La Quête Lyrics in English Orelsan

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Below, I translated the lyrics of the song La Quête by Orelsan from French to English.

Nothing can bring me further back

Than the smell of modeling clay

Mom teaches kindergarten

She's even the teacher next door

I'm five and I climb through the window

To go hide in her classroom

She tells me, You're not supposed to be here

I said, Next to you's where I belong

I only like books, I'd rather be alone

So I'm happier when it rains

I take a few catechism classes

But I'm not sure I believe in God

I'm seven, life is easy

When I don't know, I ask my mom

One day she told me, I don't know everything

I lost faith in the universe

At five I just wanted to be seven

At seven I couldn't wait to see the rest

Today I'd rather

Time would stop

What matters isn't the arrival

It's the quest

I sweep dead leaves off the court

The cold gives me blisters on my hands

I'm ten, I'm a basketball fan

I dress like a little American

My dad, my hero, gave me

Jordan 8s with the velcro straps

So I do everything to make him proud

When he comes to see me at every game

I get to middle school, they call me rich kid

Makes sense, my shoes cost a fortune

I don't want to wear them anymore, my dad gets mad

You have everything, we had nothing

I'm twelve, I raise hell in class

To try to make some buddies

The music teacher kills himself

He's in teacher heaven

At eleven I just wanted to be thirteen

At thirteen I couldn't wait to see the rest

Today I'd rather

Time would stop

What matters isn't the arrival

It's the quest

I often fell in love

But for once, it was mutual

I cowardly drop all my buddies

I only see my girl, we smoke cigs

Fourteen, I'm just a ghost

At least that's what my parents say

Honey wants me to hang out only with her

Yet she gives me the silent treatment all the time

Since I'm moving, it splits us up

I tell myself love's overrated

My bro destroys me at basketball

So I'd rather quit

I'm fifteen, I watch Kids on repeat

I hang out with dudes like Casper

My dad is hard on me

So I take it out on my brother

At fifteen I just wanted to be sixteen

At sixteen I couldn't wait to see the rest

Today I'd rather time stopped

What matters isn't the arrival, it's the quest

I walk down the stairs with a knot in my stomach

To intercept my report card

At home it's the Cold War

We don't understand each other anymore so I stop talking

I'm sixteen and I climb out the window

To meet the others at the skatepark

We drink beers, we smoke joints

And I tell all that in my raps

The years go by, even a bit too fast

To the point I don't dare sing my age anymore

My brother films when I put on the ring

My sis hosts the wedding

The things I don't dare tell anybody

Are the same ones that fill up venues

Mom's here, my dad's proud

And the universe isn't so bad

The universe isn't so bad

At sixteen I just wanted to be seventeen

Seventeen, I couldn't wait to see the rest

Today I'd rather

Time would stop

What matters isn't the arrival

It's the quest

At five I just wanted to be seven

At seven I couldn't wait to see the rest

Today I'd rather

Time would stop

What matters isn't the arrival

It's the quest

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Lyrics © 7TH MAGNITUDE, STRONG NINJA EDITIONS, WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC FRANCE

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SONG MEANING

La Quête invites us into Orelsan’s personal time machine, zipping from childhood classrooms that smell of play-dough to teenage nights spent sneaking out of the house. Each verse is a snapshot: the wide-eyed five-year-old hiding in his mother’s kindergarten, the sneaker-obsessed ten-year-old trying to impress his dad, the insecure teenager swapping homework for skateparks and first loves. By stringing these memories together, Orelsan shows how every age brings a new obsession, a fresh impatience to grow up, only to look back and wish time would slow.

The chorus – “c’qui compte c’est pas l’arrivée, c’est la quête” – is the song’s compass. It reminds us that the real treasure is not the finish line but the messy, beautiful journey itself. Family pride, self-doubt, friendships won and lost, even the small rebellions all become stepping stones in the search for purpose. In the end, Orelsan realizes the universe is “pas si mal” after all and invites listeners to savor their own quest, bumps and all.

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Orelsan La Quête Lyrics