Songs of Different Worlds

Papaoutai (Papa, where are you?)

Papaoutai (Papa, where are you?)
By: Stromae
Language: French

Verse 1:

Dites-moi d'où il vient
(Tell me where he came from)

Enfin je saurais où je vais
(So I'd finally know where to go)

Maman dit que lorsqu'on cherche bien
(Mama says that when you search real good)

On finit toujours par trouver
(You'll always end up finding something)

Elle dit qu'il n'est jamais très loin
(She says he's never very far)

Qu'il part très souvent travailler
(She says he goes to work very often)

Maman dit "travailler c'est bien"
(Mama says "working is good")

Bien mieux qu'être mal accompagné
(Better than being in a bad company)

Pas vrai?
(Right?)

Où est ton papa?
(Where is your Papa?)

Dis-moi où est ton papa?
(Tell me, where's your Papa?)

Sans même devoir lui parler
(Without needing to talk to him)

Sait ce qui ne va pas
(He knows what he did wrong)

Ah sacré papa
(Ah, damn Papa)

Dis-moi où es-tu caché?
(Tell me where you're hiding?)

Ça doit, faire au moins mille fois que j'ai
(It must be at least a thousand times that I)

Compté mes doigts
(Counted on my fingers)

Hook:

Où t'es, papa où t'es? x3
(Where are you? Papa, where are you?) x3

Où, t'es où, t'es où, papa où t'es?
(Where are you? Where are you? Where? Papa, where are you?)

Verse 2:

Quoi, qu'on y croit ou pas
(Even if we believe it now)

Y aura bien un jour où on y croira plus
(The time will come when we won't believe it anymore)

Un jour ou l'autre on sera tous papa
(One day, we'll all be Dads)

Et d'un jour à l'autre on aura disparu
(And like my Papa, we'll all disappear)

Serons-nous détestables?
(Will we be detestable?)

Serons-nous admirables?
(Will we be admirable?)

Des géniteurs ou des génies?
(Biological fathers or geniuses?)

Dites-nous qui donne naissance aux irresponsables?
(Tell us, who gives birth to irresponsible people like them?)

Ah dites-nous qui, tient
(Tell us who, look)

Tout le monde sait comment on fait les bébés
(Everyone knows how to raise a child)

Mais personne sait comment on fait des papas
(But no one knows how to raise a father)

Monsieur Je-sais-tout en aurait hérité, c'est ça
(Mister know-it-all's must have inherited it, that's it!)

Faut l'sucer d'son pouce ou quoi?
(Must have sucked it from his thumb or what?)

Dites-nous où c'est caché, ça doit
(Tell us where he's hiding, it's been)

Faire au moins mille fois qu'on a, bouffé nos doigts
(At least a thousand times we've bitten our fingers)

(Repeat Hook)

Outro (x2):

Où est ton papa?
(Where is your Papa?)

Dis-moi où est ton papa?
(Tell me, where is your Papa?)

Sans même devoir lui parler
(Without even talking to him)

Sait ce qui ne va pas
(He knows he did something wrong)

Ah sacré papa
(Ah, damned Papa)

Dis-moi où es-tu caché?
(Tell me, where are you hiding?)

Ça doit, faire au moins mille fois que j'ai
(It must have been a thousand times that I've)

Compté mes doigts
(Counted on my fingers)

(Repeat Hook)

***

A little explanation: 

How can a father know what is wrong when he is not around? Simple. Every father who abandons a child should know that the child will definitely grow up to miss him. This is obvious and the father does not need confirmation that something is wrong. In this song, the child keeps asking where his Papa is. Later on, the child imagines a future where he is the Dad and he thinks, "What if I grow up to be an irresponsible Dad like my Papa?" and that's how the whole song goes throughout.

In the music video, he dances a lot in front of his Papa because he wants his Papa to dance along with him like all the other Papa's and their sons. Unfortunately, his Dad just does nothing and just smile at him.