Métro, boulot, dodo

Métro, boulot, dodo is a term in French that comes from a verse by the French poet Pierre Béarn and spread throughout the 1950s and 1960s. It stands for the rhythm of the everyday life of the urban population, but above all for the everyday life of the residents of the greater Paris area . This everyday life consists only of commuting (Métro), working (Boulot) and sleeping (Dodo). The expression is synonymous with the stressful everyday life of a city dweller.

meaning

• métro : refers to commuting to work in the morning with the Paris Métro .
• boulot : (French colloquial for work) describes working in the workplace during the day.
• dodo : (French colloquially for sleep) means sleeping at home at night.

Both the expression and the poem criticize the monotony and the constant repetition of an all too equal and monotonous everyday life of the city dwellers, from which there is no possible way out. It mainly means the daily routine of Parisians. Due to the size of the city, they have to accept long commutes. Since many people can no longer afford to live in Paris due to the high real estate prices, they are forced to move to the suburbs, which is also relatively expensive. This distance means they spend even more time commuting. In order to still be able to afford life in Paris, they work a lot and long. In the evening they come home exhausted, where they go to sleep pretty soon before they go through the whole thing again the next day.

Excerpt from the poem

The expression comes from a verse from the volume of poetry Couleurs d'usine (German: colors of the factory) by Pierre Béarn (1902-2004), which appeared in 1951.

Au déboulé garçon pointe ton numéro
Pour gagner ainsi le salaire
D'un morne jour utilitaire
Métro, boulot, bistro, mégots, dodo, zéro.

Theme in movies

• 1973: Through Paris with oh and no noise . (Elle court, elle court la banlieue) Director: Gérard Pirès

Subject in books

• Annie Ernaux : Les années. 2008; Übers. Sonja Finck : The years . Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2017, p. 131. The phrase corresponds to a leitmotif of the book about the boring routine of everyday life.