Life comes in seasons. Day, weeks, and months hit like waves on the shore. Depending on the tides, the weather, and the time of year, one area of the beach might be feet under water, or in the midst of powerful crashing. Some days are tough, but then on a nice clear day when all is calm, we can look back and reflect fondly even on the rough parts. That what the song Jour Meilleur by French rapper, Orelsan, is about.
Lent is coming to a close with this Holy Week. We are entering spring now, and other than a blizzard the other week, things are looking warmer.
Today, I’m going to run through a translation of this song in which I’ve found some thoughtful wisdom for the tough days when you need hope, or for the good days when you look back at all you’ve been through.
Jour Meilleur by Orelsan
Even the music video for the song opens with Orelsan being hit by the waves of life. Then it flashes to a calm day when he goes back to a childhood beach house where he his recovery journey begins.
Hardships or Desolation are Common
The song begins right away with advice, seemingly from a close friend or from oneself at an earlier time (as shown in the music video). He says, “Let me tell you some stupid ideas before you do something similarly dumb. The problem of life is that there’s only one. We’ll never treat depression the way we treat a cold, but tell yourself you can count on me while it lasts.”
“Laisse-moi dire deux-trois conneries, avant que t’en fasses une.
Le problème de la vie c’est qu’il y en a qu’une.
On soignera jamais la dépression comme on soigne un rhume.
Mais dis-toi que tu pourras compter sur moi le temps qu’ça dure.”
While the song and video can imply severe depression, this song is relatable and comforting to anyone who experiences the seasons of life from Lent to Easter.
The brain is complicated and God gives us seasons of consolation as well as desolation. St. Ignatious would tell us that desolation doesn’t feel great, but it has a purpose. During this time, it is good to remember what we knew when things were brighter. Also, it is helpful to remember that God and others are there for us in these times.
Allergic to Life
“Allergique à la vie, les matins sont obscurs”
“Allergic to life, the mornings are dark.” This is a great description of desolation, when the lens that we look at through life is clouded and it is harder to see God’s presence. Orelsan describes it as a feeling that even the moon has abandoned you. Yet, there is Hope.
Thresholds and Hope
“La fin du désert se cache peut-être derrière chaque dune”
“The end of the desert might be hidden behind each dune.”
Life sometimes has these invisible thresholds that test our faith and our perseverance.
I might think a weight is too heavy at 100 lbs. If I give 99 lbs of effort, the weight won’t budge. There is no visible reward of success until that last force is overcome or if someone comes and assists. If you have ever spotted someone at the bench press, you’ll know there is a moment when someone is lifting with all of there might and all you have to give is a little tap of a finger and the bar rises. We can trust that God will spot us in these moments. Have hope that the weight will lift, that the desert will end, or that spring will break through the cold winter.
“Rien à Faire Sauf D’Avancer” – Nothing to do except move forward
In most of these threshold scenarios, we have to provide effort: lift the weight, take the step, get up another day.
In the way of life as in the way of the cross, there is something to the idea that we just have to do the next right thing.
We don’t know if the desert ends the next dune or the second or the tenth, but we know we’re not in paradise now. Therefore, all we can do is take another step in the right direction and walk the path together.
Better Day’s and the Best Day
“Tout va s’arranger, c’est faux, je sais qu’tu sais.Des fois j’saurai plus trop quoi dire, mais j’pourrai toujours écouter.Tout va pas changer, enfin, sauf si tu l’fais.Quand t’as l’désert à traverser, il y a rien à faire sauf d’avancer.
On en rira quand on l’verra sous un jour meilleur“
“Everything is going to get better, that’s false, I know you know.Orelsan – Jour MeilleurSometimes i won’t really know what to say anymore, but I’ll still be able to listen.Nothing is going to change, at least, unless you do it.
When you have a desert to cross, there’s nothing to do, except move forward.We’ll laugh about it when we see it on a better day.”
Un Jour Meilleur – Le Meilleur Jour
The main line of the chorus is that once we are where want to be, the journey will be easier to look back at to appreciate. Like the lives of the saints, many martyrs experience terrible pain, but in the light of heaven they can look back and say that it was all worth going through.
In French, we can switch these words around and instead of saying “a day that’s better” the phrase becomes “the best day”. I think we can experience better days even while we are going through the desert, because we have the best day to look forward to.
Lent is a push and we continue with one step at a time towards the ultimate goal of heaven.
This Holy Week, we can try to enter into that struggle through the last supper, and the Passion. We can witness how Christ does much of the heavy lifting for us. And though to take up your cross and follow that path is daunting, we can do it with hope that Easter, the best day “le meilleur jour” and the resurrection is possible.
Read more Formed by a Flame or Subscribe to the Newsletter!
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In