Choisir C’est Renoncer Lyrics in English Keny Arkana

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Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Choisir C’est Renoncer by Keny Arkana from French to English.

Life, death, the dilemma

Breath, the Spirit of Man

His relationship to himself

The forces that keep him up

The forces that once drove him

His link to the animal

To plants and the smaller realm

His place on Earth

His struggle to fit in there

His wishes nobody can satisfy

That endless quest for happiness

That need to look elsewhere

When inner depth

Is still a mystery

What are you so sure of

Limits and limitations

Straight, square, neatly lined up

In a petty way

To the beat of vacations

Sales, clear-outs

Can working life

End up leading to inaction

I ask us that

I still have loads of questions

No, gentlemen, questions

Don't deserve objections

Who's brave enough to quit

Their safety patterns

And dig

Behind their own projections

Tell me who

Can you tell unknown from absence

Dream from reality

If you shut your five senses

Do you see the difference

Between waiting and patience

And between lack of daring

And bad luck

Can you perceive

Behind appearances

And pick out the path

Between unease and shortage

And listen to intuition

Till you feel in advance

Not to take on a truth

That deep inside has no meaning for you

What are you so sure of

What are you so scared of

Can you shield yourself

From outside pressures

Faced with dogmas

And passions full of rancor

Even against the majority

Stay true to the seal

Your heart carries

Can you shape your own ideas

Without ever trapping yourself in them

And while hearing the other

See what unites us

Rather than what splits us

When we’re wondering

Who’s more human

The animal or the man

What do you identify with

Do you see there are as many paths

As there are people

All rays lead to the sun

And comparing them would be too dumb

Light is one and indivisible

Why’s talking unity so hard

Who gains when everybody splits

For fifteen, ten years

Politics ever more tasteless

Violent and endless

Often with media as their base

What freedom

When the choices are tiny

Here we are

Hesitating between plague and cholera!

Knowing both play

The shadiest schemes

It’s not by the garland

But by its fruit

That you know the tree

Are you that sure you’ll dive in body and soul

Can you step back

Even with a heart on the verge of tears

Do you see the greatness of the humble

The storm passes, the city dies

But the blade of grass is still there!

Did you like this lyrics translation?

Ever wondered whether your daily “choices” are really yours or just a flashy menu of preset options? In “Choisir C’est Renoncer,” French rapper-poet Keny Arkana fires off a volley of existential questions that turn the ordinary into a philosophical treasure hunt. She jumps from the mysteries of life and death to supermarket sales, from political puppet shows to the quiet wisdom of a blade of grass. With quicksilver rhymes, she asks us to peel away consumer habits, social labels, and media noise so we can face the deeper riddle: Who am I when the distractions fall silent?

Her verdict? Every choice we make is also a surrender—yet that surrender can be freeing. Arkana urges us to trade passive comfort for active awareness, to trust inner intuition over external pressure, and to seek unity where society loves to sow division. By the end, she leaves us with a rallying cry: stay humble, stay curious, and remember that true strength often looks like the soft resilience of grass surviving a storm. Dive in, and prepare to question everything—especially your own limits.

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Keny Arkana Choisir C’est Renoncer Lyrics