France Gall (born Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall on 9 October, 1947 in … Read Full Bio ↴France Gall (born Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall on 9 October, 1947 in Paris, France - died 7 January 2018) was an influential singer who performed for many decades. She notably represented Luxembourg in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest with "Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son"; that winning song was just one of many that she performed which had been written by Serge Gainsbourg. Her career spanned roughly forty years, primarily in France, but she was best known over the world for the songs which she performed during the 60s, many of them a part of the ye-ye style. She sang in both French and English.

Besides the highly successful "Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son", she also notably sung "Les Sucettes" and "Baby Pop". In France, she was perhaps more known for the chanson songs she sang in the late-70s through the mid-80s, many of them written by her husband, Michel Berger, who died in 1992. In 1987, she had some additional international success with her Ella Fitzgerald tribute "Ella, elle l'a". She still recorded music into the new millennium.

France Gall died on 7 january 2018 at age 70 in a hospital in Paris.

C'est pas facile d'être une fille
France Gall Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

C'est pas facile
Non croyez-moi
D'être une fille
Mais je ne sais
Pas bien pourquoi

C'est pas facile
D'être jolie

D'être gentille
Et de savoir se battre dans la vie
Parmi tous ces garçons
Qui chantent leur chanson
Où est le vrai le bon ?

C'est pas facile
De s'affranchir
De la famille
Lorsque l'on a
Le monde à découvrir
De dire à ses parents
Ouvrez-moi maintenant
Les portes à deux battants

C'est pas facile
Lorsque l'on a
Envie de s'amuser
De rire et de danser
De rentrer à minuit
En quittant ses amis

C'est pas facile
Pas tous les jours
D'être une fille

Ni de savoir
Où se trouve l'amour

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of France Gall's song "C'est pas facile d'être une fille" (It's not easy being a girl) express the difficulties faced by a young woman in society, who is expected to be beautiful, kind, capable, and submissive. Despite these expectations, the singer of the song is unsure why being a girl is so challenging. The song highlights the multiple pressures placed on girls by society, including the need to prove oneself in a male-dominated world, the tension between a desire for freedom and the constraints of family and social norms, and the quest for love.

The first verse describes the struggles of being a girl, with the singer acknowledging that it is not easy. The second verse emphasizes the pressure to conform to conventional standards of femininity, including beauty and kindness, while also having the ability to defend oneself. The third verse touches on the challenges of navigating between the desire for independence and the expectations of family, while also urging for more openness and freedom. The fourth verse talks about the simple pleasures of being a young woman but also the difficulties of asserting oneself and finding love. Overall, the song captures the complexities of being a young woman in a patriarchal society and the various challenges that arise from it.

Line by Line Meaning

C'est pas facile
Being a girl is not an easy thing to do

Non croyez-moi
Believe me, it's not

D'être une fille
Being a girl comes with its own challenges

Mais je ne sais
But I don't know

Pas bien pourquoi
Not exactly why

D'être jolie
Being pretty

D'être gentille
Being kind

Et de savoir se battre dans la vie
And also know how to fend for myself in life

Parmi tous ces garçons
Among all these boys

Qui chantent leur chanson
Who sing their own songs

Où est le vrai le bon ?
Where is the one that's real and right for me?