À Peu Près Lyrics in English by Pomme
Blêmes is a poetic adjective meaning "pale" or "wan," often used to describe a complexion lacking color due to illness or fear. It’s an evocative and uncommon word that you won't hear in everyday conversation.
In the song, Pomme sings, "C'en est assez des amours blêmes" (I've had enough of pale loves). She uses this word metaphorically to describe relationships that are lifeless, passionless, and faded. This beautiful, melancholic imagery perfectly captures the feeling of being tired of insincere or empty love stories.
Have you ever looked back at an old romance and wondered if the other person was ever taking it seriously, or just showing off? In "À Peu Près" ("Roughly" or "More or Less"), French artist Pomme sifts through the leftovers of an intense relationship. Her ex was laying it on thick: whispering poems, promising brighter skies, and dropping literary references left and right. She recalls, "Tu m'as cité Rimbaud Verlaine" ("You quoted Rimbaud and Verlaine to me"), calling out this lover for pulling lines from Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine—two famous French poets whose real-life romance was notoriously messy and intense. It is a bit pretentious, honestly, tossing out "je t'aime" ("I love you") like loose wishes into the air while secretly burning the dice ("jeté les dés au feu") before giving the relationship a real chance.
Yet, despite the dramatic fallout, she is not bitter enough to trash the whole thing. She calls their past what it was: "C'était de l'or, tu sais" ("It was gold, you know"). At the same time, she admits she is exhausted by "amours blêmes" ("pale loves") and clichés that have worn out all her words. What makes this track hit so hard is the fragile, stubborn promise in the chorus: "Si je m'en sors à peu près / Ne t'en fais pas qu'un jour ou l'autre je te retrouverais" ("If I make it through, more or less / Don't worry, one day or another I will find you again"). She does not promise she will be fully healed, whole, or flawless. Just that if she manages to survive the heartbreak "à peu près"—in one battered piece—she will track them down.
