100000 Universités

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a stark picture of a future dominated by mass higher education, questioning the fate of traditional crafts and the human element within it. The narrator poses a hypothetical scenario where "cent mille universités" (a hundred thousand universities) and "cent millions d'hommes" (a hundred million men) in faculties lead to the obsolescence of "nos petits métiers" (our small trades), specifically highlighting the figure of the "sabotier" (shoemaker). This imagined future is characterized by a cold, impersonal existence. Life will be spent "sur un banc de bois" (on a wooden bench) in a "maison triste" (sad house) where conversations are limited to "chiffres et de lois" (numbers and laws). Similarly, the women in this future are depicted as having no time for love, becoming "habillées d'ennui" (dressed in boredom) and feeling like "ombres" (shadows), lamenting the absence of men. The most striking aspect is the recurring question, "Qu'adviendra-t-il de nos petits métiers ?" (What will become of our small trades?), which acts as a refrain, emphasizing the narrator's anxiety about losing tangible skills and perhaps a more grounded way of life. The contrast between the abstract world of universities, numbers, and laws, and the concrete, human-centered craft of the shoemaker, forms the core tension. Ultimately, the lyrics suggest a deep concern that an overemphasis on intellectual pursuits and a standardized, "building" lifestyle will erode genuine human connection and the value of skilled labor. The final image of saying "je t'aime sur des IBM" (I love you on IBMs) powerfully encapsulates the fear of technology and abstract systems replacing authentic emotional expression and traditional ways of being.