Stromae | Papaoutai Lyrics Translated into English

Papaoutai lyrics in English 

[Chorus 1]
Dites-moi d’où il vient
Tell me where he’s from
Enfin je saurai où je vais
Finally I know where I’m going
Maman dit que lorsqu’on cherche bien
Mother says when we search good
On finit toujours par trouver
We always end up finding
Elle dit qu’il n’est jamais très loin
She says he’s never very far
Qu’il part très souvent travailler
That he leaves very often to work
Maman dit “travailler c’est bien”
Mother says “working is good”
Bien mieux qu’être mal accompagné, pas vrai ?
Better than being in bad company, right?

[Bridge]
Où est ton papa ?
Where is your dad?
Dis-moi où est ton papa ?
Tell me, where is your dad?
Sans même devoir lui parler
Without even talking to him
Il sait ce qui ne va pas
He knows that there is something wrong going on
Ah sacré papa
Oh my dear dad
Dis-moi où es-tu caché ?
Tell me, where do you hide?
Ça doit, faire au moins mille fois que j’ai compté mes doigts, hey !
It’s been at least one thousand times, I counted my fingers, hey!

[Verse 1]
Où t’es, papaoutai?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, où t’es où, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, où t’es où, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es?
Where are you?
Où t’es…
Where are you..

[Chorus 2]
Quoi, qu’on y croit ou pas
Even if we believe it or not
Y aura bien un jour où on n’y croira plus
There’ll be a day we’ll believe it no more
Un jour ou l’autre on sera tous papa
A day or another, we’ll be dads
Et d’un jour à l’autre on aura disparu
And one day or the other we’ll be going away
Serons-nous détestables ?
Will we be hated?
Serons-nous admirables ?
Will we be loved?
Des géniteurs ou des génies ?
Broodstock or geniuses?
Dites-nous qui donne naissance aux irresponsables ?
Tell us who gave birth to the to the irresponsibles?
Ah dites-nous qui, tiens
Ah tell us who it is
Tout le monde sait comment on fait des bébés
Everyone knows how to make babies
Mais personne sait comment on fait des papas
But no one knows how to make fathers
Monsieur Je-sais-tout en aurait hérité, c’est ça
Mister know-it-all, we would have inherited, that’s it
Faut l’sucer d’son pouce ou quoi ?
Sucking his thumb too much or what?
Dites-nous où c’est caché
Tell us where it is hidden
Ça doit faire au moins mille fois qu’on a bouffé nos doigts, hey ! (bouffer is a french slang for eat)
It’s been at least one thousand times, that we had eaten our fingers, hey!

[Verse 2]
Où t’es, papaoutai?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, où t’es où, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, où t’es où, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es ?
Where are you?
Où t’es…
Where are you..

[Bridge]
Où est ton papa ?
Where is your dad?
Dis-moi où est ton papa ?
Tell me, where is your dad?
Sans même devoir lui parler
Without even talking to him
Il sait ce qui ne va pas
He knows what’s wrong
Ah sacré papa
Oh my dear dad
Dis-moi où es-tu caché ?
Tell me, where do you hide?
Ça doit, faire au moins mille fois que j’ai compté mes doigts, hey !
It’s been at least one thousand times, I counted my fingers, hey!

Où est ton papa ?
Where is your dad?
Dis-moi où est ton papa ?
Tell me, where is your dad?
Sans même devoir lui parler
Without even talking to him
Il sait ce qui ne va pas
He knows what’s wrong
Ah sacré papa
Oh my dear dad
Dis-moi où es-tu caché ?
Tell me, where do you hide?
Ça doit, faire au moins mille fois que j’ai compté mes doigts, hey !
It’s been at least one thousand times, I counted my fingers, hey!

[Verse 3]
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, où t’es où, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es, où t’es où, papaoutai ?
Where are you? Where are you? Dad, where are you?
Où t’es?
Where are you?
Où t’es…
Where are you..

About Papaoutai Lyrics
Papaoutai is one song of the album “Racine carrée” (2013) of the prodigious Belgian musician Stromae. The spelling is wrong and it is made on purpose by the artist. It should be “Papa où t’es?” and not “Papaoutai”. It’s a song about the absence of the father. Sadly, Stromae’s father died during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. This lost had a big impact on Stromae’s life.

About Stromae
Stromae from his real name Paul Van Haver was born in 1985 in Belgium, and he is from Brussels. He is now a producer, and a French speaker singer. He became famous in 2009 with the song “Alors on danse” extracted from the album “Cheese”. In 2013, his second album “Racine carré” was a huge worldwide success.

Do you want to discover other songs in French? Let me know in the comment section if you want other Papaoutai lyrics 🙂 I invite you to check out the lyrics of the Belgian singer:

• Angèle | La Thune lyrics Translated into English
• Stromae | Santé Lyrics Translated into English