La Couleur Du Temps Lyrics in English Manu Chao

Manu Chao turns the world into a colorful checklist of sights, smells, and feelings. In just a few lines he walks us down the “street of children,” through the “streets of winter,” past the “smell of money,” and even right into “hell on Earth.” Each “I know…” is like a postcard from a different corner of life, showing how one person can be over-informed yet powerless in a world that feels upside-down. The repeated chorus — “C’est une histoire de fou” (“This is a mad story”) — reminds us that the singer, and maybe all of us, are standing in the middle of chaos, dreaming with our eyes closed and our fists clenched.

But the song is not only about despair. When Manu Chao confesses “j’espère qu’il est encore temps” (“I hope there is still time”), he slips in a spark of optimism. He is urging us to wake up before we sleepwalk through history again, before war returns and indifference wins. In the end, “La Couleur Du Temps” paints time itself as something we can still change — if we open our eyes, pay attention, and refuse to keep “dormir debout” (“sleeping while standing”).