This is a little ditty I wrote in April 2026 inspired by ways to say that someone has lost their marbles (lost their mind / gone crazy) in French such as perdre le nord (to lose the north).
Il a perdu le nord,
et le sud, l'est et l'ouest
He has lost the north,
and the south, east and west
Il a perdu la boussole,
et la carte et son chemin
He has lost his compass,
and his map and his way
Il a perdu la boule,
et la batte et ses billes
He's lost the ball,
and the bat and his marbles
Il a perdu la raison,
et la tête et les pédales
He's lost his reason,
and his mind and his pedals
Il a perdu son latin,
et son grec et ses moyens
He's lost his Latin,
and his Greek and his means
Il est au bout de son latin
et il sait plus sur quel pied dancer
He's at the end of his Latin
and doesn't know which foot to dance on
Il a perdu le nord,
et le sud, l'est et l'ouest
He has lost the north,
and the south, east and west
Il est perdu, il est perdu
Il est perdu, il est perdu
He is lost, he's lost
He is lost, he is lost
Il est perdu
Here's a recording, made in April 2025, featuring me on vocals and tenor ukulele.
Ways to say perdre le nord / to lose one's marbles in various languages
The Elephant Song | When you get to jiggit | Chaos | Winter | Everyday adventures | Hints of Blossom | A Panda in a Poncho | Plinkin Plookplooks | Spollagyn son tey | How Many Roads? | A Gnu in My Shoe | A Hen in My Hat | The Ballad of the Wug and the Cra | La Plume de ma Tante | Ukuleles On The Shore | Echoes on the Tongue | Dardledumdue | It's Okay To Be Odd | Monday Morning | Tall Tales | Sail Across The Sky | Two Left Feet | Thunder River | Ning | Lazybones | Goats | The Toaster Song | Hello Hi Hey | Thingamajig | Jolly Yuletide | The Pliffploff | Bubbles | Distraction | Little Lions | The Little Green Owl | Pannas Owen | Seize The Day | Music in the Air | Pocket Hedgehogs | Dust | Lillilu | Lost in a Good Book | Quiet Please | Ffaldiral | Melting 😅 | That's When We'll Do That Thing | As Easy As | What Did I Come In Here For? | Upside Down | Thoir An Aire! | Ho Ha Hey | Patience | Time | Farewell | Stuff and Nonsense | Ruith Air Falbh / Run Away! | The Other Side | Colourless Green Ideas | Noodling | Off To Sea | Cats & Dogs | Terms & Conditions | Llamas in Pyjamas | What Are You Waiting For? | Mind The Gap | Pie In The Sky | Discombobulation | It's All Greek To Me | When The Cat's Away | Reaching For The Sky | Perdre Le Nord
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