What does ‘Padam Padam’ mean in Kylie Minogue’s new song and is it an Edith Piaf cover?

Kylie Minogue is dropping a new album and fans everywhere are already losing their collective minds. The album, which is titled Tension will not fully drop until September but she has already dropped one of the singles and it is a banger. “Padam Padam” is one of the artist’s racier tracks and is bound to become a verified club smash, but what do the words mean and it is in any way related to Édith Piaf’s song of the same name?

Minogue’s song, which was released roughly 14 hours ago, has already racked up 379 thousand views on YouTube at the point of writing. The track was produced by Lostboy and revolves around the singer getting up close and personal with a mystery man. The singer broke off her 5 year relationship with Paul Solomons whilst working on the album, but she has said that this is not a “break-up” album, but rather one of the most empowering albums she has ever worked on. As reported by The Sun, the singer said,

“The album is a mix of songs I have written and songs which really spoke to me. Making this album helped me navigate challenging times and celebrate the now. I started this album with an open mind and a blank page. Unlike my last two albums, there wasn’t a ‘theme,’ it was about finding the heart or the fun or the fantasy of that moment and always trying to service the song. I wanted to celebrate each song’s individuality and dive into that freedom. I would say it’s a blend of personal reflection, club abandon, and melancholic high.”

“Padam Padam” meaning

The title of the sound though, ‘Padam Padam,’ words which are repeated throughout, have many asking what do they mean. She isn’t the first artist to utilize these words though, with French icon Édith Piaf having titled one of her own songs ‘Padam Padam’ back in 1951. That song is about how music can evoke memories and comes in the form of a waltz (quite different from the club-like beats of Minogue’s own song). Piaf sings how music can bring back memories of a former lover, whereas Minogue’s song is about a new person in her life.

Some people do believe that Piaf coined the term “Padam” in this sense, (it has some literal meanings as well, being the name of a poisonous snake, a tribe in India, and a variation of Carnatic music) and is meant to serve as onomatopoeia for the beat of the waltz. In her version the words repeat over and over again, and many have taken it to be the sound of a broken heart unable to get over these past memories.

In Minogue’s most recent track though, it is less looking back and more living in the moment, with “Padam” looking to serve as the beating of a heart. On top of an electronic bassline she sings, “When your heart goes Padam Padam, I hear it and I know, Padam Padam, I know you wanna take me home.” There is some merit behind one theory that it could be based on the French acronym “Pas Avant D’être Amoureux(se)” which according to Urban Dictionary literally translates as “not before being in love,” and is used to describe someone that will not have sex with you before getting to know you.

There are some lyrics that would point to there being some sort of connection to this unless it is purely coincidental, “Padam Padam, I hear it and I know, Padam Padam, I know you want to take me home, Padam Padam, and get to know me” Regardless of it’s meaning, it is catchy as hell, showing that Minogue knew exactly what she was doing when she wrote this song.