The narrator repeatedly asks, "Tell me, why should I exist?" in a world without his lover, characterizing such an existence as aimless wandering.
The title translates to The lyrics follow a series of hypothetical scenarios that illustrate the narrator's dependency on his partner for his very sense of self. Et Si Tu N'Existais Pas - Joe Dassin Lyrics
One of the most famous metaphors compares the narrator to a painter who would try to "invent" love or "create" the partner just to have something to believe in. The narrator repeatedly asks, "Tell me, why should I exist