The “subject + ne + verb + pas” is the correct way to say it, but the “subject + verb + pas” is the informal way to say it.
Example :
I am not a boy
Will be translated in a formal way by
Je ne suis pas un garçon
And in an informal way
Je suis pas un garçon
French people tend to choose the informal one in everyday life, but if you study French, I’ll advise you to use the formal version.
In addition, in those lyrics of Stromae, he’s playing a drunk person (falling, barely stay on his foot etc..) which justifies the use of the second version.
It is really common to remove ne
in spoken language, particularly in informal talks, with your friends or family for example, even though it is not grammatically correct.
For written language you can also skip it in informal talks, but again, it’s not grammatically correct.
In formal written language you should always use ne
Actually, it is a very good question. Most native speakers don’t use ne
when they speak but use it when they write. I do that too.
However, as stated above, if you study french, the best way is to use ne
when you write so you can get a good habit in writing French. After being used to that for a while, you may remove the ne
when you speak, as it’s more French and you’ll sound more like a native.
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