Original text - English - If I were you - Hoobastank

Full lyrics of this song (picked up here : http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/hoobastank/ifiwereyou.html)

Video with the sound on YouTube :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5kTkzK4B-4

If I were you

You seem to find the dark when everything is bright
You look for all thats wrong instead of all thats right
Does it feel good to you to rain on my parade
You never say a word unless its to complain
Its driving me insane

If I were you
Holding the world right in my hands
The first thing I'd do
Is thank the stars for all that i have
If I were you

Look what surrounds you now
More than you ever dreamed
Have you forgotten just how hard it used to be
So whats it going to take
For you to realize
It all could go away in one blink of an eye
It happens all the time

If I were you
Holding the world right in my hands
The first thing I'd do
Is thank the stars above
Tell the ones I love that i do
If I were you

So whats it going to take
For you to realize
It all could go away in one blink of an eye
It happens all the time

If I were you
Holding the world right in my hands
The first thing I'd do
Is thank the stars above
For the ones I love
Take a breath and enjoy the view
Live the life that I've wanted to
If I were you

There is another link I found with a translation into French, but IMO a kind of automatic one, or a one that was not done by a French native speaker.
So I didn't post it here.

They also provide us with the context of this song, but I can't assume this is the right one :

The lyrics are words said by a man to his former wife (from whom he's separated). This woman is suffering from some kind of depression (so that she sees the dark side in everything)

I'd abide with this kind of interpretation, but as I said, I can't assume this is the real context of the song.

Maybe you could confirm, Alex, if you know this song well

I think you are right. Surely it is a male speaker and a female listener, but I am not sure they are no longer together (at least that's what I understand from the lines "Does it feel good to you/To rain on my parade?/You never say a word/Unless it's to complain/It's driving me insane" ). She may just be a bit hard to please, I know many of such people.

Well, you can be separated and meet your ex sometimes, like at some events (your kids' birthdays for instance) But as I don't know at all whether the source I got this from is reliable... all I can say is that I don't know!

They could have displayed the lyrics in alexandrins :
You seem to find the dark when everything is bright/ Tu ne vois que du sombre là où tout est lumière
You look for all that's wrong instead of all that's right/ Tu t'en vas vers l'erreur et fuis la vérité
Does it feel good to you to rain on my parade/ éprouves-tu du plaisir à me gâcher ma fête
You never say a word unless its to complain/ tu ne t'exprimes jamais si ce n'est pour te plaindre


It's driving me crazy : Tout cela me rend dingue

let me have a try :

> Tu ne vois que du sombre là où tout est lumière
> Tu t'en vas vers l'erreur et fuis la vérité
> Éprouves-tu du plaisir à me gâcher ma fête[?]
> Tu ne dis pas un mot si ce n'est pour te plaindre
> Tout cela me rend dingue [!]

> Si comme toi, j'avais le monde à mes pieds,
> La première chose que je ferais
> Serait de rendre grâce aux étoiles
> Pour ce qu'elles m'ont donné

Let's wait until some other translate this, I'm not that good at lyrics translation.

Hi Franck. Have read your translation and don't think anyone can do it better.
Cette phrase: "Tu t'en vas vers l'erreur et fuis la vérité"
ne pourrait-on pas mettre : " Tu cherches tout le mauvais au lieu de ce qui est bon"?
Bon, je pense que ta version est la meilleure. Donne juste mon avis de non-native.

J'ai voulu rester dans l'alexandrin,12 syllabes; disons que ma version fait plus 19ème (siècle!)

Toi aussi je suppose, mais ça oblige à dire "de c'qui est bon" pour les 12 syllabes. Comme c'est chanté, ça passe aussi.

19ème siecle
Ohhhhh, , je suis trop jeune. Je plaisante, ta version est la meilleure, et voila.