand les nuages foncent, Présages des malheurs Quelles armes répondent Aux pays de nos peurs? Refrain S’il suffisait qu’on s’aime, S’il suffisait d’aimer Si l’on changeait les choses un peu, Rien qu'en aimant donner S'il suffisait qu'on s'aime, s'il suffisait d'aimer Je ferais de ce monde un rêve, Une éternité S’il suffisait qu’on s’aime, S’il suffisait d’aimer Si l’on pouvait changer les choses Et tout recommencer S’il suffisait qu’on s’aime, S’il suffisait d’aimer Nous ferions de ce rêve un monde S’il suffisait d’aimer |
I dream of his face, I avoid his body. And then I imagine him Living in my space I'd have so much to tell him, If I were able to speak. How to make him read Deep inside my mind? But how do others do it, Those who succeed in everything? Someone should tell me my mistakes, My fantasies as well I would offer my soul, My heart and all my time. But even if I give it all, All is not enough. Refrain If loving each other were enough, If loving were enough, If we changed things a little, Only by loving to give. If loving each other were enough, If loving were enough, I would make a dream of this world An eternity. I have blood in my dreams, A dry petal, When tears make me suffer Even shed by others. Life isn't sealed, My island is windswept. Doors let cries enter Even when closing. The child in a garden, On a balcony of flowers, My peaceful life where I hear The beating of every heart. When the clouds darken, Sign of misfortune, What arms answer In the country of our fears? Refrain If loving each other were enough, If loving were enough, If we changed things a little Only by loving to give. If loving each other were enough, If loving were enough, I would make this world a dream, An eternity If loving each other were enough, If loving were enough, If we could change things And restart everything, If loving each other were enough, If loving were enough, We would make this dream a world If loving were enough. |
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