clinke
Joyce Su
mbg
Mon, 04/04/2011 - 07:21
donner sa langue au chat = to give in (giving myself up = me rendre (à la justice))
corps à corps = hand-to-hand (games/combat)
Dieu, que l'icône est classe ! = God, how the icon clasps! (to go along with the play on words)
chacun pour soi = everyone for himself
avaler des couleuvres = to endure humiliation - or: to believe anything one is told
tenace = entrenched (unwavering = inébranlable) - close enough...
mortifère and mortifiant (=mortifying) are not synonymous: mortifère = that which brings death (also, and in this context: damn boring); mortifiant = humiliating; that which causes [self-inflicted] suffering
Il règne ainsi sur la matière > He thus reigns over matter (He = spirit)
* Mylène does a play on words in this line. The original line is "Que l'icône est classe" which sounds like "iconoclast."
Mylène is known for lyrics where she plays on words and uses abstract imagery, and this one is no exception. Before the released her album Innamoramento, the album from which this song is taken, I read that she spent some time in China and discovered Buddhism, so that might be why she wrote something that seems to be clearly about Buddhism.
Then again, it's Mylène, so you never know exactly what she's talking about! :)