Proue refers to the "bow" or front part of a boat. It's a nautical term that isn't commonly found in everyday French conversation or pop songs, making it quite unique and memorable.
In the song, the lyrics mention "Mon amour file comme le vent sur la proue" (My love glides like the wind on the bow). This imagery evokes a sense of freedom, movement, and perhaps the journey of a relationship, making it an evocative and interesting word choice.
"La Proue" is a summer romance told from the far end of it. The singer starts by digging through memory ("Dans ma mémoire je fouille" [In my memory I search]) while "Le temps qui recule" [Time that recedes], and what comes back is a run of sharp snapshots: a scooter racing along the cape, a girl named Nao dancing on a boat, "Son nombril au sel" [Her navel with salt], the sea slapping the deck.
Every chorus repeats "Le soleil brille" [The sun shines] and then "Mon amour file" [My love slips away], each time with a different picture: drops running off skin, wind on the bow, "comme un train sous la Manche" [like a train under the Channel]. By the last verses it is her memory that is leaving ("Ta mémoire s'enfuit" [Your memory escapes]) and her heart that "vacille dans le rétro" [flickers in the rearview], and the song closes on her as "La plus belle des filles dans son dernier halo" [The prettiest of girls in her last halo], one final image before the summer is gone.