The title of this song translates literally as “I am saying/telling it to you anyway,” referring to the words “je t'aime.” The expression “quand même” is commonly translated as “anyway” or “nevertheless,” but it has much wider use as well. It is a sort of contextually rogue expression that, in this case, means “anyway” (“all the same,” “even so”) and carries an implied contradiction of something, but in other contexts it can also mean “still,” “finally,” “in any case,” “all the same,” or simply an expression of surprise or disbelief (“Quand même!”) meaning “really!”
The song stamped itself on the French psyche becoming, according to one observer, almost “an idiom in French culture.” Bruel composed the music and wrote the lyrics. It appeared on the album Alors regarde in November 1989 and then as a single in March 1990.
Careful reading of the words leads to a recognition that the narrator is speaking from a critical/frustrated frame of mind. He/she speaks with a combination of regret but resignation when telling a former lover that their recent breakup represented an unnecessarily public display at the café down below (“On aurait pu se dire tout ça ailleurs qu'au café d'en bas”). So, they are splitting like a couple of fools (“Comme des cons”) in a B-grade movie, just like so many other people they often criticized. Contrary to a common belief that many couples undermine relationships by a failure to frequently acknowledge their love, the narrator claims to have said it too often (“j'l'ai trop dit”), but goes ahead and says it again anyway—four times in the song: “je t'aime.” Somewhat sarcastically, one suspects, the narrator expresses thanks for the ugly things they never said to each other (“tout le mal qu'on s'est pas dit”) (one wonders what those things might be) and claims that the only words that encapsulate their story (“refrain”) seem derisory. Despite all this, though (“quand même”), love persists although the relationship may not.
The earworm melody carries one along without really thinking about words other than the oft-repeated “je t’aime,” conveying a sense of resignation, regret and melancholy. The song begins with two 6-line Verses followed by the 4-line Refrain/Chorus, a third 6-line Verse and second identical Chorus. The rhyme scheme for all segments is a couplet model where each two successive lines are rhymed. Since this song is a hotbed of word elisions, readers should refer to the Bruel profile for more information.
J'te l'dis quand même (“I am saying/telling it to you anyway”), 1989
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Verse On aurait pu se dire… tout ça Ailleurs qu'au café… d'en bas Que t'allais p't être partir Et p't être même pas revenir Mais en tout cas, ce qui est sûr C'est qu'on pouvait en rire Alors on va s'quitter… comme ça Comme des cons devant l'café… d'en bas Comme dans une série B On est tous les deux mauvais On s'est moqué tellement d'fois Des gens qui faisaient ça Chorus Mais j'trouve pas d'refrain… à notre histoire Tous les mots qui m'viennent sont dérisoires J'sais bien que j'l'ai trop dit Mais j'te l'dis quand même…je t'aime Verse J'voulais quand même te dire… merci Pour tout le mal qu'on s'est pas dit Certains rigolent déjà J'm'en fous, j'les aimais pas On avait l'air trop bien Y’en a qui n'supportent pas Chorus Mais j'trouve pas d'refrain à notre histoire Tous les mots qui m'viennent sont dérisoires J'sais bien que j'l'ai trop dit Mais j'te l'dis quand même…je t'aime Mais j'trouve pas d'refrain à notre histoire Tous les mots qui m'viennent sont dérisoires J'sais bien que j'l'ai trop dit Mais j'te l'dis quand même… J'sais bien que j'l'ai trop dit Mais j'te l'dis quand même, je t'aime |
Verse We could have said… all that Elsewhere than at the café… below That you might leave And maybe never come back But anyway, what's certain Is that we could laugh at it So, we're going to break up… like that Like idiots in front of the café… down there Like in a B-grade movie We are both bad We've mocked so many times People who did that Chorus But I don’t find any refrain…for our story All the words that come to me are pitiful I know I've said it too much But I'll say it again…I love you Verse I wanted anyway to say… thank you For all the bad things we never said Some people laugh already I don't care, I never liked them We looked too happy Some people can't stand that Chorus But I don’t find any refrain for our story All the words that come to me are pitiful I know I've said it too much But I'll say it again, I love you But I don’t find any refrain for our story All the words that come to me are pitiful I know I've said it too much But I'll say it again… I know I've said it too much But I'll say it again, I love you |
NB
- “des cons:” “con” is a slang word with many synonyms in English, all of them more-or-less derogatory.
- “J'm'en fous”: this slang expression means “I don’t care;” a more vulgar version of “je m’en fiche.”
- "Y'en a:" a contraction for “il y en a,” meaning “there are some.”
- “d'refrain:” a “refrain,” as students of song and poetry know, is a repeated segment that encapsulates a theme.
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