“It’s a different plot, a different time” – Laura Thorn celebrates women’s autonomy and brings an ode to France Gall in “La Poupée Monte Le Son” lyrics

Laura Thorn will represent Luxembourg this year at Eurovision. The singer will bring “La Poupée Monte Le Son” to Basel – an ode to Luxembourg’s 1965 contest winner and one of the biggest stars to come out of 1960s French pop music.

Scroll down to read the “La Poupée Monte Le Son” lyrics and its translation.

Eurovision 2025: Laura Thorn with “La Poupée Monte Le Son”

Laura Thorn’s Eurovision journey is definitely one for the books. One day, the Esch-sur-Alzette musician was just teaching another class of music theory. The following moment, she got an SMS from an unknown French number asking her to send in a demo for a song for Eurovision. 

Not much later, Laura Thorn was chosen by a group of French producers to sing “La Poupée Monte Le Son”. The song is her first commercial release an artist. That doesn’t mean that she has no experience in music. In fact, she graduated Namur’s IMEP with degrees in music theory and pop singing. She also studied piano and cello as a child.

In Luxembourg, she was a fan favourite from day one. During the country’s selection, which is named the Luxembourg Song Contest, Laura landslided the international jury vote. She received top points from seven out of eight countries. Together with a large televoting score, she won the selection back in January. 

What do the “La Poupée Monte Le Son” lyrics mean? 

First things first: “La Poupée Monte Le Son” is a homage and a reference to the 1965 Eurovision winning song “Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son” — which was sung by 17-year-old French singer France Gall. This was the very first song to win the contest in the pop genre and changed Eurovision forever. However, France Gall, in her time, mostly sang “girly” pop songs that often reduced her to the doll-like character that the media and music professionals made of her.

For those who do not speak French, the words “poupée de cire, poupée de son” translate to “wax doll, rag doll”. The word “son” also has a second meaning, namely “sound”. And the France Gall song told a story from the perspective of a naïve girl wax doll in comparison to other dolls in the world.

Among the lyrics in that song are, translated: “Under the sun of my blond hair/ Wax doll, rag doll/ But one day I’ll live my songs/ Wax doll, rag doll/ Without fearing the heat of boys”. The original French word “chaleur” refers here not only to temperature but also a form of sexual passion. 

“La poupée monte le son” meanwhile translates to “The doll turns up the sound”. Laura Thorn’s song talks about a young woman who does not want to be seen as a doll, but rather a human being who can decide for herself.

In the opening lyrics of “La poupée monte le son”, Laura sings, translated: “If you only see me as a perfect doll/ Who smiles and then shuts up when you want/ Forget me, I’m not your marionette/ That’s how it is, that’s how it is”. 

Further into the song, Laura sings how times have changed and now a doll can decide by herself. During the bridge, she draws a comparison to the wax doll from France Gall’s entry and tells that doll to decide for herself. She sings, translated: “Your doll, as you call her/ Turns up the decibels/ She’s the echo of a new/ Generation/ Without rags or plastic/ In her characteristics/ Your doll leads the music.”

Earlier, while speaking to our Deban Aderemi, Laura Thorn revealed that the songwriters really wanted such a song to represent Luxembourg exactly sixty years after France Gall.

Laura Thorn “La Poupée Monte Le Son” lyrics and translation

Lyrics: Christophe Houssin, Julien Salvia, Ludovic-Alexandre Vidal
Music: Julien Salvia, Ludovic-Alexandre Vidal

What do you think of Laura Thorn’s “La Poupée Monte Le Son”? Do you understand the song better after having read its lyrics? Let us know in the comments down below!