Florent Pagny released the song “T'aimer encore” in May 2025 following a 3-year leave of absence while he battled lung cancer. It appeared several months later in his 22nd studio album “Grandeur Nature” which carries an implication of “unadorned” or “authentic” magnificence. During that absence, French singer-songwriter Vianney wrote "T'aimer encore" which Pagny eventually adopted and dedicated to his wife Azucena, who is identified in the title by the intimate form of the personal pronoun object “te.”
Vianney (b. Vianney Bureau 1991) is a relative newcomer to the French music scene who released his debut album “Idées blanches” in 2014. This was quickly followed by a roster of awards between 2015 and 2017, including in 2015 the “Prix talents W9” award, the SACEM Lemarque Award, RFM award, a nomination for the Victoires de la Musique “(VdM) “Revelation album of the year” and an award in 2016 as the VdM “Male artist of the year.” Vianney and Pagny worked as colleagues on the French talent show “The Voice.”
Edward Hall outlined his conception of France as a “high context” national culture in his 1959 book “The Silent Language.” In “high context” cultures, meaning in communication depends heavily on contextual clues like shared history, non-verbal clues and implicit understanding of social relationships. Persons from “low context” cultures, on the other hand, depend primarily on the explicit meaning of words. This typology of “context” as a dimension of culture has become a bedrock feature of cultural anthropology. It helps understand why accurate communication between people of different cultures is so perilous and helps explain the high bar to effective translation.
In this song, examples of context-dependent words include “encore” in the title, the expression “vouloir bien” and the use of “que” to begin a sentence. These three words and expressions are present in virtually all lines of this song. They all have multiple possible meanings that depend on the overall context of the situation. Understanding that context is necessary for accurate interpretation. See the notes below for more explanation.
The title of the song “T’aimer encore” enjoys the same ambiguities with the word “encore” as did Charles Aznavour’s song “Hier encore” and Céline Dion’s song “Pour que tu m’aimes encore,” and others in the “chanson” canon. In all of them, the word “encore” can mean various things: “still,” “again,” “more” or even “yet” in English. Lara Fabian’s song “Je t’aime encore,” for example, clearly means “still.” In Pagny’s song, “encore” cannot mean “again” since that would imply that loving had stopped and “more” would suggest that it was not enough. Perish that thought. The context of the song in Pagny’s life (after surviving 3 years of cancer treatment) and of the words in the song itself suggest he is looking forward to additional years of continued love for his already well-loved wife.
In France, the title “T’aimer encore” acquires an English translation as “Still Loving You.” As explained in Florent Pagny’s profile on this website, Pagny’s songs have two recurrent characteristics. First, song titles use verb infinitives as nouns (which English calls “gerunds” when adding “ing” to the root of a verb). The translation of the title “T’aimer encore” as “Still Loving You” fits squarely in this pattern, along with the titles of his other songs “Savoir aimer” and “Chanter.” Second, Pagny songs show “generous repetition of specific turns of phrase” in the lyrics. In this song, the phrase “Je veux” appears 23 times while the longer phrase “Je veux t'aimer encore” appears 13 times. Hats off to Vianney in nailing these aspects of Pagny’s style.
In France, the title “T’aimer encore” acquires an English translation as “Still Loving You.” As explained in Florent Pagny’s profile on this website, Pagny’s songs have two recurrent characteristics. First, song titles use verb infinitives as nouns (which English calls “gerunds” when adding “ing” to the root of a verb). The translation of the title “T’aimer encore” as “Still Loving You” fits squarely in this pattern, along with the titles of his other songs “Savoir aimer” and “Chanter.” Second, Pagny songs show “generous repetition of specific turns of phrase” in the lyrics. In this song, the phrase “Je veux” appears 23 times while the longer phrase “Je veux t'aimer encore” appears 13 times. Hats off to Vianney in nailing these aspects of Pagny’s style.
The song’s structure is Verse/Pre-Chorus/Chorus/Verse/Pre-Chorus/Chorus/Bridge/Outro.
There is appropriate rhyming throughout.
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Verse 1 Je veux bien les larmes et la douleur Je veux bien les doutes Je veux bien que vivre encore Me coûte Je veux bien la laideur et l'oubli Je veux bien trembler Je veux bien ne plus pouvoir Chanter Pre-Chorus Il me reste tant de choses à dire Tant de gestes pour te faire sourire Chorus Je veux t'aimer encore Je veux t'aimer encore Qu'elle attende, la mort Je veux t'aimer encore Je veux donner bien plus Que ce que j'ai reçu Que le diable m'ignore Je veux t'aimer encore Verse 2 Je veux voir les enfants des enfants Dans des courses folles Et leur parler du bon temps En espagnole Pre-Chorus Au bon Dieu j'ne demande rien Rien qu'un peu de temps dans tes mains Chorus Je veux t'aimer encore Je veux t'aimer encore Qu'elle attende, la mort Je veux t'aimer encore Je veux donner bien plus Que ce que j'ai reçu Que le diable m'ignore Je veux t'aimer encore Bridge Et je reste là Oui, je reste là Je me tiens aux miens Mes mains ne tremblent pas Et je reste là Oui, je reste là Pour toi Chorus Je veux t'aimer encore Je veux t'aimer encore Qu'elle attende la mort Je veux t'aimer encore Je veux donner bien plus Que ce que j'ai reçu Que le diable m'ignore Je veux t'aimer encore Je veux donner bien plus Que ce que j'ai reçu Que le diable m'ignore Je veux t'aimer encore Outro Et je reste là Pour toi |
Verse 1 I’ll take the tears and the pain I’ll take the doubts I’ll take that living longer Still costs me I’ll take the ugliness and the forgetting I’ll take the trembling I’ll take not being able anymore To Sing Pre-Chorus I still have so many things to say So many acts to make you smile Chorus I want to love you longer I want to love you longer Let death wait I want to love you longer I want to give much more Than what I have received Let the devil ignore me I want to love you longer Verse 2 I want to see the children of children In wild races And tell them about the good times In Spanish Pre-Chorus From the good Lord I ask nothing Nothing but a little time in your hands Chorus I want to love you longer I want to love you longer Let death wait I want to love you longer I want to give much more Than what I have received Let the devil ignore me I want to love you longer Bridge And I stay here Yes I stay here I hold on to my loved ones My hands do not tremble And I stay here Yes I stay here For you Chorus I want to love you longer I want to love you longer Let death wait I want to love you longer I want to give much more Than what I have received Let the devil ignore me I want to love you longer I want to give much more Than what I have received Let the devil ignore me I want to love you longer Outro And I stay here For you |
NB:
Vouloir bien: is an expression that indicates willing acceptance but can reveal a lack of enthusiasm or passive acceptance depending on the context. In the context of this song, it is reasonable to understand that Pagny accepts (but without relish) such things as: “larmes,” “douleurs,” “doutes,” “laideur,” “l’oubli,” “trembler,” “ne plus pouvoir chanter.”
Qu'elle attende, la mort: “que” at the beginning of a non-interrogative sentence, as here and elsewhere in the song (e.g. “que le diable m’ignore”), can be viewed as an “exclamatory imperative” where the specific meaning (e.g. “may,” “let,” “how,” or “so much”) depends on the context. In such cases, it is followed by subjunctive verbs. In other cases, beginning a sentence with “que” may express amazement or surprise.
En espagnole: Pagny and his family live at least half the year in Argentina.
Back to Pagny Profile.