La Vie Est Belle

2025-11-10

[Verse 1] An old man guards the corner in a beat-down chair; ninety years of living show in thin white hair. Barefoot in the summer heat, sweating in the sun, missing tooth and weathered hands, waiting for no one, His toenails tell a story that the young ones never dream, Cracked and worn from walking roads they'll never see. But when you stop to ask him how he's doing here today, He grins so wide and gestures in the kindest kind of way: [Chorus] "La vie est belle!" he gushes. "La vie est belle!" — and so he waves at every unknown friend along the street he knows. There's a light that loss can't dim, a grace that grief can't kill, when your heart knows how to answer "La vie est belle!" [Verse 2] His wife of sixty hard-won years has only just passed on — Left him in this crowded street to greet another dawn. His children live in distant towns, they call him now and then But mostly he just sits out here and greets his fellow men. "Do you miss her?" someone asks, expecting him to cry. He nods his head but smiles as he answers with a sigh: "Yes! Terribly! She was my joy... but I can't be unkind — She's with God so I celebrate the peace she's sure to find." [Chorus] "La vie est belle!" he gushes. "La vie est belle!" — and so he waves at every unknown friend along the street he knows. There's a light that loss can't dim, a grace that grief can't kill, when your heart knows how to answer "La vie est belle!" [Bridge] When someone brings him water on an August day "Merci trois fois!" he whispers — "thanks three times", he'll say For every small kindness, every gentle deed He finds a way to grateful when the rest just need [Verse 3] He waves at passing children, watches clouds drift overhead, Studies how the light falls soft on flowers in the bed. And if you stop and listen to the language that he speaks You'll hear the kind of wisdom that makes beauty out of bleak. He's chosen light in darkness, chosen joy inside the pain, Chosen gratitude for heartbreak, chosen blessing over blame. And when the day is ending and the shadows growing long, He'll smile at one more not-yet friend and hum his quiet song [Chorus] "La vie est belle!" he gushes. "La vie est belle!" — and so he waves at every unknown friend along the street he knows. There's a light that loss can't dim, a grace that grief can't kill, when your heart knows how to answer "La vie est belle!" [Outtro] La vie est belle... La vie est belle...