J'essaye, j'essaye [English translation]

[Verse 1: Orelsan]

Yesterday and tomorrow are the same day, I've come full circle

Remind me to stop the music before going to bed

I spend 6 months writing verses nobody will ever listen to

The only person who shouts my name is my father when I'm drunk

Cigaret after cigaret in a bottomless bottle I don't write a single new song

We wander round the ring road, around town, in megastores

In short, we wander in circles

I wait an extraterrestrial sign, I wait for someone to tell me:

"Your whole life is just a big lie"

While my boss drives me to sully my principles

But it's my job, I let it go

And we destroy our health to feel alive

I'm not as small, I'm older, but I never grew

Most of the things people around here dream about would bore me to death

Most of the things people around here dream about would bore me to death

[Chorus: Janine]

I try, I try to do my best

And I'm bored when things get serious

As I leave I tell them right in the eyes

"I should have done a bit better"

I try, I try ...

I try, I try ...

I try, I try ...

I try, I try to do my best

[Verse 2: Orelsan]

When I was younger I had dreams, now I have regrets

Unlike the middle-class old cows of my town, I would maybe never have a new body

I'm so bored I watch the download bar scroll

Sometimes I go out into nightclubs where I dream to smash the DJ's face

If I wrote love songs, it would be to say that it doesn't exist

I pretend not to listen to anybody, but that's only because I'm afraid of what they say about me

Everyone tells me that I'll end up changing, I have trouble understanding how they can believe it

While I'm not even able to change a light bulb, I've been pissing in the dark for six months now

I have fantasies of a teen and the bitterness of an old geezer

All I want is to strike a balance

It's mostly to myself that I lie when I repeat that I try, that I try to do my best

It's mostly to myself that I lie when I repeat that I try, that I try to do my best

[Chorus: Janine]

I try, I try to do my best

And I'm bored when things get serious

As I leave I tell them right in the eyes

"I should have done a bit better"

I try, I try ...

I try, I try ...

I try, I try ...

I try, I try to do my best

[Bridge: Orelsan]

If we all have a place, all have a rank

I probably didn't receive their fucking plan

Go tell them it's not funny anymore

I would like to understand the trick now

It was supposed to last just for a while

I've been past 20 for almost 10 years

[Chorus: Janine]

I try, I try to do my best

And I'm bored when things get serious

As I leave I tell them right in the eyes

"I should have done a bit better"

I try, I try ...

I try, I try ...

I try, I try ...

I try, I try to do my best