Tiktok allows you to watch tons of videos edited sometimes with some music. The application allows French culture to get sometimes some fame with the feature of French songs for some trending videos. For Tiktok users sometimes, it is not clear the meaning and origin of the French songs used on the application.
What’s that French song On TikTok?
You might be looking for the title of the French song featured on Tiktok. French Iceberg is here to help you with a selection of French Tiktok songs explained.
It seems that two artists are super popular on Tiktok: the Belgian artist Stromae and the French artist Indila. Okay, let’s start this list of French TikTok songs!
1 – C’est beau la bourgeoisie – Discobitch
This French hit released in 2008 was the result of the collaboration between two French DJs, producers: Kylian Mash and Laurent Konrad. The singer Pauline Sampeur interpreted the French songs that is now a French TikTok song.
In this song, the singer tells us how “beautiful” the upper class is partying hard and drinking champagne. The singer claims to be a “bitch” spending her parents’ money to enjoy life. For the non-French speakers, she is singing with a slightly made-up English accent.
If you enjoyed “C’est beau la bourgeoisie”, you will like a similar silly popular French song with the same vibes which was released a year later with “Ça m’énerver” by Helmut Fritz. The reason why the two songs are so similar? Laurent Konrad is also the producer of this second music success in France.
2 – Videoclub – Amour plastique
One of my favorite French TikTok songs from this list. A French love song between two young French artists that formed the French band Videoclub. The project started in 2018 and unfortunately ended in 2021 after the released of their first album named “Euphories”. From one side the producer, Matthieu Reynaud wanted to work for other artists. From the other side, the singer Adèle Castillon wanted to go for a solo project.
This song, with some eighties vibes, is a declaration of the true love between two lovers. Their love is so strong that they cannot imagine living without each other. The topic of this song definitely checks the cliché about French people being romantic in a way.
Good news for you! We have an article with the lyrics of Amour Plastique translated into English.
3 – Le Festin – Camille
This is one of the French TikTok songs from the soundtrack of the movie “Ratatouille” by the American animation studios Pixar. The title means “The Feast” in English, it is fitting the topic of the movie. In “Le Festin”, the singer is mixing, in a romantic way, the lexical fields of the cuisine and love in the lyrics.
The song was written by Michael Giacchino and interpreted by the French pop singer Camille (a woman). She has been part since 2004 of the French band “Nouvelle Vague” with Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux. Besides taking part in this project with the song, she also voiced the role of Colette for the movie’s French dub.
4 – Alors on dance – Stromae
The first popular song from the Belgian artist Stromae which was released in 2009 and part of his first album “Cheese” in 2010. Thanks to this musical success, Stromae became a famous artist in Europe and in the world. Recently, he released a new album named “Multitude” in 2022. In this new album, he pays tribute to the people working behind the scenes and making society work with the song “Santé” for example.
In this song, the artist calls us to dance in order to forget our sad daily life. He denounces the problems of adult life with divorce, bank loans, a boring and stressful job.
We have an article with the lyrics of Alors on dance translated into English.
5 – Papaoutai – Stromae
French Tikitok Song from the successful album “racine carrée” which was released in 2013. In this song, Stromae opens to us and tells us how difficult it was for him to grow up with no dad. The title is written in phonetic, it should have been “Papa ou t’es ?” (= Dad where are you). This is the “magic” of Stromae, making us dance with deep and sad lyrics.
We have an article with the lyrics of Papaoutai translated into English.
6 – Tous les mêmes – Stromae
Another song from the successful album “racine carrée” which was released in 2013. The artist puts in confrontation a woman and a man who reproach each other their numerous imperfections. The two characters played at the same time by Stromae in the video clip represent the two visions of our society: women and men. Here again, the lyrics are deep but Stromae still manges to make us danse.
7 – Dernière dance – Indila
If I have to be honest, Indila is part of those French artists famous abroad that annoyed me (you can include Zaz). But I must admit that his song is catchy with a production that stays in your head.
In this first solo song released in 2013 (and released in 2014 in the album “Mini World”), with a video clip produced in Paris, the artist chose to dance in order to run away from her troubles. She ends up creating a storm in the middle of an indifferent crowd.
Fun fact, the song ‘Dernière dance” uses two famous samples: the sample of “Parce que tu crois” by Charles Aznavour and the sample “What’s the Difference” by Dr.Dre, Eminem and Xzibit.
8 – Tourner dans le vide – Indila
Another successful French TikTok song from Indila. Again she uses the same receipt with lyrics and a production that are super catchy. She released her second song in 2014 after her first success “Dernière dance”.
In this song, she describes a man that she fell in love with. She is too shy to approach him and he makes her turn in a void. This is the title of the song “Tourner dans le vide” (= turn in a void).
9 – Love Story – Indila
Another French love song, released in 2014 in the album “Mini world” as the song “Tourner dans le vide” from the artist Indila. In the video clip Indila is wearing clothes making reference to the winter and Christmas time. In this song, with an English title, the artist evokes the sadness caused by the absence of a loved one.
10 – J’aime les moches – Max Boublil
Max Boublil was a satirical singer super popular around 2010 as the artist Michaël Youn with Fatal Bazooka. The title translated into English “I love the ugly ones” is pretty straightforward about the topic of the song. Max Boublil claims loving ugly women because life is much easier to date them since they’re not superficial. Other cons, he does not need to worry to take them to a fancy restaurant or to level up his seduction game.
The song was released in 2011 and probably it would have been a bad buzz on social media if it would have been released nowadays.
11 – Écoute chérie – Vendredi sur Mer
Charline Mignot is Vendredi sur Mer, she is a Swiss singer from Geneva. The French artist Lewis OfMan is the producer of her songs (I enjoy his song “Attitude”). In 2020, she took part on one song of the new renamed French band MAGENTA (before FAUVE), with the song “Chance”
In “Écoute chérie” (= Listen, darling), she describes the beginning of a love relationship. She started with “J’ai plus le temps” (=I don’t have time now) to finish with “J’ai tout mon temps” (= I have all my time). This is the process for a person to fall in love.
12 – La vie en rose – Édith Piaf
One of the most famous French songs abroad especially in the USA. There was an English adaptation by Louis Armstong which has also been a great success. Unlike the songs in this list, this one is relatively old. The French singer recorded this song in 1946 right after Second World War II, TikTok was not existing.
In “La vie en rose” (= Life in pink) is a love song from her private life. Indeed, she had a love story with the French singer Yves Montand. Some rumors said that Yves Montand might have been the writer of the song.
We have an article with the lyrics of La vie en rose translated into English.
13 – Ramenez la coupe à la maison – Vegedream
A French TikTok song (= Bring home the cup) which was released right after the final victory of the French football team (soccer) at the Word Cup 2018. The song was EVERYWHERE in France during the next months and even years. The singer celebrates the victory by naming all the French players and describing the qualities of some of them.
At the time of writing this article, the video has 439 million views on YouTube, getting closer to half a billion views!
14 – Zou Bisous Bisous – Gillian Hills
Another old song sung in French by the British singer Gillian Hills in 1960. There was an English version released at the same time and sung by Sophia Loren. The song simplistically sums up how much fun it is to kiss. Fun fact, the song was reinterpreted in 2012, on the occasion of the first episode of season 5 of Mad Men.
15 – Dominique – Soeur Sourire
This is a completely unexpected French song on Tiktok! The song released in 1962 is from Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers, a Belgian nun, and singer. The song is purely religious and it is a tribute to Saint Dominic of Guzman, founder of the Order of Preachers. Fun fact, despite being a religious and French song, it managed to rank (I do not how) number one in the USA during the all month of December 1963 on the billboard hot 100.
Even crazier, she managed to rank two albums in the most sold album ranking in the USA with “La Nonne chantante” (number one during 10 weeks on the billboard 200) and her album “Sa joie, ses chansons”. No French speaker artists matched this performance so far.
Hopefully, you found the French songs that were stuck in your head for hours thanks to this blog post. If you are into French music, I recommend you to read my article about trendy French music artists or read my selection of the best French songs of 2022.
If I am missing a French song, feel free to leave a comment about some popular French Tiktok songs. I will update this blog post 🙂
Finally, you can subscribe to the French Iceberg’s Spotify playlist of French songs.