BIR HAKEIM Lyrics in English by Cherry Pie

Bir Hakeim refers to a specific bridge and metro station in Paris, famous for its views of the Eiffel Tower and its historical significance.

In the song, it's used as a backdrop for a fleeting, almost mythical encounter: "C'est la seule étoile filante qu'on peut croiser à Bir Hakeim" (She's the only shooting star you can cross paths with at Bir Hakeim). This makes the location feel unique and adds a touch of Parisian romance and mystery to the narrative, making it an enticing word for learners interested in French culture and geography.

BIR HAKEIM is Cherry Pie looking at his own life from both ends. He starts with where he comes from: illiterate parents, a teenage hustle, and a teacher who told him he was clever enough to be a journalist or a doctor, then in the next breath that he could just as easily end up a jihadist or a crook. He grew up in the 9-3, Seine-Saint-Denis, and he name-checks Kylian Mbappé as "Kyky d'Bondy", the local kid with gold in his feet. Now he is in his twenties with a head full of problems and his hair already going, and he says so bluntly: "La vingtaine et la calvitie" [My twenties and baldness].

The hook is about a girl he sees at Bir-Hakeim, the Paris metro stop by the Eiffel Tower: "C'est la seule étoile filante qu'on peut croiser à Bir Hakeim" [She's the only shooting star you can run into at Bir Hakeim]. He admits she has a reputation, then warns every other guy that she is not for them. A sample of Sade's "Jezebel" opens and closes the track, and between the verses he keeps coming back to the one line that explains how he gets by: "L'amour, c'est ma passion, la musique, c'est ma thérapie" [Love is my passion, music is my therapy].