L'effet De Masse Lyrics in English Maelle

Below, I translated the lyrics of the song L'effet De Masse by Maelle from French to English.
He was in my class, he lived on your street
He was the one across the street, yeah, you've seen him
He shared your heart on cruel mornings
You laughed at him 'cause he was different
Today it's still the same story
In life or in hallway rumors
In shiny glass offices
Just like in school corridors
It's always the mob effect
That sorts us and shuts us out
On screens, behind masks
In eyes that are chuckling
It's always the mob effect
That sorts us and shuts us out
He was in my class, he lived on your street
He was the passer-by but I don't remember his name
How stupid we can be when we're a crowd
I admit with a heavy heart, yeah, I laughed with them
Today it's still the same story
In life or in hallway rumors
In shiny glass offices
Just like in school corridors
It's always the mob effect
That breaks us and hits us
On screens, behind masks
In eyes that are chuckling
It's always the mob effect
That breaks us and isolates us
He was on the sidelines and there were lots of us
You gotta put someone down to feel better
He was in my class, he lived on your street
He was the one across the street
We never saw him again
Lyrics and Translations Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © LES POUPEES, GIOCA MUSIC SARL, AZERTY, WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC FRANCE
Paul Ecole, Gioacchino Maurici, Calogero Joseph Maurici
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SONG MEANING

L’effet de masse translates to “the pull of the crowd,” and Maëlle turns this idea into a gripping mini-movie. She sings about a classmate who was a bit different, the boy “across the street” everyone knew but nobody truly saw. As gossip swirled through school corridors and later echoed in sleek office hallways, the group mentality kept winning. Instead of standing up for him, the singer admits she laughed along, showing how easy it is to sacrifice kindness just to fit in.

The song is both a confession and a wake-up call. Maëlle’s lyrics remind us that the same force pushing us to mock on the playground now lives on “on screens, behind masks” in the digital age. “L’effet de masse” challenges listeners to break the cycle—choose empathy over ridicule, courage over conformity—and to remember those who vanished from our lives because we failed to stand beside them when it mattered most.

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