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Voilà (Here I Am)
Listen to me, me, the half-voiced singer (1)
Tell them of me, to your lovers, to your friends
Tell them of this girl with black eyes
And of her crazy dream
What I want is to write stories
That can reach you
That’s all
Voilà, voilà, voilà, voilà, here I am
Here I stand, though laid bare I am afraid, yes
Here I am, in the noise and in the silence
Look at me — or at least what remains
Look at me, before I start to hate myself
What could I say, that the lips
Of another would not tell you?
It’s not much, but all I have, I place it here
Voilà
Voilà, voilà, voilà, voilà, here I am
Here I stand, though stripped bare, I’m done hiding
This is my face, this is my cry, here I am, so be it
Voilà, voilà, voilà, voilà, just here
My dream, my desire, how it burns me, how it makes me laugh
Here I am, in the noise and in the silence
Do not leave, I beg you, stay awhile
It may not save me, no
But without you, I don’t know how
Love me as one loves a friend who goes away forever
I want to be loved
For I don’t know how to love my own shape
Voilà, voilà, voilà, voilà, here I am
Here I stand, though stripped bare, I’m done hiding
Here I am, in the noise and in the fury too
Look at me, at last, my eyes, my hands
All I have is here, it is my face, it is my cry
Here I am, here I am, here I am
Voilà
Voilà
Voilà, voilà
Voilà
bjorkmaniak
Merito✕
Translations of "Voilà"
Comments
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About translator
(1) “Moi la chanteuse à demi” → rendered as “half-voiced singer” to convey both fragility and incompleteness, rather than a literal “half a singer.”
(2) The refrain “Voilà” is deliberately retained in French, paired with “here I am”, to preserve both the rhythmic incantation and the French identity of the song.
(3) “Gueule” (colloquial for “face”) was translated as “face,” avoiding the overly pejorative “mug,” while retaining its rough directness.
(4) “Mise à nue” was translated as “laid bare / stripped bare,” emphasizing vulnerability and exposure rather than physical undressing.
(5) The oxymoron “comme j’en crève, comme j’en ris” was adapted as “how it burns me, how it makes me laugh,” preserving the tension between pain and joy.