YMMV / Stromae

• Accidental Innuendo: In French, "Papaoutai" (which doubles as the song's chorus) sounds close to "empapaouter" (a vulgar synonym of "to sodomize").
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • "Moules frites" uses a long and elaborate metaphore to tell the story of a Casanova named Paulo, who dies of a STI caught from unprotected sex, and features ambiguous lines in its second verse.^lyrics Et il est tellement agile, Paulo/Qu'il ne doit même pas supplier,/Et c'est à chaque fois si facile, mais cette fois-ci/Et c'est à chaque fois si facile, mais cette fois-ci/Elle est un peu moins fragile que ce que Paulo imagine,/Mais du moment qu'elle criait (Translation: And Paulo is so agile/That he doesn't even need to beg/And each time it's so easy, but this time/She's a bit less fragile than he imagines/But as long as she screamed)
    • Several Youtube comments points out a disturbing interpretation of the end of those lines. They analyse Paulo as a pickup artist who raped the girl mentioned in this verse^note it may be an overinterpretation of Stromae's intent: the song seems to actually imply the girl "screams" the chorus. As the next verse explains Paulo caught a STI from this intercourse and eventually died from it, it paints Paulo as an Asshole Victim who is inflicted a Karmic Death.
    • Other comments interpretate the line "she's a bit less fragile than [Paulo] imagines" as the girl knowing she's ill, and manipulating Paulo to have unprotected sex in order to spread her STI.
  • The Triumphant Reprise "Papaoutai" gets in concert. Has the narrator really found his father, or has his sanity slipped? Even if he has found his father, is that a Heartwarming Moment, or is it actually really sad, given that not even the narrator's mother knew where her husband was?
• Anvilicious: Compared to other Stromae songs with An Aesop to deliver, "L'enfer" is rather blunt and straightforward in its message. That's not a bad thing, part of what makes the song so compelling as an anti-suicide song is how straightforward it is.
  • Likewise, "Fils de joie" drops an anvil about respecting sex workers, and the video hammers it in. Again, it is not a bad thing.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • "Dodo" is about Domestic Abuse, told in a very deadpan tone, and parts of the lyrics are based on a lullaby. The result is so horrifying some may find it darkly hilarious.
  • The third verse of "Mon amour" has the narrator's lover catching him cheating. He makes the standard, stale excuses for it. His last excuse, though? "D't'façon, j'sais qu'au fond d'toi, tu les aimes bien, les connards."^note "In any case, I know that deep down, you love assholes. So audacious as to be hilarious.
• Fanon Discontinuity: There was no remix of "Mon amour" featuring Camila Cabello. What are you talking about? That never happened.^note Much of Stromae's fanbase hates this remix, citing the excessive Autotune, weak lyricism from Cabello, and general needlessness of the remix as reasons. People tend to avoid discussing it too much.
• Funny Moments:
  • Stromae arguing with his wife (Stromae dressed as a woman) about "tous les mêmes" before performing it on Le Grand Journal.
  • "Stromae Takes America - 'Ave Cesaria' in San Francisco"
  Simon Le Saint: We're gonna get pulled over!
  Stromae: Are you serious?
  Florian Rossi: Yeah, there are the cops.
  Stromae: Shit! Ball breakers, my dudes! Shit! Ahhh! [sing-song voice] We are fu-ucked!
  • In French, people say "cheese" when they are photographied, which twists the face a bit to make smiling more obvious. The cover of Cheese features the title written next to a portrait of Stromae with a perfectly stoic expression, which makes it humorously dissonant.
  • The Refuge in Audacity moment on "Mon amour".
• Harsher in Hindsight: "sommeil" can become this when one considers one of the symptoms of Paul van Haver's 2015 crisis was insomnia. It can be Heartwarming in Hindsight, too, though—-see below.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: Just as it can be Harsher in Hindsight, "sommeil" can be this in light of Paul van Haver's 2015 crisis. He got the kind of help and support from others that his character in the song gives his friend.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • "sommeil" is about being there for your depressed friend no matter what and caring to know how to help them properly. The heartwarming cherry on top is the final chorus—-the standard chorus ends with, "La vie, santé, bonheur/Avoue que tu n'as pas sommeil" ^note "Life, health, happiness/admit that you can't sleep". The final chorus ends simply with, "avoue". In French, "avoue" is a homonym with "à vous" ^note "to you" (the plural and formal "you"). So, the final verse has the narrator wishing life, health, and happiness on his esteemed friend—-and, by extension, the listener. As per the 2015 concert film, this phrasing was very deliberate.
  • "La pluie", Orelsan's song with Stromae. The song is Stromae's first major musical project since his break. The music video features him hanging out with Orelsan, having fun and looking relaxed and happy. Stromae's chorus is hugely heartwarming, too:
    Toujours autant de pluie chez moi^note [There's] always so much rain where I am
    Mais il fait quand même beau ^note But it's still nice out
  • "Santé" is a celebration of the working class, with Stromae singing, "Pour une fois, j'aimerais lever mon verre à ceux qui n'en ont pas,"^note "For once, I'd like to raise my glass to those who don't have one" in the chorus. For a lot of listeners, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the song was a much-appreciated recognition of their labour.
    • The live performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Stromae, the band, and the backup dancers are clearly enjoying themselves. It's a triumphant return to form for the maestro.
    • One of the dancers is Rubix Crimi Noel—the kid from the "Papaoutai" video.
  • "C'est que du bonheur" has the narrator telling his son that no matter how difficult parenting may be, the narrator and his wife genuinely adore their son and want to be in his life for the rest of theirs. It's even more heartwarming when you consider that it's coming from the man that brought you "Papaoutai", a song that discusses the harm of paternal absenteeism.
• Ho Yay: During the racine carrée tour performances, Stromae would invariably dance over to at least one of his band members and give them a kiss. Double Subverted in that while Stromae was in half-drag during the song, he always made sure to have his male side facing the audience. ^note The band member kissed was almost always Yoshio Masuda.
  • He has continued this practice into the Multitude concerts, but without the Double Subversion (he doesn't do any drag this time around).
• LGBT Fanbase: Has one of these, due in no small part to the "tous les mêmes" video.
• Moment of Awesome:
  • The Triumphant Reprise "L'enfer" gets in concert. In spite of everything that's just happened, Stromae is determined to show everyone that things do get better. Doubles as a Heartwarming Moment.
• Tear Jerker:
  • "Papaoutai". While the lyrics themselves are quite sad, without knowing French it's hard to understand them. The video, on the other hand, gets the despondency across just fine. For viewers who grew up with a distant or missing parent, the video hits hard. Not only does the protagonist of the video have a mannequin-like father, but the protagonist longingly watches other families, whose children and parents are in sync with matching dance movements and outfits. The ending of the video gives no relief either, with the boy becoming as still and lifeless as his father, reflecting fears that the cycle will ultimately repeat.
  • The song "Quand c'est?" can hit pretty hard, particularly for anyone who has been personally affected by cancer.
    • The video, too: it features Stromae in a literal danse macabre with an anthropomorphisation of cancer/death. While most of the video takes place in a sort of fantasy world, the last few seconds show Stromae lying dead on a stage—no fantasy about it.
  • "Formidable" is about a man who just had a bad breakup and so got drunk and laments his situation to bypassing strangers.
  • "sommeil", even without the Harsher in Hindsight / Heartwarming in Hindsight / Iron Woobie meta-angles.
  • "La pluie", of the happy tears variety.
  • "Défiler" can be this, especially if one faces any of the issues (for instance, anxiety, uncertainty about the future, and body image) touched upon in the lyrics.
  • "L'enfer". If the song itself doesn't do it for you, seeing Stromae choke back tears while performing it live probably will.

---