Il suffit de passer le pont - A personal favourite of Brassens, this song tells of a boy and girl making love for the first time

This song meant a lot to Brassens.  It was the one song that he included in every performance he gave.    It conveys the novelty and the excitement but also the anxiety and the pain of their furtive experiment.  The memories of these first loves were very precious to Brassens and he writes about them in numerous other songs.

Il suffit de passer le pont(1) C'est tout de suite l'aventure(2) Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon J't'emmèn' visiter la nature (2) L'herbe est douce à Pâques fleuries (3) Jetons mes sabots, tes galoches (4) Et, légers comme des cabris Courons après les sons de cloches Ding din don ! les matines sonnent (5) En l'honneur de notre bonheur Ding din dong !(6) faut l'dire à personne J'ai graissé la patte au sonneur Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon Courons, guilleret, guillerette (7) Il suffit de passer le pont Et c'est le royaum' des fleurettes(8) Entre tout's les bell's que voici Je devin' cell' que tu préfères C'est pas l'coqu'licot (8), Dieu merci Ni l'coucou (8), mais la primevère (8) J'en vois un' blottie sous les feuilles Elle est en velours comm' tes joues (9) Fais le guet pendant qu'je la cueille (10) " Je n'ai jamais aimé que vous "(11) Il suffit de trois petits bonds C'est tout de suit' la tarantelle (10) Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon J'saurai ménager tes dentelles (11) J'ai graissé la patte au berger Pour lui fair' jouer une aubade (12) Lors, ma mie, sans croire au danger Faisons mille et une gambades Ton pied frappe et frappe la mousse Si l'chardon s'y pique dedans Ne pleure pas, ma mie qui souffre (13) Je te l'enlève avec les dents On n'a plus rien à se cacher On peut s'aimer comm' bon nous semble Et tant mieux si c'est un péché (14) Nous irons en enfer ensemble Il suffit de passer le pont Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon Georges Brassens 1953

All it takes is to cross the bridge It’s straightaway a love affair Just let me take hold of your skirt I’m taking you to view nature The grass is soft at Easter in bloom Off with my clogs, your galoshes And light of foot as baby goats Let’s run after the sounds of bells Ding, ding dong ! the morning bells ring To honour the joy that we feel Ding, ding dong ! Must not tell a soul I have greased the bell ringer’s palm. Just let me take hold of your skirt Let’s run, lad, lass without a care. All it takes is t'cross the bridge And it’s the kingdom of spring flowers Among all the pretty ones here I guess the one that you prefer It’s not the red poppy, thank God Nor cowslip, but the spring primrose I see one snug beneath the leaves It is velvety like your cheeks Keep a close watch whilst I pluck it I’ve never loved any’one but you. All it takes is three little jumps It’s straight off the wild Tarantell' Just let me take hold of your skirt I’ll treat your lace with tender care I have greased the shepherd boy’s palm To get him to play a serenade So, my love, with no thought of risk Let’s romp a thousand and one times Your foot keeps pummelling the moss If a thistle barb gets lodged with Don’t weep with the pain my love, I’ll pull it out f'you with my teeth. We’ve naught more to hide from  each other We can share love just as we think fit All the better, if it’s a sin We’ll go down to Hell together All it takes is t'cross the bridge Just let me take hold of your skirt

TRANSLATION NOTES

1)      Il suffit de passer le pont. There could have been a bridge over a river or stream for the two young lovers to cross, but the phrase has the same figurative meaning as in English of negotiating an important juncture in life eg “We will cross that bridge when we come to it”. With the theme of the poem in mind there is a further suggestion concerning a part of the anatomy that forms a bridge. Similarly “jupon” means underskirt but could have an anatomical interpretation.

2)      l'aventure means the adventure but « une aventure amoureuse » means a love affair.  Une aventure d’un soir is what we call in English slang a one-night stand.

3)      Visiter la nature –On one plane the boy is inviting his girlfriend to admire the sights of nature on their country walk but the subtext is that he is to show her the roles that nature requires a male and a female to play.

4)      Pâques fleuries The easter flowers are a metaphor in this poem and other Brassens’ poems for the arrival of maturity. See note 7.

5)      Mes sabots- the wearing of clogs puts this tale in the 1940s. In my working class primary school in England at the same period some of my fellow pupils wore clogs. The clogs of the girl were more ladylike. She wore “galoches” called by the same name in English “ galoshes” – which are waterproof boots worn over shoes.

6)      Ding din don ! les matines sonnent. Reference to the children’s song « Frère Jacques ». The poem is about the entry into the adult world. Perhaps this is a glance back to the world of childhood.

7)      Guilleret, means perky, cheerful and lively – the Collins dictionary says that « être guilleret » means to be full of beans.

8)      c'est le royaum' des fleurettes- coqu'licot - coucou  - primevère. Once again the young flowers symbolise the arrival of maturity. Each of the flowers quoted is symbolic. La primevère, tells us in its French name that it is the early flower. It is the flower of first love. Larousse tells me that a “coucou” is another primrose that supposedly has medicinal qualities. The line about le coquelicot would not make sense if it was not explained that "les coquelicots" means menstruation.

9)      Elle est en velours comm' tes joues- another intimate anatomical image.

10)   Pendant qu'je la cueille  –Cueillir la fleur has also a second meaning, which is the theme of this poem.

11)   Je n'ai jamais aimé que vous – It is the first time for the boy as well as for the girl.

12)   La tarantelle –A very lively and energetic dance from Southern Italy.

13)   Dentelles – Lace, which Larousse defines as something very transparent and light – another suggestive image in the loss of virginity

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14)   Pour lui fair' jouer une aubade. An aubade was a serenade traditionally sung under some-one’s window in the morning. This links with the boy’s request to the girl to keep careful watch so that they are not caught in the act of love. He had paid the shepherd to sing his tune if some-one was coming near.

15)   Ne pleure pas, ma mie qui souffre –A moment of pain and a link to what was said in the image of note 11.

16)   C'est un péché – Sex outside marriage is a mortal sin for which the Roman Catholic church tells its faithful that they will suffer the punishment of eternal damnation in the fires of Hell. Brassens was not of the faithful and had no such worries but his partner may not have been encouraged by the remark.

Some personal thoughts

I have always found this a very happy song with a good tune. It appeared at a time when I was a student, serving one year as an assistant in a French school. I used to enjoy singing it using as many words as I bothered to learn. To me it was the story of two French teenagers going into the country to make love amid the Spring flowers and to get there they had first to cross a bridge.

This is indeed the theme but as I deal with it as a translator, I see it as a more serious poem. It is the story of a boy persuading his girlfriend to yield to him, making love for the first time. Their experience is described graphically in the imagery. I find as translator that the song loses its poetry if each image is analysed too explicitly into the physical. I feel that my translation should leave the imagery on the level of suggestion alone. I shall therefore point out the sexual connotations but avoid going into detail.

The memories of his first loves were very precious to Brassens and recur in many songs. Another is "La premiere fille" . In this song , Brassens says the last girl a man forgets is the first girl he made love to. This may be true but most husbands have to be careful not to agree too openly, when they didn't happen to marry their first love.

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