On est là !
[[Fichier:2023-04-13_manif-Belfort-OnEstLà.mp3|thumb|On est là sung during a protest against the 2023 pension reform April 13th 2023 in Belfort.]] On est là is a french protest song on the air of the italian song Che sarà, during social protests and popularized in 2018 during the yellow vests protests.
Originally a song of the supporters of the football clubs Olympique de Marseille and RC Lens, it is often sung during protests against policies of french president Emmanuel Macron, notably during the 2023 French pension reform strikes.
Music and lyrics
The lyrics have changed over time. There is no universal version as demands vary depending on the movement[1]. This is the most common version:
"On est là ! (bis) Même si Macron le veut pas, nous on est là ! Pour l'honneur des travailleurs et pour un monde meilleur, même si Macron le veut pas, nous on est là[2] !"
It approximately means in English "We are there! (again) Even if Macron doesn't want us to, we are there! For the honor of workers and for a better world, even if Macron doesn't want us to, we are there!" A feminized version is also sometimes used since 2019[3]:
"Pour l'honneur des travailleuses et pour une vie merveilleuse nous on est là."
This would translate in English as "For the honor of workers and for a wonderful life we are there."
The music is that of the chorus of the song Che sarà by Ricchi e Poveri, known in France by Mike Brant's version Qui saura[4].
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/On_est_l%C3%A0_%21_%28chant_populaire%29.png/509px-On_est_l%C3%A0_%21_%28chant_populaire%29.png)
History
The song, with different lyrics ("On est là, on est là, Même si vous l'méritez pas nous on est là, Pour l'amour du maillot que vous portez sur le dos, Même si vous l'méritez pas nous on est là !", meaning "We are there, we are there, Even if you don't deserve it we are there, For the love of the shirt on your back, Even though you don't deserve it we are there!") is first chanted by football supporters, notably those of the Standard Liège, of the Racing Club of Lens and of the Olympique de Marseille[4][5][6], the latter claiming to be the first ones to sing these lyrics on this music[4].
In september 2017, a new version was performed during a protest agaist the El Khomri law in Lille, and then on June 12th 2018 by protesters opposed to a railway reform at the Lyon-Part-Dieu station ("Pour l’honneur des cheminots et l'avenir de nos marmots, nous on est là !", meaning "For the honor of our railwaymen and the future of our kits, we are there!")[5]. Monique Pinçon-Charlot mentions that Clément Dagorne (CGT Cheminots Lyon Part-Dieu) would be the "inventor" of this song[7]. During autumn 2018, by the initiative of the Intergare collective, the song is taken up in yellow vests processions, with lyrics calling for "l'honneur des travailleurs et [à] un monde meilleur"[6] ("the honor of the workers and [for] a better world"). This version has lasted since, in yellow vests meeting as well as in the protests against the 2019-2020 pension reform, and in anti-immunity passport protests[8].
In February 2023, the song is taken up by deputies of the NUPES in the National Assembly multiple times during debates about the 2023 pension reform.
On April 12th 2023, Emmanuel Macron, on a State visit in the Netherlands, is stopped in the university of Amsterdam by a protester chanting the song with a strong dutch accent. The man is pinned to the ground and arrested with another protester for "trouble to the public order and threat"[9].
Meaning
In Libération in December 2019, historian Clyde Marlo-Plumauzille, research fellow at the CNRS, compared On est là! to other famous popular songs in French history, such as Ah !ça ira, Le Temps des cerises, Le Chant des partisans or the Hymne des femmes.
According to her, this song permits "to regroup and to affirm a collective identity, something larger than oneself". She also notes the "cheerful character" and "positive tone" of the song, linked to its sportive, festive and popular origin, that "deny the label of "social grumbling" often applied by the media to popular movements". On est là! would be the expresssion of a "struggle for the acknowledgement of all those who have stood apart from and below politics and of a frank aspiration to a "better world" to reenchant the horizon of the possible".
Anasse Kazib, Intergare collective militant, questioned by a journalist of Libération in December 2019, stresses that the reference to the honor of workers in the yellow vests' version "shows that there were a lot of workers in the yellow vests that were not far right. You'll never see the far right sing "for the honor of workers." "
References
- ^ Salomé Vincendon (2020-01-24). ""On est là! On est là": d'où vient cet hymne entonné dans toutes les manifestations". bfmtv.com (in French)..
- ^ Vincent Coquaz (2019-12-13). "D'où vient «On est là», le chant des gilets jaunes ?" (in French).
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help). - ^ Libération; AFP. "Réforme des retraites : revivez la troisième journée de mobilisation". liberation.fr (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-18..
- ^ a b c Bonjour 2019
- ^ a b Ruffin, François (2020). "« On est là ! », la genèse". Fakir (92).
- ^ a b Vincent Coquaz (13 December 2019). "D'où vient «On est là», le chant des gilets jaunes ?". liberation.fr (in French)..
- ^ "Débat autour du film "A demain mon amour" - 10 mars 2022". Youtube.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- ^ AFP, avec (2021-09-25). "Près de 64 000 manifestants en France contre le passe sanitaire". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-02-06.
- ^ S. M (2023-04-12). "VIDÉO - Emmanuel Macron à Amsterdam : un manifestant plaqué au sol et interpellé lors de sa visite". TF1. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
Bibliography
- Bonjour, Théophile (2019-09-01). "Quand la foule chante "On est là !"". Géographie et cultures (111): 99–121. doi:10.4000/gc.12696. ISSN 1165-0354. Retrieved 2022-05-21.