L’espoir Lyrics in English Raphaël

Home / Lyrics Translation / Raphaël / L’espoir

Below, I translated the lyrics of the song L’espoir by Raphaël from French to English.

You say love words

Are useless

That we should live

Without thinking about tomorrow

That we don't have time

For misfortune

That we don't have time

For misfortune

You don't have a book

On your shelf

You know neither your name

Nor your father

That we've got the right to happiness

And I've walked in the desert

At the bottom of the sea

And I've known nothing

As beautiful as you

And I've seen the desert

And the bottom of the sea

I've known nothing

As beautiful as you

You say that deep inside

You're still a child

That there's a place

By the ocean

Where the plan

Is hope

Where the plan

Is hope

You say we should

Unplug the cities

That it's enough to have

A tree somewhere

That we could reach

The other shore

That we could reach

The shore

And I've walked in the desert

At the bottom of the sea

And I've known nothing

As beautiful as you

And I've seen the desert

And the bottom of the sea

I've known nothing

As beautiful as you

You say it's

The very last chance

Before it fades

Our childhood

That we've waited for

Happiness

That we've waited for

Happiness

You say we're

Two lonely hearts

Passing this life

Under a greenhouse

Hoping in the dark

And I've seen the desert

At the bottom of the sea

And I've known nothing

As beautiful as you

And I've seen the desert

And the bottom of the sea

I've known nothing

As beautiful as you

Lyrics and Translations Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

Did you like these lyrics?

SONG MEANING

L’espoir feels like a whispered manifesto for dreamers. Raphaël sings to someone who refuses to be weighed down by routine or despair, a person who believes we can and should claim our right to happiness. While she shrugs off love-talk clichés and wants to live ‘without thinking about tomorrow’, he answers with vivid images: crossing deserts, diving to the ocean floor, and still finding nothing as breathtaking as her. The repeated line "Je n'ai rien connu d'aussi beau que toi" turns her optimism into the most beautiful sight he has ever known.

The song flips between childlike hope and adult urgency. She imagines unplugging whole cities, planting a single tree, and building a place where “le projet, c’est l’espoir.” He hears a last chance to save their inner children before innocence fades. Two solitary hearts, trapped in a glasshouse, keep wishing in the dark—but as long as they keep wishing, light survives. In short, Raphaël’s lyrics celebrate the stubborn spark of hope that lets us believe we can still reach the far shore of joy, even when the world feels like endless sand or deep water.

Did you know?

In addition to reading lyric translations, you can now learn French with music and lyrics from your favorite artists.

No more boring lessons. You can now learn with engaging and culturally relevant lyrics from the best artists.

Raphaël L’espoir Lyrics