"I'm sick…"; yeah, but what's wrong?

From lovesickness to plain old sickness, here’s a quick dive into a linguistic world that’s very useful in everyday life.

Songs are an important tool for language learning because they draw on the musicality of language and specific prosody. You’ve probably noticed that some of our learners have better pronunciation when they sing than when they speak. It’s therefore a highly effective phonetics exercise.

In France, they say that everything ends in a song, but this time, we’re going to do the opposite by starting with a song that’s extremely well-known to most French people.

Indeed, the song "Je suis malade" is an original track written and performed by Serge Lama in 1973.

Teaching strategy:

1- LISTEN to the original song to introduce the general theme.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDbpZpm9j9c

2- READ the text, explain new vocabulary:

I don’t dream anymore, I don’t smoke anymore

I don’t even have a story anymore

I’m filthy without you, I’m ugly without you

I’m like an orphan in a dorm

I don’t want to live my life anymore

My life ends when you leave

I have no life left, and even my bed

Turns into a train platform

When you leave

I feel sick, completely sick

Just like when my mother went out at night

And left me alone 

With my despair

I'm sick, perfectly sick

You show up, who knows when

You leave, and no one knows where

And it’s been almost two years

That you don’t care

Like a rock, like a sin

I'm clinging to you

I'm tired, I'm exhausted

Of pretending to be happy when they’re around

I drink every night, but all the whiskeys

Taste the same to me

And all the ships fly your flag

I don’t know where to go anymore, you’re everywhere

I'm sick, completely sick

I pour my blood into your body

And I’m like a dead bird 

When you sleep

I'm sick, perfectly sick

You’ve robbed me of all my songs

You’ve drained me of all my words

Yet I had talent before I met you

This love is killing me, if this keeps up

I’ll die alone with myself

Next to my radio like a silly kid

Listening to my own voice singing

I'm sick, completely sick

Like when my mother went out at night

And left me alone 

With my despair

I'm sick, that's right, I'm sick

You’ve robbed me of all my songs

You’ve drained me of all my words

And my heart is completely sick

Surrounded by barricades

You hear me, I'm sick

Phonetically, this song is very interesting to practice speaking aloud because the syllables are clearly separated from one another and the rhythm is relatively slow. The repetition of the chorus makes it easy to memorize and often amuses our learners.

3-EXPLORING THE MEANING

When we take a closer look at the lyrics, we realize that there are parts that deserve some contextual clarification. And for good reason: this text, written in 20 minutes by Serge Lama to music by Alice Donna, is based on real events that tell two distinct stories—one related to his personal life, the other concerning his parents.

You’ll find these anecdotes in the link below; they’re absolutely fascinating and, above all, very moving.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Je_suis_malade_ (song)

4- VARIATIONS and THE FRANCOPHONIE

It is certainly worth exploring some of the 72 versions of this song over the decades, given that Serge Lama’s original rendition went completely unnoticed. Fortunately, that same year, Dalida added "Je suis malade" to her repertoire and turned it into a massive hit. Serge Lama has stated on multiple occasions: “I owe the success of ‘Je suis malade’ to Dalida. This song was written for her, but I didn’t know it… She is without a doubt the greatest performer of ‘Je suis malade.’” " His greatest regret remains not having recorded a duet with his friend. In 2002, he released a new album, "Pluri(elles)," consisting entirely of duets, and he finally realized his dream of performing "Je suis malade" in a virtual duet with Dalida.

Here is Lara Fabian’s version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kp0dw4MuWs

Or Maryline Naaman’s version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLRCDUEm-L0

Invite your students to look for others and compare the interpretations.

5-Technical VOCABULARY:

How do you feel? – How are you feeling?

English	French	Phrases or clarifications
health	health
healthy	healthy
to be in good health / to be in good shape	to be in good health
to be in poor health / to be out of shape	to be in poor health
to be sick / to be ill	to be sick
to be in pain	to be in pain
to be bedridden	to be bedridden
to be as sick as a dog	to be as sick as a dog
to be injured / wounded	to be injured
to hurt oneself	to hurt oneself
to be weak	to be weak
to feel better	to feel better
to be convalescing	to be convalescing
convalescence	convalescence
recovery	recovery	verb: to heal (2nd group)
to treat oneself	to treat oneself	do you think it can be cured?
to catch a cold	catch a cold	I think I've caught a cold…
itchy	itchy	it's itchy…
to scratch	to scratch	it's itchy…
to have a fever / to have a temperature	to have a fever	I have a fever
to be painful	to be painful	it's painful…
contagious	contagious	it's contagious…

6- WRITING

Describe as precisely as possible a few real-life situations you may have encountered.

7- Acquisition of additional vocabulary / reinforcement of memorization by translating the sentences in the exercise into French.

https://www.anglaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-anglais-2/exercice-anglais-60850.php

8- Summary activity: a hospital appointment conducted entirely in French

https://www.francaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-francais-2/exercice-francais-126329.php