The songs of Georges Brassens with English translation

Index of Brassens’ songs

2011-03-15T23:29:00.011Z

THIS INDEX LISTS THE SONGS IN THE ORDER IN WHICH I POSTED THEM. TO SEE THE SONGS ON THIS BRASSENS BLOGSITE LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, PLEASE CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK:
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF MY BRASSENS SONGS

Song List. The album is in brackets after the song title

The title of each post links directly to the song(s)

A l'ombre des maris (1972 - Fernande)An entertaining song about the complications of extra-marital love.

Don Juan (Album- Don Juan - 1976)The story of a modern Don Juan who has loved many women. Brassens would like us to look at him in a charitable and tolerant spirit.

Ballade des dames du temps jadis (La mauvaise réputation -1953)Brassens sings Villon's famous poem

Les Croquants (Chanson pour l'Auvergnat - 1955) Brassens sings of love and marriage believing them to be quite separate.

Le testament (1955 - Chanson pour l'Auvergnat).
While still a young man, Brassens thinks of the death he is very reluctant to accept.

Rien à jeter (1969 - La religieuse) A playful love song extolling the beauty of the woman whom he loved so deeply.

Marinette -J'avais l'air d'un c... - Chanson pour l'Auvergnat 1955 .- A light-hearted song about a hopeless lover.

Les Philistins (1957 - Je me suis fait tout petit)-Brassens song of the poem by Jean Richepin about a son who disappointed his parents' aspirations

Le Pornographe (1958 - Le pornographe)Brassens ponders his public reputation

Heureux qui comme Ulysse (Not recorded in an album)- The theme song for the last film of the great French comic actor Fernandel.

Gastibelza, l'homme à la carabine - His song of Victor Hugo's famous poem based on a Spanish folk ballad of love and wealth

BONHOMME - HER GOOD MAN (1958 - Le pornographe)A poem of great pathos as a peasant woman faces the death of her husband and the memories stirred.

Si le bon Dieu avait voulu (1961 Les trompettes de la renommée)Paul Fort's simple and sincere love poem to the woman of his life

Pauvre Martin (1954 - Les amoureux des bancs publics) A sad song about a simple farm labourer, who had asked nothing of life or his neighbours. He earns Brassens' admiration.

Le Petit Cheval (1953 La mauvaise réputation) Brassens sings this sad poem by Paul Fort with memorable lines - now a well-known children's song in France.

L’enterrement de Verlaine – The Funeral of Verlaine - 1960 – Le mécréant - Song of the poem by Paul Fort which depicts the popular tribute on the death of the eminent poet at the height of the Belle Epoque

Colombine - 1955 - Chanson pour l'auvergnat. -Verlaine's melodic poem gives a glimpse of the traditional Italian theatre of the Commedia del Arte

Mysogynie à part - 1969 - La religieuse -This rumbustious and sometimes explicit song raises issues about the nature of human love

Les châteaux de sable (Brassens) Mistral Gagnant (Renaud)The two songs tell of the transitory joys of childhood. The beautiful Vanessa Paradis sings the 2nd song with Le Forestier.

La Première Fille - ( Les amoureux des bancs publics.) 1954 The excitement and enduring memory of a first love.

La Marguerite - (Les trompettes de la renommé) 1961 – A simple poem about a parish priest who is suspected by malicious narrow-minded parishoners of a secret love affair.

J’ai rendez-vous avec vous - (Les amoureux des bancs publics.) 1954 An early love song of the exhileration of his youthful passion for Joha Heiman.

Pensees des morts (La Religieuse)Verses from the poem by Lamartine tell of the sadness when deep love can only be experienced in the emptiness left by some-one's absence

Venus Callipyge (Les copains d'abord) Brassens' song that is pure fun - but not so pure to celebrate anatomy admired all the way back to the days of Ancient Greece.

Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète -from the album of the same name. Brassens' thoughts of his final resting place revive nostalgia for the seaside town of his childhood.

Putain de Toi - The tramp that you are! (Les Amoureux des bancs publics 1953) A beautiful girl who let him down badly.

Trompe la mort - Cheating death (Don Juan 1976) Brassens maintains that his death is not as imminent as the newspapers suggest.

La legende de la Nonne -Based on Hugo's poem: "The legend of the nun", where the nun tells her innocent schoolchildren about her God's horrific terrors for those sin, which bcomes a Hugo classic of poetic exuberation. (Chanson pour l'Auvergnat 1955)

La mauvaise herbe – Useless weed that I am -Brassens sees himself as the outsider. (Les amoureux des bancs publics) 1954

Mourir pour des idees -Dying for your ideas. Brassens has little sympthy for murderous ideology. (Fernande) 1972

La tondue - The girl with the shaven head- Ugly reprisals after the Liberation of 1945 against those who had been friendly with the German occupiers. (Les copains d'abord) 1964/65

La chasse aux papillons (La mauvaise reputation)
A cheerful - if somewhat bawdy- tale of first love.

La non-demande en mariage Reasons for not proposing marriage to to his Puppchen in spite of the great love he feels for her. (Supplique pour etre enterre a la plage de Sete)

Les Trompettes de la Renommee from album of the same name - To those who are persuading him to seek popular attention he details the malignant effects of publicity

Saturne - In praise of the love felt by a middle aged couple- a touching tribute to his "Puppchen" as she reaches middle age (Les copains d'abord)

La Cane de Jeanne (Les Amoureux des Bancs Publics) Jeanne's pet duck has died. Brassens writes a solemn dirge - with gentle teasing.

Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux (Les amoureux des bancs publics) The melancholic poem by Aragon about the nature of love.

Dans l'eau de la claire fontaine (Les trompettes de la renommee) A lyrical song of a chance encounter with a nymph-like girl.

L'Orage (Le Mecreant) A tempestuous love affair on the night of a thunder storm. Another poem of love lost.

1)Les copains d'abord (Les copains d'abord) In praise of long-lasting friendships with men who sailed with him on the inland seas near Sete.

Ballade des dames du temps jadis -one verse
Link to the full text and translation of Villon's poem.

Les amours d’antan (Les trompettes de la renommé) Having sung of the legendary beauties of antiquity in the words of Villon, he now sings of the beautiful girls who taught him love- they are from a very different background.

Fernande (Fernande) Carla Bruni's version is included as the second video clip. She tells us that she had been strongly advised not to sing this song, which had been banned for immorality, but she is doing so all the same.

Les amoureux des bancs publics (Les amoureux des bancs publics) The intolerance of respectable people

Auprès de mon arbre (Chanson pour l’Auvergnat) The nostalgia that Brassens feels for the days when he was young and free - and very poor, unlike today when he is rich,bored and lonely.

Oncle Archibald (Je me suis fait tout petit)
One of the eccentrics who fascinated Brassens and earned his affection.

Le Gorille (La mauvaise réputation)
A provocative song about capital punishment

Le parapluie (La mauvaise réputation)
His first approach to a beautiful, petite young lady who had caught his eye.

La mauvaise réputation (La mauvaise réputation)
Brassens sees himself as the total outsider.

Je me suis fait tout petit (Je me suis fait tout petit) A somewhat lurid account of the submissive role that he plays in his relationship with his lifelong partner.

Chanson pour l’Auvergnat (Chanson pour l’Auvergnat)
Gratitude to those who showed him true charity when he was in desperate need. (Jeanne and her husband)

Il suffit de passer le pont (La mauvaise réputation) The intoxication of the first youthful moment of sexuallove, but also the worries involved.

Les Passantes (Fernande)Antoine Pol's wistful poem about the memorable women who flitted for a moment into his lfe and then were gone

Une jolie fleur (Chanson pour l’Auvergnat)
Trying to get over the loss of a very beautiful woman.

Georges Brassens was born at Sète on the 22nd October 1921 and died on the 29th October 1981 at Saint-Gély-du-Fesc, Hérault, the region of his birth

On this blogsite I have posted more than fifty of the famous songs by Georges Brassens, with videos, French lyrics and my translation.

My hope is to share my enthusiasm for his songs.

In my translation, I seek to make the meaning as clear as possible. Unfortunately a translator cannot convey the poetry, which resides solely in the words written by Georges Brassens. Increasingly I have tried to reflect the rhythm of the songs even though this has moved me away from a precise literal translation.
The quality of Brassens verse has been honoured by the most august literary authorities in France.

He is a true lyric poet because he expresses thoughts and feelings from the heart. He crafts his words and rhythms with infinite care and skill and he tantalises and entertains with different levels of meaning.

And with all this, he does not take himself too seriously and is a great guy!

Les Croquants -The Filthy Rich

2011-03-15T23:14:00.002Z

This is a neat and musical song on Brassens’ familiar themes. He tells how respectable parents hand over their daughters in marriage to the filthy rich because their overriding concern is their future comfort and security. The result is marriages that are routine, loveless and set until death. In contrast is the girl who loves a man for what he is and not for what has. She is a free spirit, whose life is full of new experiences as she gives her love when and only when she pleases.

Les Croquants
Les croquants(1) vont en ville, à cheval sur leurs sous,
The rich sods go to town, riding their moneybags
Acheter des pucelle' aux saintes bonnes gens,
To buy virgins from god-fearing proper folk
Les croquants leur mett'nt à prix d'argent(2)
The rich sods get at great expense
La main dessus,(3) la main dessous..(4.).
Their hands on them, their hands under.

Mais la chair de Lisa, la chair fraîch' de Lison
But the flesh of Lisa, the cool flesh of Lison,
(que les culs cousus d'or se fass'nt une raison !)
(Let the swine stuffed with money face up to the truth)
C'est pour la bouch' du premier venu
Is for the mouth of the first man she meets
Qui a les yeux tendre' et les mains nues…
Whose hands are empty and whose eyes speak love..

Les croquants, ça les attriste, ça
The rich sods, it depresses them, it
Les étonne, les étonne,
Astounds them, astounds them
Qu'une fille, une fill' bell' comm' ça,
That a girl, a pretty girl like that
S'abandonne, s'abandonne
Should yield herself, should yield herself
Au premier ostrogoth(7) venu...
To the first dropout she meets.
Les croquants, ça tombe des nues
The rich sods can’t believe their eyes.

Les fill's de bonnes moeurs, les fill's de bonne vie,
The girls who act nicely, the girls who live nice lives,
Qui' ont vendu leur fleurette(9) à la foire à l'encan,(10)
Who put their flowerlet on sale at public auction
Vont s' vautrer dans la couch' des croquants,
Go and sprawl themselves in the rich sods’ beds
Quand les croquants en ont envie...
Whenever rich sods feel the urge…
Mais la chair de Lisa, la chair fraîch' de Lison
But the flesh of Lisa, the cool flesh of Lison
(que les culs cousus d'or se fass'nt une raison !)
(Let the swine stuffed with money face up to the truth)
N'a jamais accordé ses faveurs
Has never given of her favours
À contre-sous, à contrecoeur...
‘gainst money –gainst her wishes

Les croquants, ça les attriste, ça
The rich sods, it depresses them, it
Les étonne, les étonne,
Astounds them, astounds them
Qu'une fille, une fill' bell' comm' ça,
That a girl, a pretty girl like that
S'abandonne, s'abandonne
Should yield herself, should yield herself
Au premier ostrogoth venu...
To the first dropout she meets..
Les croquants, ça tombe des nues
The rich sods can’t believe their eyes.

Les fill's de bonne vie ont le coeur consistant
The good-living girls have a heart that’s consistant
Et la fleur(11) qu'on y trouve est garantie longtemps,
And the flower found within’s guaranteed to last,
Comm' les fleurs en papier des chapeaux,
Like the paper flowers upon the hats
Les fleurs en pierre des tombeaux...
The stone flowers upon the tombs…
Mais le coeur de Lisa, le grand coeur de Lison
But the heart of Lisa, the great heart of Lison
Aime faire peau neuve(11) avec chaque saison
Likes to make a new start with every season
Jamais deux fois la même couleur,
Never twice over the same colour
Jamais deux fois la même fleur...
Never twice over the same flower

Les croquants, ça les attriste, ça
The rich sods, it depresses them, it
Les étonne, les étonne,
Astounds them, astounds them
Qu'une fille, une fill' bell' comm' ça,
That a girl, a pretty girl like that
S'abandonne, s'abandonne
Should yield herself, should yield herself
Au premier ostrogoth venu...
To the first dropout she meets..
Les croquants, ça tombe des nues
The rich sods can’t believe their eyes.
1955 - Chanson pour l'auvergnat

TRANSLATION COMMENTS
1) Les croquants – The French dictionary, Le Petit Robert, tells us that the word « croquants » was given to peasants who rose in revolt in the reigns of Henri IV and Louis XIII. Robert goes on to tell us that afterwards the word was used simply to mean a peasant, although it is is often used as a pejorative to mean “thief” or “Skinflint”. Brassens’ croquants have too much money for these descriptions to apply. In this poem, when he uses this pejorative, he is thinking of ignorant men enjoying the power of their wealth.

2) A prix d'argent - acheter qch à prix d’or means to pay a (small) fortune for something.(Collins-Robert)

3) La main dessus - "mettre la main sur" means to take possession of to seize hold of.(Robert)

4) La main "dessous" – In the second part of the antithesis is Brassens being rude, suggesting that these objectionable men of money would also put their hands up the girls’ skirts.

5) cousus d'or – cousu is the past participle of coudre to sew. “être (tout) cousu d’or means to be rolling in money.

6) se fass'nt une raison = se faire une raison de qch.means to accept sth./ to put up with sth. (Collins-Robert)

7) ostrogoth(7) = In history the Ostrogoths were the Goths who came from the East. The word has cometo be used to describe a person who is ill-educated,, ignorant, boorish, eccentric. None of these words fit the man that brassens intends to describe. Instead, in this poem, the term represents the person that the anarchistic Brassens admired- a spontaneous person standing apart from the false values of conventional society and indifferent to wealth and personal possessions.

8) tombe des nues – Idioms using these words refer to a state of surprise and incredulity. “Je suis tombé des nues” means you could have knocked me down with a feather

9) La fleurette – Little flower. Brassens uses it as a symbol for virginity

10) à l'encan, ==vendre à l’encan-to sell at auction. (Larousse). (Of course the most common translation for “the auction” is « La vente aux enchères »)

11) la fleur – The flowerlet of the young girl, mentioned earlier, has now matured into a full flower.

12) faire peau neuve = to find a new image - make a new start

Click here to go back to the Index of my Brassens selection

L’enterrement de Verlaine – The Funeral of Verlaine

2010-11-12T01:39:00.002Z

Brassens sings Paul Fort’s poem, in which he recalls, in his view, the finest day of the Belle Époque- the day he attended the mass tribute at the funeral of one of the most prominent Bohemian geniuses of the age – Paul Verlaine.

The date is early January 1896 and the scene is the Boulevard Saint Michel (referred to colloquially as the Boul’ Mich) in the Latin Quarter. The backdrop is beauty and elegance in an era when the good things in life were enjoyed.

It was a time when talent was respected and a time of tolerance. The people of Paris, supported their eccentric poet, Paul Verlaine, at the end of his scandalous, dissolute life and they turned out in force for his funeral. Thousands of them thronged the elegant boulevard on that cold winter’s morning. However, as far as Paul Fort was concerned, not one of the people present came close to equalling the stature of the dead man.

Georges Brassens - L'Enterrement De Verlaine
Uploaded by kyssiane. - See the latest featured music videos.

The poem is recited:

Brassens-L'enterrement de Verlaine
Uploaded by irisfromparis. - Explore more music videos.

L'ENTERREMENT DE VERLAINE(1)

Le revois-tu mon âme, ce Boul' Mich' d'autrefois
My heart can you recall, that Boul Mich of times past

Et dont le plus beau jour fut un jour de beau froid:
The finest day of which, was a day fine and cold

Dieu ! S'ouvrit-il jamais une voie aussi pure
God ! Was ever grand street so purely laid open

Au convoi d'un grand mort suivi de miniatures ?
For funeral of a great, followed by miniatures ?

Tous les grognards - petits - de Verlaine étaient là,
All the old crowd – small fry- of Verlaine, they were there

Toussotant, frissonnant, glissant sur le verglas,
Coughing and shivering, slipping on the sheet ice,

Mais qui suivaient ce mort et la désespérance,
Yet foll’wing this dead man and the desperation

Morte enfin, du premier rossignol de la France.
Dead at last, of the first nightingale of the French.(2)

Ou plutôt du second (François de Montcorbier,(3)
Or rather, the second. (François de Montcorbier,

Voici belle lurette (4) en fut le vrai premier)
So long, long time ago must truly be the first.)

N'importe ! Lélian,(5) je vous suivrai toujours!
No matter ! Lélian, I’ll follow you always

Premier ? Second ? Vous seul. En ce plus froid des jours.
First ? Second ? You alone. On this most cold of days

N'importe ! Je suivrai toujours, l'âme enivrée
No matter ! I’ll follow always, my heart entranced

Ah ! folle d'une espérance désespérée (6)
Ah ! mad through the hopelessness of my great hopes

Montesquiou-Fezensac(7) et Bibi-la-purée(8)
Montesquiou-Fezensac et Bibi-la-purée

Vos deux gardes du corps, - entre tous moi dernier.
Were your two bodyguards- among them all, I came last.
Paul Fort (9)

Brassens 1960 – Le mécréant

TRANSLATION NOTES

(1) L’enterrement de Verlaine. -Verlaine was only 51 when he died. During his last years in Paris, he had descended into alcoholism and drug addiction. He lived in poverty in slum lodgings and passed periods in public hospitals. He spent his days drinking absinthe in Paris cafés and this is a photo of the poet around 1895. Throughout this time, he continued to be acclaimed the leading poet of France.

(2) Le premier rossignol de la France – Fort appears to be making the very controversial claim that there had been no previous French poet to equal Verlaine. Many people would propose different candidates for this first position – Musset, Vigny, Hugo etc. If he is merely saying that Verlaine had been given the honorific role of “Prince des poètes”, this is factually true as he held this title from 1894 until his death. If he is saying that Verlaine brought a unique musicality to French poetry many would agree enthusiastically.

(3) François de Montcorbier is the correct family name for the great French poet, François Villon (1431- some time after 1463) – His most famous poem “Où sont les neiges d’autan”. Fort appears to confirm that his intention was to designate the leading French poet ever in French literature, when he concedes that the distinction he had first claimed for Verlaine rightly belonged to Villon.

(4) Voici/ il y a belle lurette – This idiom means a very long time ago. (From “heurette” little hour)

(5) Lélian, : Pauvre Lelian is an anagram which his close friend and fellow poet Rimbaud, had formed from the name “Paul Verlaine”. In the nickname there is perhaps implied some mockery of Verlaine’s over-feminine sensitivity.

Verlaine had married a young girl, Mathilde in 1870, but, a year later, he fell in love with the poet Arthur Rimbaud, who was a seventeen year old student. By 1872, he had deserted his wife and child to be with his young lover. Their relationship was tempestuous and in 1873 Verlaine shot him in the arm during a drunken quarrel. He served an 18 month prison sentence as a result.

(6) folle d'une espérance désespérée – We can only speculate why the poet, Paul Fort, felt so emotional about the dashing of his personal hopes. Perhaps he is thinking bitterly of the high hopes he had had for the Théâtre d' Art which he had founded in 1890, while he was a student at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris. His aim had been to promote the work of people in the arts, including his friend, Paul Verlaine, and Paul Gauguin. The venture survived no more than a couple of years.

(7)Montesquiou-Fezensac. To modern readers, the two proper names on the penultimate line must be meaningless, but these were big, well known personalities in France at the turn of the 20th century. The Comte Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac was a descendant of d'Artagnan, whose tale is told in Dumas’ « The Three musketeers.” Montesquiou-Fezensac attempted Symbolist poetry and was an art collector and homosexual dandy. It is believed that he was the model for the Proustian character, the Baron de Charlus in Proust’s “À la recherche du temps perdu”.

(8) Bibi-la-purée – This was the name by which André Joseph Salis de Saglia was known. He dressed like a tramp but was one of the leading personalities of the Latin Quarter at the time and was given the title of le roi de la Bohème. He appears in the poetry of Verlaine, in James Joyce’s Ulysses and is seen in a Picasso painting.

On the morning of the funeral, he took up position by the coffin on the strength of his claim that he had been the dead man’s secretary and lover. This could have been true although he was an inveterate liar. Montesquiou, who was a pall-bearer, then intervened to protest that his ragged, eccentric dress was not in keeping with the dignity of the occasion. Bibi-la-purée was moved to a less conspicuous position, where, it is said, he took advantage to pilfer a number of unattended mourners’ umbrellas.

By the end of the day, the snobbish aristocrat and the professional bohemian were reconciled and were chatting intimately, using the “tu” form.

(9) Paul Fort - He was born in 1872 and in 1912 he was given the title of “Prince de Poètes” which he held until his death in 1960. He was a lover of the French ballad and the folk tradition. His verse, clear and rhythmic, converts fairly readily into song lyrics. Other poems by Fort on which Brassens based songs were: Le Petit Cheval – La Marine – Comme Hier – Si le bon dieu avait voulu – He recorded (spoken only) Fort’s poems – Germaine Tourangelle -Petit Verglas. Brassens also wrote a poem to commemorate Paul Fort’s funeral: L’enterrement de Paul Fort.

Two Personal CommentsVerlaine as the leading French poet

Paul Fort was taking a liberty in designating the leading French poets as this kind of judgement is very subjective. However, I found sympathy with him because the most active legacy that I clung to after studying a selection of French poets at “A” level fifty years ago was the verse of Verlaine. In particular, we analysed and learned by heart his Chanson d'Automne from his collection , Poèmes saturniens (1866). For years afterwards, I quoted the rich assonance of the first verse:

Les sanglots longs

Des violons

De l'automne

Blessent mon cœur

D'une langueur

Monotone.

Similarly I used to enjoy indulging in the melancholy of « Il pleure dans mon cœur » where Verlaine is at his most Lélian

Il pleure dans mon cœur

Comme il pleut sur la ville;

Quelle est cette langueur

Qui pénètre mon cœur?

Ô bruit doux de la pluie

Par terre et sur les toits!

Pour un cœur qui s'ennuie

Ô le chant de la pluie!

etc

From Romances sans paroles (1874)

These are lines, of course, familiar with most students of French - and that says a lot about Verlaine’s pre-eminence in French literature.!

2 Memories of France of the Belle Époque

Paul Fort is describing here a precious memory of an outstanding event in his life. My French professor used to tell an anecdote about the previous holder of his post. Although this, by then, old man was a lover of France, he had never visited Paris for fifty years. Born in the 1870s, he had lived in Paris at the turn of the century. He knew a Paris where elegant people drove around in horse drawn carriages and the streets were lit by gaslight. He had not the heart to return to Paris and erase this splendid image by superimposing that of modern Paris.

2010-11-12T00:52:00.001Z

Colombine

Brassens put music to this lilting, melodic poem of Paul Verlaine. The poet tells how someone who ruthlessly exploits his or her sexual charm is able to reduce to a state of abject subjugation those who fall victim - and Verlaine’s life story suggests that perhaps he should know! To illustrate this farcical, human situation, he enacts a typical scene, performed by the Italian mime theatre the Commedia dell'arte.(1)

Unfortunately I could find no video of Brassens performing this song.

Colombine

Léandre le sot,
Silly Leander,
Pierrot qui d'un saut
Pierrot who with one
De puce
Flea-like jump
Franchit le buisson,
Springs over the bush
Cassandre sous son
Cassander neath his
Capuce,
Deep monk’s cowl,

Arlequin aussi,
Harlequin also,
Cet aigrefin si
That cheating rogue so
Fantasque,
Full of guile
Aux costumes fous,
In crazy costume,
Les yeux luisant sous
His keen eyes glinting
Son masque,
Neath his mask

Do, mi, sol, mi, fa,
Do, mi, so, mi, fa,
Tout ce monde va,
All these go along
Rit, chante
Laugh and sing
Et danse devant
They dance in front of
Une frêle enfant

A skinny girl who
Méchante
Means trouble
Dont les yeux pervers
Whose eyes of menace
Comme les yeux verts
Like the bright green eyes
Des chattes
Of felines
Gardent ses appas (2)
Guard her body’s charms
Et disent :
As they say
"A bas les pattes ! "
Wand’ring hands, keep off!

A verse with no words is played next and then Brassens sings the following as his last verse:

L'implacable enfant,
The child, hard to please
Preste et relevant
Spry and with her skirts
Ses jupes,
Lifted high
La rose au chapeau,
The rose in her hat
Conduit son troupeau
Leads on her flock of
De dupes !
Those she fools!

From the poem of Paul Verlaine
Song by Georges Brassens -1955 - Chanson pour l'auvergnat

NOTES
1)The Commedia dell'arte - The poem gives a glimpse of the “Commedia dell'arte”, the Italian theatre which was popular to French audiences during three centuries. Molière knew it well and its influence is seen in his comedies. Two hundred years later, Balzac, in “Le Père Goriot” shows the members of Parisian high society making a weekly visit to the Italian theatre.
The noble and distinguished people who attended this theatre were enjoying boisterous knockabout comedy, which could be very racy. There was comic portrayal of sex and the plot was often based on sexual infidelity and promiscuity. Situations which enacted shipwrecks and fires allowed the actresses to cast off their clothes.
The admirable skill of these players was to go onstage to perform an unwritten drama which, to a great extent, they improvised on the spot.
The theatre had stock characters and we meet some of them in this poem.
• The young lovers- often naïve. In this poem Leander is the young hero, foolishly besotted (with Colombine).
• The easily deceived old man. In this poem it is Cassander, who is wearing a hood to hide his lustful pursuit of the young girl temptress, Colombine.
• The cheeky young serving girl was very often called Colombine as here. She was usually completely amoral and although she had a lover, she shared her favours as she liked.
• The rascally servants. There were usually several of these. They were usually lazy scoundrels and sometimes cruel and cunning. Although they deceived others, they were often so stupid that they were themselves open to deception. Verlaine gives us here the two most well-known:
a. Pierrot was the white faced clown – hence the acrobatics.
b. Harlequin was one of the characters who traditionally wore a mask. He was deeply in love with Colombine, who caused him great jealousy.
(2) Gardent ses appas – « Les appas » mean charms or charming features. A plural noun with the same sound would be « Les appâts » - the bait used to catch your prey. Both could apply to the armoury of the predatory female.

Misogynie à part - Setting misogyny aside

2010-11-11T23:47:00.005Z

Explicit lines in this poem make it suitable only for adult readers. After long hesitation, I include it because I see in the song true Brassens qualities and genuine Brassens fun –as can be seen from the audience reaction in the video.
This poem describes a dysfunctional relationship where the girl while enjoying passionate and adventurous lovemaking, spoils her lover’s experience by insisting on elements of middle class gentility and by merging her sexual ecstasy with the religious ecstasy it aroused in her.

georges Brassens - misogynie a part
Uploaded by bisonravi1987. - Up-to-the minute news videos.

Misogynie à part

Misogynie à part, le sage avait raison :
Misogyny apart, the wise man was quite right
Il y a les emmerdantes,(1) on en trouve à foison,
There are enmerdant girls, you find them in plenty
En foule elles se pressent,
In great throngs, they come at you,
Il y a les emmerdeuses(1), un peu plus raffinées,
There are enmerdous girls, a little more refined
Et puis, très nettement au-dessus du panier,
And then very clearly, at the top of the heap
Y a les emmerderesses(1).
There are girl enmerderesses.

La mienne, à elle seule, sur tout's surenchérit,
Mine stands out alone, outclasses the whole lot
Ell' relève à la fois des trois catégories,
She ticks at the same time all three categories
Véritable prodige,
Veritable prodigy
Emmerdante, emmerdeuse, emmerderesse itou,
Enmerdant, enmerdous, enmerderesse alike.
Elle passe, ell' dépasse, elle surpasse tout,
She goes further, outstrips, she surpasses them all,
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je.
She enmerds me, I tell you.

Mon dieu, pardonnez-moi ces propos bien amers,
Oh god, pray pardon me these very bitter words
Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmer-
She enmerds me, she enmerds me, she enmerds me
De, elle abuse, elle attige.
She goes quite wrong, goes too far.
Ell' m'emmerde et j' regrett' mes bell's amours avec
She enmerds me and I regret my fine amours spent with
La p'tite Enfant d' Marie (3) que m'a soufflée l'évêque,
The young child of Mary, the bishop pinched from me.
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je.
She enmerds me, I tell you

Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, et m'oblige à me cu-
She enmerds, she enmerds, and forces me to clean
Rer les ongles avant de confirmer son cul,
Up my nails before confirming her rear.
Or, c'est pas Callipyge(4).
Now she is no Callipyge
Et la charité seul' pouss' ma main résignée
And charity alone drives my resign-ed hand
Vers ce cul rabat-joie, conique, renfrogné,
To this joyless bottom, cone-shaped, sad looking
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je.
She enmerds me I tell you.

Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, je le répète et quand
She enmerds me, she enmerds me, I repeat it and when
Ell' me tape sur le ventre, elle garde ses gants,
She bangs on my stomach, she won’t take off her gloves
Et ça me désoblige.
And this causes me offence.
Outre que ça dénote un grand manque de tact,
Besides this displaying a great lack of tact,
Ça n' favorise pas tellement le contact,
That in no way favours any sense of contact.
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je.

Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerd' , quand je tombe à genoux
She enmerds, she enmerds, when I fall to my knees
Pour certain's dévotions qui sont bien de chez nous
For certain devotions that are OK with the French
Et qui donn'nt le vertige,
And which bring on vertigo
Croyant l'heure venue de chanter le Credo,
Believing the time come for singing of the creed
Elle m'ouvre tout grand son missel sur le dos,
She flings open out wide her missel on my back
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je.
She enmerds me, I tell you

Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde, à la fornication
She enmerds me, she enmerds me during fornication
Ell' s'emmerde, ell' s'emmerde avec ostentation, (5)
She enmerds me she enmerds me with ostentation
Ell' s'emmerde, vous dis-je
She enmerds me, I tell you.
Au lieu de s'écrier : "Encore ! hardi ! hardi !"
Instead of crying out : « Once more ! Go on! Go on!
Ell' déclam' du Claudel (6) ! du Claudel, j'ai bien dit,
She declaims from Claudel ! From Claudel you heard right
Alors ça, ça me fige
Well then that - that stops me dead.

Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerd', j'admets que ce Claudel
She enmerds me, she enmerds me, I admit that this Claudel
Soit un homm' de génie, un poète immortel,
Is a man of genius, a poet immortal
J' reconnais son prestige,
I acknowledge his prestige
Mais qu'on aille chercher dedans son œuvre pie,
But that one goes seeking within his wordy tomes(7)
Un aphrodisiaque, non, ça, c'est d' l'utopie!(8)
An aphrodisiac, no that’s pure Utopia
Ell' m'emmerde, vous dis-je.
She enmerds me, I tell you.

Georges Brassens
1969 - La religieuse

COMMENTS ABOUT THE TRANSLATION.

(1) emmerdantes, emmerdeuses, emmerderesses - These words and the idea behind them come from Paul Valéry (1871-1945) the famous poet, critic and essayist. Like Brassens, Valéry was born in Sètes and like Brassens is buried there – but not in the same cemetery. Brassens talks about him in another poem on this website – see Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète - .
Valéry is quoted as saying: « Il y a trois sortes de femmes: les emmerdeuses, les emmerdantes... et les emmerderesses ». My Collins dictionary lists the verb « emmerder » to badly annoy/ to bug someone. It lists “emmerdant”, the participle used as an adjective, to translate the word “annoying” with pejorative force suggesting various English oaths. The dictionary also shows this adjective forming a noun in “quel emmerdant!” = what a bloody nuisance. However there is a real noun form “emmerdement” and the exclamation “quel emmerdement!” also means “what a bloody nuisance”. For a person who is an absolute nuisance, Collins gives the word “un emmerdeur” with the feminine form “une emmerdeuse”. Collins does not give the word “emmerderesse », which Valéry seems to have invented himself by analogy with other words made feminine with the suffix “esse” e.g. “pécheur”/ “pécheresse” = sinner.
All these words are based on the word “merde” which means “s**t”. Although this word is used more freely in French and has lost some of the shock of the English translation, its basic meaning still applies.
On translating this poem, I tried to use the words “annoy” “irritate” “exasperate”, but found them very deficient in meaning. In desperation, I have imitated my colleagues in sociology and invented my own code word:
To enmerd = to drive some-one to desperation by imposing on them a load of pointless, demeaning rubbish (merde)

2) Misogynie à part – Who is the misogynist? Paul Valéry seems to be saying that all women are guilty of emmerdement, which is a very sweeping condemnation of the female sex. This is obviously a misogynistic remark. I feel that Brassens shows by his choice of title that he recognised the misogyny of Valéry’s sentiments, but, all the same, he was glad to use Valéry’s terminology as a springboard for this provocative song.

3) La p'tite Enfant d' Marie – The 1930s saw the growth of political youth movements. In the Soviet Union, there were the pioneers. In Germany, there was the Hitler Youth. The Catholic Church formed a youth movement for boys, called « Les Croisés » and for girls called “Les Enfants de Marie” aimed particularly against Communist atheism which had growing support among the left-wing in France. This membership gives an expectation of strict sexual morals.

4) Vénus callipyge - The statue of the Venus Kallipygos is now in the Royal Museum in Naples. The worship of this Venus had been widespread in Ancient Greece and then had spread to Italy. The word Kallipygos is formed by an adjective, Κάλλος, which means beautiful and a noun πυγὴ, which means bum.

5) Ell' m'emmerde, ell' m'emmerde - This word, emphatic in itself, is made even more emphatic by its repetition, six times in three lines. However, some of the humour comes from the sense that this is a pretend indignation, while describing their mutual pleasure. Also the style of their lovemaking seems to be an established routine to which each returned willingly. No doubt, Brassens was fascinated and amused by his quirky young partner. The vehemence of his overstatement is comic as we see from the reaction of singer and audience.

6) Ell' déclam' du Claudel - Paul Claudel (1868 -1955) was a very prominent man of letters, who produced an incredible output of poems, plays, travel books, literary criticism and more. His plays were extremely long- one lasting eleven hours. In his writings, he expressed his very strong faith in Roman Catholicism. Like many influential French Catholics, he had been a strong supporter of the ideals of the collaborationist Vichy government of General Pétain, to whom he addressed a eulogical poem. This background served to limit Claudel’s appeal to those on the political left, such as Brassens.
The article about Claudel in Wikipedia, has a sentence which seems relevant to this poem. We read there that Claudel used “scenes of passionate, obsessive human love to convey with great power God's infinite love for humanity”. Above the physical detail of lovemaking, which Brassens has described in his poem, most people are probably aware of a spiritual dimension- although not necessarily with religious connotations. In the play Les Miserables, Jean Valjean says "to love another person is to see the face of God.". There is another quotation- also from Victor Hugo I think- that when two people make love, God is always present at that altar.
Perhaps the unconventional, strong-minded young girl gets the better in this poem! At the start we had expectations that she would have conformist, life-denying inhibitions but instead she emerges as an individualist, seeking her own answers. Despite his over-loud protestations against his partner, Brassens has given us another example of one of life’s eccentrics, so dear to him.

LES CHÂTEAUX DE SABLE (Brassens) - MISTRAL GAGNANT (Renaud)

2010-10-10T14:38:00.010+01:00

Here are two songs sung by the famous French singer, Maxime le Forestier, on the theme of the transitory pleasures of childhood and youth. This precious experience disappears in a flash and its passing is imperceptible.
The first song by Brassens suggests an unseen epic dimension behind ordinary human life, which is the inevitably destructive wheel of history. Although he was happy with this poem, Brassens never set it to music. Here, Le Forestier is singing the melody written for the song by Jean Bertola.

In the second song from 1998, “Mistral Gagnant”, Le Forestier, sings a duet with the beautiful Vanessa Paradis. The lyrics of this song are by the French singer- song writer, Renaud. As well as individual memories, Renaud lists the specific objects which formed part of the magic world of his 1950 -1960 childhood, which time, the assassin, stole away.

LES CHÂTEAUX DE SABLE (BRASSENS – 1978)

sung by Maxime Le Forestier

Je chante la petite guerre (1)
I sing of the little war waged

Des braves enfants de naguère
By the nice children of recent past

Qui sur la plage ont bataillé (2)
Who on the beach put up a fight

Pour sauver un château de sable
In order to save a sandcastle

Et ses remparts infranchissables
And its ramparts that could not be breached

Qu'une vague allait balayer.
Which one wave would come wash away

J'en étais : l'arme à la bretelle,
I with them : weapons at the ready

Retranchés dans la citadelle,
Firm entrenched within the citadel

De pied ferme nous attendions
Resolute,we were awaiting

Une cohorte sarrazine
A great horde of saracen fighters (1)

Partie de la côte voisine
Embarked from the coast close by us

À l'assaut de notre bastion.
For the assault on our bastion

À cent pas de là sur la dune,
Hundred yards from there upon the dune

En attendant que la fortune
While waiting for the fortune of war

Des armes sourie aux vainqueurs,
To smile forth upon the vanquishers

Languissant d'être courtisées
Languishing for sweet courtships to come

Nos promises, nos fiancées
Our own betrothèd, promised to us,

Préparaient doucement leur coeur. (3)
Were gently preparing their hearts

Tout à coup l'Armada sauvage (1)
All at once the savage Armada

Déferla sur notre rivage
Launched its might upon our sandy shores

Avec ses lances, ses pavois, (4)
Pitting its lances, its bucklers

Pour commettre force rapines,
To carry out their widespread plunder

Et même enlever nos Sabines (5)
And even run off with our Sabine girls

Plus belles que les leurs, ma foi.
More beautiful than theirs, in truth

La mêlée fut digne d'Homère, (1)
The skirmish was worthy of Homer

Et la défaite bien amère
And the defeat was very bitter

À l'ennemi pourtant nombreux,
For the foe though strong in number

Qu'on battit à plate couture,
Whom we beat in resounding manner

Qui partit en déconfiture
Who went off in complete disarray

En déroute, en sauve-qui-peut.
Put to flight, running for their lives

Oui, cette horde de barbares
Yes, all that horde of barbarians

Que notre fureur désempare
Whom our awesome fury tears apart

Fit retraite avec ses vaisseaux,
Retreated with all its vessels,

En n'emportant pour tous trophées,
Carrying off as sole trophies

Moins que rien, deux balles crevées,
Next to nothing, a pair of bursted balls

Trois raquettes, quatre cerceaux. (6)
And three rackets, four bowling hoops.

Après la victoire fameuse
After the victory illustrous

En chantant l'air de "Sambre et Meuse"(7)
Singing the tune of « Sambre et Meuse »

Et de "La Marseillaise", ô gué, (8)
And of « the Marseillaise » tra la la,

On courut vers la récompense
We ran off for the sweet recompense

Que le joli sexe dispense
Which the fairer sex lavishes on

Aux petits héros fatigués.
Little heroes tired from the fray.

Tandis que tout bas à l'oreille
Whilst in soft tones into the ear

De nos Fanny, de nos Mireille,
Of our Muriels, of our Fannys

On racontait notre saga,
We related our stirring tale

Qu'au doigt on leur passait la bague,
Whilst on their finger we slipped the ring

Surgit une espèce de vague (9)
There rose up something like a sea swell

Que personne ne remarqua.
Of which nobody was aware

Au demeurant ce n'était qu'une
All said and done, it was only one

Vague sans amplitude aucune, (10)
Wave without real consequence at all

Une vaguelette égarée,
A little wave that lost its way

Mais en atteignant au rivage
But on its arrival on the shore

Elle causa plus de ravages,
It brought on more devastation

De dégâts, qu'un raz-de-marée.
More damage, than a tsunami.

Expéditive, la traîtresse
Expeditious, the treach’rous one

Investit notre forteresse,
Invested our fortress so doughty

La renversant, la détruisant.
Knocking it down, destroying it.

Adieu donjon, tours et courtines,
Farewell dungeon, towers and castle walls

Que quatre gouttes anodines
Which four harmless seeming water drops

Avaient effacés en passant.
Had oblit’rated in passing

À quelque temps de là nous sommes (11)
At some time on from then we have

Allés mener parmi les hommes
Set out to wage among grown-up men

D'autres barouds plus décevants,
Other conflicts less rewarding

Allés mener d'autres campagnes,
Set out to wage other campaigns

Où les châteaux sont plus d'Espagne,(12)
Where the castles are more in the sky

Et de sable qu'auparavant.
And more of sand, than those before

Quand je vois lutter sur la plage
When I see them fighting upon the beach

Des soldats à la fleur de l'âge,
Soldiers in the full bloom of life,

Je ne les décourage pas,
I offer no discouragement

Quoique je sache, ayant naguère
Although I know, having not long past

Livré moi-même cette guerre,
Myself engaged in this selfsame war,

L'issue fatale du combat.
The fatal outcome of the fight

Je sais que malgré leur défense,
I know that in spite of their defence

Leur histoire est perdue d'avance,
Their history is doomed in advance

Mais je les laisse batailler,
But I leave them to fight it out

Pour sauver un château de sable
In order to save a sandcastle

Et ses remparts infranchissables
And its ramparts that could not be breached

Qu'une vague allait balayer.
Which one wave would come wash away

TRANSLATION NOTES

1) Je chante la petite guerre This first line is a deliberate echo of the opening words of Virgil’s Aeniad : "Arma virumque cano" (Of arms and the man I sing). The Roman poet was writing of the epic wars that led to the foundation of Rome. Brassens is talking of a war little in comparison, but the mock epic tone of his first line suggests that the small war has deep significance for humanity. We will see that the ordinary events of the poem are described in terms which refer to epic events in history: La mêlée fut digne d'Homère -- cohorte sarrazine -- l'Armada – the rape of the Sabine women – military victories -Sambre et Meuse

2) ..... braves enfants......... sur la plage. The theme of the poem is the carefree pleasures of childhood and youth. Brassens represents this with the games of children on the beach, boisterous and probably not too popular with some adults. Brassens’ song « Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète », expresses his lifelong love for the beaches of the town where he passed his childhood.

3) nos fiancées .....préparaient doucement leur cœur. Events of childhood and puberty merge in this poem. The assailants would seem to be youths from the surrounding area come to make advances to their women. Although the newcomers are described as alien Saracens, the girls of Sète are excitedly preparing to accept the boys who emerge best from the encounters. Romantic love has as little place with Brassens as it had with George Bernard Shaw, whose play “Arms and the Man” also put a different cast on Virgil’s epic view. One of Shaw’s themes was the folly of basing your affections on idealistic notions of love.

4) Pavois (bucklers) were small shields gripped in the fist by the fighter.

5) Sabines. In Roman legend, the Romans attacked the region of the Sabines to forcibly capture and take away their women, when Rome had not enough women to provide brides for the native men folk.

6) deux balles crevées, trois raquettes, quatre cerceaux .... After the epic battle, it comes as a surprise that the defeated “Saracens” made off only with these childhood toys. The first amorous episodes of youth mark the end of childhood and we are too involved in the new excitement to realise that the no longer used toys that we pass on contain precious years of our life, with familiar places and vivid experiences now receding into the past.

7) Sambre et Meuse ……. La Marseillaise. These are of course great French patriotic songs to mark their victory. The army of Sambre-et-Meuse was the famous French revolutionary army, which, in 1794, turned the tide of war by defeating the Austrians and the Dutch in Flanders.

8) gué is a standard interjection found in songs and poems to express a mood of rejoicing. Larousse tells me that the word is a corruption of “gai”

9) Surgit une espèce de vague --- The responsibilities of adult life end the exhilarating freedom of youth and a most significant step is when a couple engage in what Brassens sees as the imprisonment of marriage. (See also La non-demande en mariage – Je me suis fait tout petit – Les amoureux des bancs publics etc)

10) Amplitude means “large scale”.

11) À quelque temps de là ---This verse expresses the disillusionment that life brings after the relative innocence of childhood and youth.

12) châteaux d'Espagne - Castles in Spain mean fanciful ideas. In English we also say "castles in the air".

Mistral gagnant – (Renaud 1998)

sung by Vanessa Paradis and Maxime Le Forestier

This song recalls the mischievous, irresponsible pleasures of childhood in France during the 1950s and 1960s –ruining your shoes by splashing in puddles to get your mum going etc. The title “Winning Mistral” was a sherbet style sweet that children bought or pinched from the shop and if it said “Winner” in the packet,you got another packet free. These were happy days filled with love, but time carries off the laughter of children.

Ah... m'asseoir sur un banc
cinq minutes avec toi
et regarder les gens
tant qu'y en a
Te parler du bon temps
qu'est mort ou qui r'viendra
en serrant dans ma main
tes p'tits doigts
Pi donner à bouffer
à des pigeons idiots
leur filer des coups d'pied
pour de faux
Et entendre ton rire
qui lézarde cracks les murs
qui sait surtout guérir
mes blessures
Te raconter un peu
comment j'étais, mino
les bombecs fabuleux
qu'on piquait chez l'marchand
car en sac et Mintho
caramels à un franc
et les Mistral gagnants
Ah... marcher sous la pluie
cinq minutes avec toi
et regarder la vie
tant qu'y en a
Te raconter la Terre
en te bouffant devouring des yeux
Te parler de ta mère
un p'tit peu
Et sauter dans les flaques
pour la faire râler grumble
Bousiller ruin nos godasses shoes
et s'marrer
Et entendre ton rire
comme on entend la mer
s'arrêter, repartir
en arrière
Te raconter surtout
les Carambars d'antan http://uk.saveurdujour.com/images/CarambarsCara.gif
et les coco-boërs
et les vrais roudoudous
qui nous coupaient les lèvres
et nous niquaient les dents
et les Mistral gagnants
Ah... m'asseoir sur un banc
cinq minutes avec toi
regarder le soleil
qui s'en va
Te parler du bon temps
qu'est mort et je m'en fous
Te dire que les méchants
c'est pas nous
Que si moi je suis barge crazy/ dizzy
ce n'est que de tes yeux
car ils ont l'avantage
d'être deux
Et entendre ton rire
s'envoler aussi haut
que s'envolent les cris
des oiseaux
Te raconter enfin
qu'il faut aimer la vie
et l'aimer même si
le temps est assassin
et emporte avec lui
les rires des enfants
et les Mistral gagnants
et les Mistral gagnants

To see Le Forestier in his youth, see his duet with Georges Brassens. Click
Les Passantes

A poem in English that deals with the same theme is “I remember, I remember,” written by Thomas Hood, who was born in 1799. In Hood’s case, the contrast between the magic of childhood and the disillusionment of the later years was all the more grim, because he suffered from a painful illness from his early thirties. He died shortly before his 46th birthday. Within this sad framework, however, his picture of the joys of his childhood are very vivid’
I remember, I remember,
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn;
He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day,
But now, I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away!

I remember, I remember,
The roses, red and white,
The vi'lets, and the lily-cups,
Those flowers made of light!
The lilacs where the robin built,
And where my brother set
The laburnum on his birthday,--
The tree is living yet!

I remember, I remember,
Where I was used to swing,
And thought the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the wing;
My spirit flew in feathers then,
That is so heavy now,
And summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow!

I remember, I remember,
The fir trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky:
It was a childish ignorance,
But now 'tis little joy
To know I'm farther off from heav'n
Than when I was a boy

La première fille

2010-04-24T07:54:00.002+01:00

La première fille

Once again Brassens sings about the excitement of first love and its eternal charm

La Première Fille (live) Brassens
Uploaded by Ben-Yehuda. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Georges Brassens got his words wrong in the last verse. I suspect that it is because he was seated so close to his audience, composed of a number of sweet young girls, and felt he had to cut out the explicit words. This led to a mix up with his accompanists.I like the way, when Georges went wrong, his young audience sang it for him.

Here is a sound recording of Brassens singing the song- posted on YouTube

(As Brassens sings the song, he glides over the words that I have broken up with a dash)
J'ai tout oublié des campagnes
I’ve forgotten all about campa-aigns
D'Austerlitz et de Waterloo
Of Austerlitz and Waterloo
D'Italie, de Prusse et d'Espagne,
Italy, Prussia and in Spa-ain
De Pontoise et de Landerneau
Of Pontoise and of Landerneau.(1)

Jamais de la vie
Never in your lifetime
On ne l'oubliera,
You’ll ever forget her
La première fill'
The very first girl
Qu'on a pris' dans ses bras,
Whom you took in your arms

La première étrangère
The first girl, you had hardly known
À qui l'on a dit "tu" (2)
But asked out, heart in mouth.
Mon coeur, t'en souviens-tu ?)
My heart do you remember ?
Comme ell' nous était chère...
How dear she was to us
Qu'ell' soit fille honnête(3)
Whether she’s a virtuous girl
Ou fille de rien,(4)
Or girl not up to much
Qu'elle soit pucelle (5)
Whether you’re her first boy
Ou qu'elle soit putain, (5)
Or follow quite a lot
On se souvient d'elle,
You still remember her
On s'en souviendra,
You will remember this
D'la première fill'
About the first girl
Qu'on a pris' dans ses bras
Whom you took in your arms

Ils sont partis à tire-d'aile
They flew away at great spee-eed
Mes souvenirs de la Suzon,
My recollections of Susan
Et ma mémoire est infidèle
And my memory’s been unfaithful
À Julie, Rosette ou Lison
To Julie, Rosetta or Liza.

Jamais de la vie
Never in your lifetime
On ne l'oubliera,
You’ll ever forget her
La première fill'
The very first girl
Qu'on a pris' dans ses bras,
Whom you took in your arms

C'était un' bonne affaire
We struck a very good bargain
(Mon coeur, t'en souviens-tu ?)
My heart do you remember ?
J'ai changé ma vertu
I traded my virtue
Contre une primevère...
And got a primrose flower (6)
Qu' ce soit en grand' pompe
Whether it’s done with great pomp
Comme les gens "bien",
As the « proper » folk do
Ou bien dans la ru',
Or else down in the street
Comm' les pauvre' et les chiens,
As the poor people and the dogs
On se souvient d'elle,
You still remember her
On s'en souviendra,
You will remember this
D'la première fill'
About the first girl
Qu'on a pris' dans ses bras
Whom you took in your arms

Toi, qui m'as donné le baptême
You who gave me the baptism-me
D'amour et de septième ciel,
Of love and of the seventh heaven
Moi, je te garde et, moi, je t'aime,
Know I keep you, Know I love you
Dernier cadeau du Pèr' Noël !
Last gift sent from Santa Claus (7)

Jamais de la vie
Never in your lifetime
On ne l'oubliera,
You’ll ever forget her
La première fill'
The very first girl
Qu'on a pris' dans ses bras,
Whom you took in your arms

On a beau fair' le brave,
So much for the brave front
Quand ell' s'est mise nue
When she stripped herself bare
(Mon coeur, t'en souviens-tu ?)
My heart do you remember?
On n'en menait pas large(8)...
You fell right down to my boots.
Bien d'autres, sans doute,
Many others, there’s no doubt
Depuis, sont venues,
Have come along since then
Oui, mais, entre toutes
Yes, but, among them all,
Celles qu'on a connues,
The ones that you have known-
Elle est la dernière
She is the very last one
Que l'on oubliera,
Who will get forgotten
La première fill'
The very first girl
Qu'on a pris' dans ses bras,
Whom you took in your arms

NOTES
(1) Brassens says that he has forgotten all the history he learnt at school and to illustrate the point he includes in the last line two places that do not figure in war history.
(2) The change from using the “vous” form of you to the « tu » form is made when you assume you have reached a certain stage of familiarity. It can be a sensitive moment. In English, the first tense and embarrassing moment of asking a girl to go out with you is luckily not a linguistic problem.
(3) fille honnête – As well as the most usual meaning of honest, “honnête” also has the sense of decent. When speaking of a woman it means virtuous. It seemed an old fashioned adjective, but, in the end, I stuck with it. In the royal court of the 17th century, there was the concept of the “honnête homme” which was the equivalent of acting like a gentleman.
(4) De rien means “worth nothing”. This seemed too harsh in English.
(5) pucelle means virgin and putain means whore, but I wanted to soften these lines, as the harsh moral standards of the 50s, which Brassens deplored, no longer apply.
(6) Brassens uses elsewhere, the primrose, flower of early spring, as a symbol of the young love that replaces lost virginity
(7) The experience of lovemaking marked the end of childhood.
(8)On n'en menait pas large- is an idiom that means "your heart was in your boots"

Georges Brassens
(1954 - Les amoureux des bancs publics.)

La Marguerite

2010-04-24T07:40:00.008+01:00

In this simple poem, Brassens describes the hysteria and malice, which is aroused in a parish of traditional believers, when they suspect that their priest, at Easter, has accepted a tiny token of sexual affection from a person unknown. Brassens tells the tale, largely suppressing his personal reaction until his last line of inarticulate disbelief.

Brassens la marguerite
Uploaded by kitsch. - Explore more music videos.

LA MARGUERITE
La petite
The so tiny
Marguerite
Daisy flower
Est tombée,
Fell down
Singulière,
Strange to say
Du bréviaire
From The breviary
De l'abbé
Of the priest.

Trois pétales
Three petals
De scandale
Of scandal
Sur l'autel,
On the altar
Indiscrète
An indiscreet
Pâquerette,
Easter flower
D'où vient-elle ?
Whence comes it ?

Dans l'enceinte
In the confines
Sacro-sainte,
Sacrosanct
Quel émoi
What a fuss !
Quelle affaire,
What an outrage,
Oui, ma chère,
Yes my dear
Croyez-moi !
Believe me.

La frivole
The frivolous
Fleur qui vole,
Flower in flight
Arrive en
Arrives as
Contrebande
Contraband
Des plat's-bandes
From the flower beds
Du couvent.
Of the convent.

Notre Père
Our father
Qui, j'espère,
Who I hope
Êt's aux cieux,
Art in heaven
N'ayez cure
Pay no regard
Des murmures
To the whispers
Malicieux,
Of mischief

La légère
The slight
Fleur, peuchère !
Flower, God's truth !
Ne vient pas
Does not come
De nonnettes,(1)
From little nuns
De cornettes
In cornets
En sabbat.
At a Black Sabbath.

Sachez, diantre !
Know – devil take me!
Qu'un jour, entre
That, one day between
Deux Ave,
Hail Marys,
Sur la Pierre
On the footstone
D'un calvaire
Of a wayside cross
Il l'a trouvée,
He found it.

Et l'a mise,
And he put it
Chose admise
A thing allowed
Par le ciel,
By heaven
Sans ambages,
Without ado
Dans les pages
In the pages
Du missel.
Of the missal.

Que ces messes
Let these masses
Basses cessent,
All low cease now
Je vous prie.
I pray you
Non, le prête
No the priest
N'est pas traître
Is not a traitor
À Marie.
To Mary.

Que personne
Let nobody
Ne soupçonne,
Ever suspect
Plus jamais,
From now on
La petite
The so tiny
Marguerite,
Daisy flower.
Ah ! ça mais !*
Words fail me.
*In the three final words, Brassens indicates that he is left speechless.

Georges Brassens
1961 - Les trompettes de la renommé
TRANSLATION NOTE
(1) De nonnettes – I had never met this word and thought that Brassens had invented this diminutive. In fact, Larousse tells me that nonnette means a young nun.

COMMENTS

1) The music of this poem comes from the rhythm of two lines of four feet followed by one line of three feet. I have tried to keep to this, but have not always managed it.
2) There is a story that Brassens offered this song to Brigitte Bardot, who, it is believed, was an intimate friend. The story goes on to say that she refused because of one line. The line to which she is supposed to have objected is: Fleur, peuchère ! The word "peuchère" is an oath of southern French origin, which Collins Robert translates as "streuth!"- which makes it quite mild. Only a native speaker knows the power of an expletive and,no doubt, Brigitte Bardot found this very unladylike.

This is a relatively unimportant line and Brassens could have easily rephrased it. I would have thought that what she would have found difficult to deliver, would be the last line, where he finally expresses his despair and disbelief at the behaviour of the respectable devout in the supposedly enlightened 20th century.

Click here to go back to the Index of my Brassens selection

J'ai rendez-vous avec vous

2010-04-24T07:37:00.004+01:00

J'ai rendez-vous avec vous

This lively song, which is often sung with audience participation, tells of a young man’s all absorbing love for his passionate girl-friend. During an interview that took place in the later years of his life, Brassens placed this song as the first of the numerous songs that were inspired by his love of Joha Heiman, his lifelong companion, for whom his affectionate name was “Püppchen”, his little doll. In this interview he quotes, in reference to her, the lines: “ La lumière que je préfère, C'est celle de vos yeux jaloux ». The rest of the poem suggests more explicitly that the start of their relationship was very passionate, in contrast with his complaints in later songs of his sexual deprivation.

I could not find a Brassens video of this song and this is a recording I have just found on Daily Motion. I think the singer makes the words clear

Brassens - J'ai rendez vous avec vous
Uploaded by apocalyptique01. - See the latest featured music videos.

A feature of the performance of this song is the gliding of the vowels that I have marked with a hyphen

Monseigneur l’astre solaire,
Monseigneur the solar sta-ar-
Comm’ je n’ l’admir’ pas beaucoup, (1)
As I don’t admire him so much,
M’enlèv’ son feu, oui mais, d’ son feu, moi j’m’en fous,
Turns off his light, yes, but f'r his sun, I don’t-care-damn
J’ai rendez-vous avec vous !
My rendez-vous is with you.
La lumièr’ que je préfère,
The light- that I prefe-er-,
C’est cell’ de vos yeux jaloux,
It's that y'r jealous eyes endue ,
Tout le restant m’indiffère,
For all the rest I do not ca-are
J’ai rendez-vous avec vous !
My rendez-vous is with you.

Monsieur mon propriétaire,
The gent who rents me my lo-odgings
Comm’ je lui dévaste tout,
As I mess everything up
M’ chass’ de son toit, oui mais, d’ son toit, moi j'm’en fous
Drives m' from und' his roof, yes, but f'r his roof I don’t-care-damn
J’ai rendez-vous avec vous !
My rendez-vous is with you.
La demeur’ que je préfère,
The dwelling that I prefe-er-
C’est votre robe à froufrous (2),
It’s neath your dress of froufrou
Tout le restant m’indiffère,
For all the rest I do not ca-are
J’ai rendez-vous avec vous !
My rendez-vous is with you.

Madame ma gargotière,(3)
Madame, where I go for my gru-ub
Comm’ je lui dois trop de sous,
As I owe her too many sous,
M’ chass’ de sa tabl’, oui mais, d’ sa tabl’, moi j’m’en fous,
Drives me from her tabl’, yes, but for her tabl’ I don’t-care-damn
J’ai rendez-vous avec vous !
My rendez-vous is with you.
Le menu que je préfère,
The menu that I prefe-er-,
C’est la chair de votre cou,
That’s the flesh of your chest(4)
Tout le restant m’indiffère,
For all the rest I do not ca-are
J’ai rendez-vous avec vous !
My rendez-vous is with you.

Sa Majesté financière,
His Majesty the financie-er-
Comm’ je n’ fais rien à son goût,
As I do nothing to his taste
Garde son or, or, de son or, moi j’m’en fous,(5)
Holds back his gold, now, for his gold I don’t-care-damn
J’ai rendez-vous avec vous !
My rendez-vous is with you!
La fortun’ que je préfère,
The fortune that I prefe-er-
C’est votre cœur d’amadou,(6)
Is your heart of amadou
Tout le restant m’indiffère,
For all the rest I do not ca-are
J’ai rendez-vous avec vous !
My rendez-vous is with you.

NOTES
1) L’astre solaire is the sun and Brassens on a number of occasions expressed his exasperation with a climate where there were too many sunny days.

2) The dictionary says froufrous are showy or frilly ornamentation on a dress

3) La gargotière – Masc – le gargotier. Larousse tells us that this is a person who runs « une gargote », which is a small cheap restaurant.

4)"Cou" of course means "neck". More precisely, Larousse tells us that it means the part of the body that joins the head to the body. The French have the phrase "se jeter au cou de quelq'un" which is to greet some-one with a passionate embrace. I was unhappy with the image in English of "flesh of the neck" and I am risking this mistranslation.

5) Brassens seems to have written this line mainly because it amused him to have three « ors » in one line. The second “or” is the conjunction which means “now” not in a sense of time but holding a story together- eg: “There was once a very rich king, now this king had three daughters…….”

6) The other word for amadou is torchwood. It is a vegetable substance which in the olden days was used to light a fire or a lamp. Sparks were dropped onto the torchwood on which you then blew on to start a flame. The lady to whom the song was dedicated was apparently quickly stirred to passion.

Georges Brassens
1954 - Les amoureux des bancs publics.

Return to Index page

Pensees des morts

2010-04-06T23:49:00.008+01:00

This is Georges Brassens at his most serious, putting into a song six verses written by one of France’s very greatest poets, Alphonse de Lamartine, who was born in 1790 in Mâcon and died in 1869 in Paris.
Lamartine was one of the leading figures of the 19th century Romantic Movement, which brought a consciousness of nature into literature and the arts.

On choosing this post, I had a memory of a Brassens version of Lamartine, which conveyed the idea of the consolation that those separated by death could gain in the presence of nature – the voice whispered in the wind - the flower representing the continuity of beauty shared. As I worked through the following lines, however, I realised that either my memory was defective or I had chosen the wrong poem.

In my interpretation of these verses, I see an awareness not of the presence of dead people we have loved, but an awareness of their absence. This view may seem bleak, like the view of nature in the first and last stanza, but it is, perhaps, a more realistic depiction. The other signs from nature, the summer breeze, the flower would seem trivial by comparison. The great sense of emptiness and the feeling of impatience are a positive restatement of the survival of an experience of love shared across death.

We can understand Brassens’ mood when he recorded this song in 1969. His mother had died in 1962 and his father three years later. He suffered a very great blow on the 24th October 1967, when his Jeanne died and it seemed to him that his world had fallen apart.

Voilà les feuilles sans sève
See yonder the sapless leaves
Qui tombent sur le gazon,
Falling on the grass beneath
Voilà le vent qui s'élève
See too how the wind is rising
Et gémit dans le vallon,
And moans along the valley
Voilà l'errante hirondelle
There is the one stray swallow
Qui rase du bout de l'aile
Whose wing tip skims the surface
L'eau dormante des marais,
Of the still water of the marsh
Voilà l'enfant des chaumières
There is the child from the cottage
Qui glane sur les bruyères
Who gathers up from the heathland
Le bois tombé des forêts.
Wood fallen from the forests

C'est la saison où tout tombe
It is the season when all things fall
Aux coups redoublés des vents ;
To the onslaught of the winds
Un vent qui vient de la tombe
A wind which blows out from the tomb
Moissonne aussi les vivants:
Harvests also the living
Ils tombent alors par mille,
They fall down then in their thousands
Comme la plume inutile
Like the feather of no more use
Que l'aigle abandonne aux airs,
Which eagles cast off to the skies
Lorsque des plumes nouvelles
When feathers newly grown
Viennent réchauffer ses ailes
Come and bring new warmth to their wings
À l'approche des hivers.
At the approach of winter

C'est alors que ma paupière
It was at this time that my eye
Vous vit pâlir et mourir,
Saw you grow pale and then die
Tendres fruits qu'à la lumière
Tender fruit, which in the light of day
Dieu n'a pas laissé mûrir!
God has not allowed to ripen
Quoique jeune sur la terre
Though a young man on this earth
Je suis déjà solitaire
I already feel great loneliness
Parmi ceux de ma saison,
Among those of my season
Et quand je dis en moi-même :
And when I say within myself
"Où sont ceux que ton coeur aime ?"
« Where are those whom your heart doth love »
Je regarde le gazon.
It is at the grass I look

C'est un ami de l'enfance
He was a childhood friend of mine
Qu'aux jours sombres du malheur
That in dark days of trial
Nous prêta la Providence
Was to us our help and saviour
Pour appuyer notre coeur ;
To support our flagging hearts
Il n'est plus : notre âme est veuve
He is no more : our soul is widowed
Il nous suit dans notre épreuve
He follows us in our ordeal
Et nous dit avec pitié :
And he says to us with pity
"Ami si ton âme est pleine,
“My friend, if your soul is so filled
De ta joie ou de ta peine
With your joy and with your pain
Qui portera la moitié ?"
Who will then bear the half share?”

C'est une jeune fiancée
She was a young girl, new betrothed
Qui, le front ceint du bandeau,
Who with a band round her head
N'emporta qu'une pensée
Took away with her just one thought
De sa jeunesse au tombeau ;
Of her youthful days to the tomb
Triste, hélas ! dans le ciel même,
Sad alas ! Within heaven itself
Pour revoir celui qu'elle aime
To see once more the one she loves
Elle revient sur ses pas,
She traces back her steps
Et lui dit : "Ma tombe est verte !
And says to him : « My tomb is green !
Sur cette terre déserte
Upon this deserted land
Qu'attends-tu ? Je n'y suis pas !"
Why await ? I am not here ! »

C'est l'ombre pâle d'un père
It’s the pale shade of a father
Qui mourut en nous nommant ;
Who called our names in death
C'est une soeur, c'est un frère
It’s a sister, it’s a brother
Qui nous devance un moment,
Who precede us by a moment
Tous ceux enfin dont la vie
All those, in the end, whose life
Un jour où l'autre ravie,
Snatched on one day or another
Emporte une part de nous,
Takes away a portion of us
Semblent dire sous la pierre :
They seem to say beneath the stone
"Vous qui voyez la lumière,
« You who can see the light of day
De nous vous souvenez vous ?"
Are we in your memories still ? »

Voilà les feuilles sans sève
See yonder the sapless leaves
Qui tombent sur le gazon,
Falling on the grass beneath
Voilà le vent qui s'élève
See too how the wind is rising
Et gémit dans le vallon,
And moans along the valley
Voilà l'errante hirondelle
There is the one stray swallow
Qui rase du bout de l'aile
Whose wing tip skims the surface
L'eau dormante des marais,
Of the still water of the marsh
Voilà l'enfant des chaumières
There is the child from the cottage
Qui glane sur les bruyères
Who gathers up from the heathland
Le bois tombé des forêts.
Wood fallen from the forests
Alphonse De Lamartine
(1969 - La religieuse)

Translation comments

When I studied some poems of Lamartine for my « A » level, fifty years ago, my French teacher taught me something that I have never questioned or revised since. He said that, if you ask English people to quote a poem they know, they will recite the first verse of Wordsworth’s “Daffodils”- “I wandered lonely as a cloud…. . If you ask French people, he said, they will recite the first verse of Lamartine’s poem: “Le Lac” (1820). As I learned these verses at the age of 16, it is absolutely impossible for me to forget them. Here is the first verse:

Ainsi, toujours poussés vers de nouveaux rivages,
Always driven as we are to ever changing shores
dans la nuit éternelle emportés sans retour,
Into night eternal borne off with no return
ne pourrons-nous jamais sur l’océan des âges
Can we never ever on the ocean of time
jeter l’ancre un seul jour?
Cast anchor for one single day?

The lake in the poem was at Aix-les-Bains. In 1816, he had gone there for convalescence and had fallen deeply in love with a fellow patient, Julie Charles. She was a married lady and was suffering from tuberculosis. They planned to meet up at Lake Bourget again, a year later, but by that time, she was seriously ill and was unable to leave Paris, where she died a few months later.

Lamartine married Mary-Ann Birch, an English-woman, in June 1820. He wrote the poem, “Pensées des morts” in 1826 and it is perhaps unlikely that the young fiancée, mourned in it is Julie Charles. The bandeau that he recalls was probably a favourite headband in which he pictures some other young girlfriend, but I gave some idle thought whether I should put down “bandage”, which is an alternative translation.

Return to Index Page

A reminder to myself of a touching English poem on the emptiness when a deeply loved person is gone.

The great 17th century poet, John Donne, who dearly loved his wife said that if he lost her he could not bear to look at another woman. CS Lewis disagrees. It is in the small things formerly shared together that the pain lies. His lost love for his wife. Joy Gresham, was the subject of the film “Shadowlands”

Joys that Sting by C S Lewis

“Oh doe not die,” says Donne, “for I shall hate
All women so”. How false the sentence rings.
Women? But in a life made desolate
It is the joys once shared that have the stings.

To take the old walks alone, or not at all,
To order one pint where I ordered two,
To think of, and then not to make, the small
Time-honoured joke (senseless to all but-you);

To laugh (oh, one'll laugh), to talk upon
Themes that we talked upon when you were there,
To make some poor pretence of going on,
Be kind to one's old friends, and seem to care,

While no one (O God) through the years will say
The simplest, common word just your way.

Taken from Poems by C S Lewis 1964

Click here to go back to the Index of my Brassens selection

Vénus callipyge

2010-04-06T22:54:00.009+01:00

Vénus callipyge

This song was inspired by the famous ancient sculpture, the Venus Kallipygos, pictured on the left, which is now in the Royal Museum in Naples. It is a marble statuette, just under 6 inches in height. It was found in Rome but became the property of the king of Naples. The worship of this Venus had been widespread in Ancient Greece and then had spread to Italy. The word Kallipygos is formed by an adjective, Κάλλος, which means beautiful and a noun πυγὴ, which means bum. For some reason it is always catalogued under a form of the Greek. Brassens, however, prefers the blunt truth and the whole truth and there is no doubt about the part of the anatomy on this ancient work of art that he is especially glorifying.

Brassens sings his song but the pictures added to illustrate may not get everyone's approval

Vénus callipyge Georges Brassens 1964
Uploaded by misstontongeorges. - See the latest featured music videos.

Que jamais l'art abstrait, qui sévit maintenant,
Never let abstract art, all the rage right now
N'enlève à vos attraits ce volume étonnant.
Take from your female charms that stunning dimension
Au temps où les faux-culs (1) sont la majorité,
At a time when fake rears form the majority
Gloire à celui qui dit toute la vérité !
Glory to the one that tells nothing but the truth.

Votre dos perd son nom(2) avec si bonne grâce,
Your back with such good grace, yields to it precedence
Qu'on ne peut s'empêcher de lui donner raison.
One cannot help but think that this is only right.
Que ne suis-je,(3) Madame, un poète de race,
Am I not he, Madame,a poet born and bred
Pour dire à sa louange un immortel blason. (4)
To tell of its praises in an enduring rhyme.

En le voyant passer, j'en eus la chair de poule,(5)
On seeing it go by, my neck hairs stood on end
Enfin, je vins au monde et, depuis, je lui voue
At last, I am reborn and henceforth I offer it
Un culte (6)véritable et, quand je perds aux boules,
Genuine worship and when I lose at bowls
En embrassant Fanny, je ne pense qu'à vous.
While I’m kissing Fanny, (7) I think alone of you

Pour obtenir, Madame, un galbe de cet ordre,
For you to get, Madame, a contour of that order
Vous devez torturer les gens de votre entour,
You must be torture to the people round about you,
Donner aux couturiers bien du fil à retordre,
Give to the dressmakers a lot of thread to wind
Et vous devez crever votre dame d'atour.
And you must work to death your wardrobe lady.

C'est (8) le Duc de Bordeaux qui s'en va, tête basse,
Like the Duke of Bordeaux who sneaks off, head bent low
Car il ressemble au mien comme deux gouttes d'eau,
For he resembles mine like two peas in a pod
S'il ressemblait au vôtre on dirait, quand il passe :
If he resembled yours they’d say when he goes by
"C'est un joli garçon que le Duc de Bordeaux !"(9)
“A right good-looking chap is that Duke of Bordeaux.”

Ne faites aucun cas des jaloux qui professent
Do not pay account to jealous folk who profess
Que vous avez placé votre orgueil un peu bas
That you have placed your pride a little bit too low
Que vous présumez trop, en somme de vos fesses,
That all in all you think too highly of your bum
Et surtout, par faveur, ne vous asseyez pas !
And above all we would ask: Please don’t take a seat

Laissez-les raconter qu'en sortant de calèche (10)
Let them tell the story that stepping from your coach
La brise a fait voler votre robe et qu'on vit,
The breeze lifted up high your dress and people saw
Écrite dans un cœur transpercé d'une flèche,
Written inside a heart pierced by an arrow
Cette expression triviale : "À Julot pour la vie"
This motto commonplace: “It’s Julot’s till I die”

Laissez-les dire encor qu'à la Cour d'Angleterre,
And one more let them tell that at the English court
Faisant la révérence aux souverains anglois,
Performing a curtsy to the English sovereigns
Vous êtes, patatras ! Tombée assise à terre :
You fell crash bang wallop, your seat upon the floor
La loi d' la pesanteur est dure, mais c'est la loi.
The law of gravity is harsh but it’s the law.

Nul ne peut aujourd'hui trépasser sans voir Naples, (11)
No-one can die today without having seen Naple
À l'assaut des chefs-d'oeuvre ils veulent tous courir !
All want to join the charge to see great works of art
Mes ambitions à moi sont bien plus raisonnables :
My own ambitions are more sensible by far
Voir votre académie, madame, et puis mourir.
To see your nude study, madame, and then to die

Que jamais l'art abstrait, qui sévit maintenant,
Let never abstract art, all the rage right now
N'enlève à vos attraits ce volume étonnant.
Take from your female charms that stunning dimension
Au temps où les faux-culs (1) sont la majorité,
At a time when fake rears form the majority
Gloire à celui qui dit toute la vérité !
Glory to the one that tells nothing but the truth
Georges Brassens
<<(1964 - Les copains d'abord, 7)>>

TRANSLATION POINTS Vénus callipyge
1) Brassens makes a play on words: faux-cul means false arse. The nearest word I found in the dictionary was faux col – false collar which in English translates “loose collar”. .
2) Votre dos perd son nom – Halfway down the back is no longer the back but the bottom. Out of delicacy some people may refer to it as the lower back.
3) Que ne suis-je ? (3) Que followed by ne in a question or an exclamation is usually translated by “why”. E.g.: “Que n’est-tu allé la voir?
4) A blazon is a verse which gives a list – for example of the features of the person you love
5) j'en eus la chair de poule – I got goose pimples
6) Un culte. Brassens is amused to be talking about a cult dedicated to a cul. Such puns have to be abandoned in translation.
7) En embrassant Fanny- It is explaned that there is a tradition, when playing bowls, that any player who fails to score a single point in a game has to ceremoniously kiss the bum of Fanny on a picture or a sculpture. Brassens associates this mischievously with the Christian faith, where the priest may sometimes present a religious icon to kiss, by talking about his own new “cult”. In fact that part of the sculpture in Naples has become slightly discoloured by furtive kisses, achieved in spite of the close supervision.
8) C'est….. This phrase doesn’t fit in grammatically, but it is like a performer warning the audience that he is in the groove so hold on to their hats – like a comic saying : »Did you hear about……. Something scandalous is coming up
9) Continuing with his praise of this lady’s bottom, Brassens quotes a verse of a traditional dirty and amusing French song. This is the verse:

Le Duc de Bordeaux ressemble à son frère,
Son frère à son père et son père à mon cul.
De là je conclus qu’le Duc de Bordeaux
Ressemble à mon cul comme deux gouttes d’eau.

10) Calèche – A fashionable carriage drawn by a pair of horses
11) The tourism slogan, of course is: “See Naples and die”

Return to Index Page
retour

Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète

2010-03-16T23:41:00.013Z

This one of Brassens’ most entertaining poems- in spite of the gloomy title.
Paul Valéry, a highly respected man of letters of the previous generation, born also in Brassens’ home town of Sète, had written a famous poem called “Le cimetière marin”. Brassens gives an alternative viewpoint to Valéry’s symbolist vision of a seaside graveyard, as he writes with wit, imagination and nostalgia about the more down-to-earth realities of his birthplace and the love, friendship and enjoyment he had found there.

Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète
Plea to be buried on the beach at Sète (1)

La Camarde, qui ne m'a jamais pardonné (2)
The Grim Reaper, who has never forgiven me
D'avoir semé des fleurs dans les trous de son nez,
For sowing flowers in the sockets of his nose (3)
Me poursuit d'un zèle imbécile.
Pursues me with the craziest zeal.
Alors cerné de près par les enterrements,
And so, hemmed in close by funerals (4)
J'ai cru bon de remettre à jour mon testament,
I thought right to bring back up to date my last will
De me payer un codicille.
To pay out for a codicil

Trempe dans l'encre bleue du Golfe du Lion,
Dip well in the blue ink of the Gulf du Lion
Trempe, trempe ta plume, ô mon vieux tabellion,
Dip well, dip well your quill, oh my old legal scribe
Et, de ta plus belle écriture,
And then in your finest handwriting
Note ce qu'il faudrait qu'il advînt de mon corps,
Note what there would have to become of my body
Lorsque mon âme et lui ne seront plus d'accord
When my soul and it are no longer in accord
Que sur un seul point : la rupture.
Save on one sole point: the break-up

Quand mon âme aura pris son vol à l'horizon
When my soul has taken its flight to the sunset
Vers celles de Gavroche et de Mimi Pinson, (5)
Towards those of Gavroche and of Mimi Pinson
Celles des titis, des grisettes,
Those of urchins and common tarts
Que vers le sol natal mon corps soit ramené
Let my body be brought to the soil of my birth
Dans un sleeping du "Paris-Méditerranée" (6)
In a sleeper on "Paris-Méditerranée"
Terminus en gare de Sète.
Terminus at Sète station.

Mon caveau de famille, hélas, n'est pas tout neuf.
My own family tomb, alas, is not brand new.
Vulgairement parlant il est plein comme un œuf (7)
It's, in vulgar parlance, packed like a sardine tin
Et, d'ici que quelqu'un n'en sorte,
And failing that someone might get out
Il risque de se faire tard et je ne peux
I risk getting there late and will not be able
Dire à ces braves gens : "Poussez-vous donc un peu !
To say to these good folk: “Move up then just a bit!
Place aux jeunes !"(8) en quelque sorte.
Give way to young ones!” or some such thing.

Juste au bord de la mer, à deux pas des flots bleus,
Right up on the sea shore, two yards from waves of blue,
Creusez, si c'est possible, un petit trou moelleux,
Dig out, if it’s possible, a little comfy hole
Une bonne petite niche,
A nice and smallish niche
Auprès de mes amis d'enfance, les dauphins (9)
Next to the friends of my childhood, the dolphins,
Le long de cette grève où le sable est si fin,
Along that stretch of beach, where the sand is so fine
Sur la plage de la Corniche. (10)
On the Plage de la Corniche.

C'est une plage ou même, à ses moments furieux,
It’s a beach where even, in his moments of rage
Neptune ne se prend jamais trop au sérieux,
Neptune doesn’t come on too heavily
Où, quand un bateau fait naufrage,
Where at the shipwreck of his boat
Le capitaine crie : "Je suis le maître à bord ! (11)
The captain bellows forth: “I’m the master of this ship!
Sauve qui peut ! Le vin et le pastis d'abord !
Each for himself! The wine and the pastis go first
Chacun sa bonbonne et courage !"
Each take his demi-john and hope for …” (12)

Et c'est là que jadis, à quinze ans révolus,
It was there in the past, at fifteen years of age
À l'âge où s'amuser tout seul ne suffit plus,
At an age when lonely pleasure was not enough
Je connus la prime amourette.
I had my first little taste of love.
Auprès d'une sirène, une femme-poisson,
From a little siren, a sea dwelling mermaid
Je reçus de l'amour la première leçon,
I got my first lesson about the rules of love
Avalai la première arête. (13)
Humbly learnt where you are made to stop.

Déférence gardée envers Paul Valéry, (14)
With all deference due towards Paul Valéry,
Moi, l'humble troubadour, sur lui je renchéris,
I, humble troubadour, can go one up on him
Le bon maître me le pardonne,
May the good master please excuse me
Et qu'au moins, si ses vers valent mieux que les miens,
And if his verse is placed higher than mine, at least
Mon cimetière soit plus marin que le sien,
Let my cemetery be nearer the sea than his
Et n'en déplaise aux autochtones.
And who cares about the Autotochtones.(15)

Cette tombe en sandwich entre le ciel et l'eau,
This tomb sandwiched between the sky and water
Ne donnera pas une ombre triste au tableau,
Will not add a gloomy shadow to the picture
Mais un charme indéfinissable.
But a charm that cannot be defined
Les baigneuses s'en serviront de paravent
Female bathers will come to use it as a screen
Pour changer de tenue, et les petits enfants
In order to get changed, and the little children
Diront : "Chouette, un château de sable !"
Will say: “Oh, Brilliant. Look a sand castle!”

Est-ce trop demander...? Sur mon petit lopin
Is it too much to ask… ? Upon my little plot
Plantez, je vous en prie, une espèce de pin
Please plant for me, a tree, a species such as pine
Pin parasol, de préférence,
Umbrella pine, by preference
Qui saura prémunir contre l'insolation
That’s able to protect from the threat of sunburn
Les bons amis venus fair' sur ma concession
Those good friends who have come upon my resting place
D'affectueuses révérences.
To lower their heads in fond regard

Tantôt venant d'Espagne, et tantôt d'Italie,
Sometimes coming from Spain, sometimes from Italy
Tout chargés de parfums, de musiques jolies,
All laden with perfumes, with prettiest music
Le mistral et la tramontane (16)
The mistral and the tramontana
Sur mon dernier sommeil verseront les échos
Upon my final sleep will pour forth the echos
De villanelle un jour, un jour de fandango,
Of villanelle one day, one day of fandango,
De tarantelle, de sardane...
Of tarantella, of sardana

Et quand, prenant ma butte en guise d'oreiller,
And when, taking my mound as a kind of pillow
Une ondine viendra gentiment sommeiller
A fair nymph from the sea, should kindly come to sleep
Avec moins que rien de costume,
With her swimwear close to nothing on,
J'en demande pardon par avance à Jésus,
I am asking pardon well in advance from Jesus
Si l'ombre de ma croix s'y couche un peu dessus
If the shade of my cross lies for a while on there
Pour un petit bonheur posthume.
For a spot of posthumous bliss.

Pauvres rois pharaons ! Pauvre Napoléon !
Poor Pharaoh kings ! Poor Napoleon !
Pauvres grands disparus gisant au Panthéon !
Poor grand departed, lying at the Pantheon
Pauvres cendres de conséquence !
Poor ashes of consequence
Vous envierez un peu l'éternel estivant,
You’ll feel envy for him, on endless summer break
Qui fait du pédalo sur la vague en rêvant,
Who dreamily rides his pedalo on the waves
Qui passe sa mort en vacances...
Who passes his death on vacation.

Vous envierez un peu l'éternel estivant,
You’ll feel envy for him, on endless summer break
Qui fait du pédalo sur la vague en rêvant,
Who dreamily rides his pedalo on the waves
Qui passe sa mort en vacances...
Who passes his death on vacation.
Georges Brassens
1966 - Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète

COMMENTS ON TRANSLATION PROBLEMS
1) Brassens did not intend his petition to be buried on the beach too seriously. He once said he was only having fun with the idea. The tone of the poem verifies it.
2) Five lines of each verse use the 12 syllable “alexandrine” of French Classical poetry
3) semé des fleurs –The dictionary says that “semer des fleurs sur la tombe de quelqu’un” means to turn someone’s memory into a cult. Brassens is rightly acknowledging that he goes on quite a lot about death in his songs. It has to be admitted that he did have a morbid streak. “The Grim Reaper”, our personification of death, is depicted with a dead skull with empty sockets for the nose and eyes. In French the personification of death is called La Camarde for this same reason. Camard is an adjective which means pug-nosed, having a flat nose, as if crushed –like the nose of an old-time boxer.
4) cerné de près par les enterrements- This song was written in 1966. In the previous year, Brassens lost his father on the 28th March and Marcel Planche, Jeanne’s husband, died on the 7th May. (To Marcel, Georges had dedicated his poem- “Chanson pour l’Auvergnat”).
5) Gavroche - Mimi Pinson. Gavroche is a cheeky, rebellious young street urchin in the novel, “Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo. Mimi Pinson is a character in a work called “Mimi Pinson, profil de grisette" by the famous French poet, Alfred de Musset. A grisette is a young, sexually easy-going, working class girl. Both of these fictitious characters liked to express themselves in song. With such company Brassens’ soul would be in heaven.
6) Paris-Méditerranée A train for holiday destinations
7) il est plein comme un œuf – Brassens says the tomb was full as an egg. I had not met this expression in English but on looking it up, I find that it is in use. As I am not certain of the context in which “full as an egg” is used in English, I have substituted the most common image in English for being packed together.
8) Place aux jeunes. Perhaps this incongruous remark in the society of the dead can be interpreted as a disdainful Brassens’ reference to the call made to the older performers with the advent of the teenage pop groups of the 1960s. See “Les Trompettes de la Renommée”.
9) les dauphins – This was the name given to the swimming club at Sète when Brassens was a boy. We can assume that the girl he is to recall in the next verse is also a keen swimmer.
10) La plage de la Corniche is a very popular beach at Sète
11) The picture of life on a happy, boozy ship, with the odd nautical crisis, is reminiscent of Brassens’ memories of boating with his mates in “Les copains d’abord”.
12) la première arête. There is a pun on “arête » which means fishbone and “Arrête!”, meaning stop. The fishbone is mentioned because the girl is mermaid and thus half fish. The image seems a bit contrived and is certainly impossible to translate. This is my tentative suggestion, but I regret that an explanation needs to replace the teasing puzzle that Brassens had left us with..
13) Chacun sa bonbonne et courage -I have translated this as a play on words. The "bon" in "bonbonne" also goes before "courage". Although the captain may make pretence of being in complete control, when the boat is sinking all he can say in the end is "bon courage" - hope for the best.
14) Paul Valéry (1871-1945) was a famous poet, critic and essayist. “Cimetière Marin” was the title of one of his most famous poems. He was born in Sètes and buried there in the Cimetière St Charles. In the following year, 1946, the dignitaries changed its name to the “Cimetière Marin” in homage to him.
15) “autochtones » These are the important men of the town, who had decreed that Valéry’s graveyard was the “cimetière marin” –whose authority Brassens is undermining! Brassens, the outsider, certainly did not identify with them.
16) Le mistral et la tramontane -These are two winds that blow over the South of France. One seems to come from the West, the other from the East.
17) villanelle and tarantella - sardane and fandango This is the music of song and dance, blown in from opposite directions from Italy and Spain.

The town of Sète
Sète is the largest French fishing port on the Mediterranean , with tunny fishing boats and trawlers harboured there. Behind Sète is a large coastal lagoon called the étang de Thau where shellfish are cultivated.

Where Brassens was buried.
Brassens was not buried on the beach at Sète, but he would not have expected it as he was only joking. He was not buried with the worthy middle class and Paul Valéry in the cimetière Saint Charles, the so-called cimetière marin, but in the cimetière Le Py, from where can be seen the inland sea of l’étang de Thau. This second cemetery of Sète is known as the cimetière des pauvres , but it should not be assumed from this that the highly successful Brassens had a pauper’s funeral. It is reported that there is a pine tree near his grave, but that it had difficulty in establishing itself because of being trampled by the number of people who come to visit his grave.

If any holiday maker in a skimpy bikini comes to his grave, the only sensation she is likely to have is a mysterious sharp stabbing feeling. When she died in 1999, Brassens' long-time companion, Joha Heiman, his « Püppchen », was buried at his side in the cemetery at Sète. His song, “Je me suis fait tout petit”, describes how she used her umbrella to ward off any seductress, seeking to offer Brassens the sexual consolation, which she was not prepared to offer him.

The contrast of Paul Valéry’s picture of a graveyard near the sea
These are the first two verses of Paul Valéry’s symbolist poem
Ce toit tranquille, où marchent des colombes,
This quiet roof, on which doves walk about
Entre les pins palpite, entre les tombes;
Between the pines vibrates, between the tombs
Midi le juste y compose de feux
Midday the exact composes upon it some lights.
La mer, la mer, toujours recommencee
The sea, the sea, always restarting anew
O récompense après une pensée
Oh recompense after thinking
Qu'un long regard sur le calme des dieux!
Than a long look upon the calm of the gods.

Quel pur travail de fins éclairs consume
What fine work of fine flashes of light consumes
Maint diamant d'imperceptible écume,
Many a diamond of imperceptible foam
Et quelle paix semble se concevoir!
And what peace seems to be conceived
Quand sur l'abîme un soleil se repose,
When on theabyss a sun comes to rest
Ouvrages purs d'une éternelle cause,
Pure works of an eternal cause
Le temps scintille et le songe est savoir
Time flickers and dreaming is to know

Putain de Toi

2010-01-21T00:51:00.009Z

Some of Brassens’ biographers talk of a girl called Jo, with whom Brassens had a passionate relationship from June 1945 until August 1946. They tell us that Jo was only seventeen when she made her dramatic entry into his life - in the song Brassens talks of her twenty years but that will be poetic licence. He had to be careful not to be caught by his mistress, Jeanne, in whose house he was living in the Impasse Florimont. Jo was stunning to look at and totally amoral. Brassens’ bohemian character was attracted by her devil-may-care attitude to life and the liberality of her love. Unfortunately the irresponsibility, which was amusing when applied to the society around them, became unacceptable within a personal relationship and she brought a lot of turmoil into his life. This led to the break-up.

As in “Une Jolie Fleur”, the poet feels the need to insult his former girl-friend – in this case notably by his choice of title. He is blaming a young,spontaneous girl for what she is and what he had always known her to be. Men at times can be pathetic!

There are other similarities between “Putain de Toi” and “Une Jolie Fleur”, and it could be that both poems refer to the same girl. In both, Brassens certainly betrays his sense of hurt and disappointment over this girl (or these girls).

Unfortunately, I can find no Brassens recording of this song

Putain (1) de toi
En ce temps-là, je vivais dans la lune (1)
In those times then, I lived inside the moon
Les bonheurs d'ici-bas m'étaient tous défendus
The joys of here below were all forbidden me
Je semais des violettes et chantais pour des prunes
I used to sow violets and sing for peanuts
Et tendais la patte aux chats perdus...
And offered my paw to greet lost cats.(2)

Ah ah ah ah! putain de toi!
Ah ah ah ah ! tramp that is you!
Ah ah ah ah ah! pauvre de moi...
Ad ah ah ah ah !sucker that's me!

Un soir de pluie, v'là qu'on gratte à ma porte
One rainy night, there’s scratching at my door (3)
Je m'empresse d'ouvrir, sans doute un nouveau chat !
I rush to open, no doubt another cat !
Nom de Dieu, l' beau félin que l'orage m'apporte
Bloody Hell, (4)the fine feline the storm brings me
C'était toi, c'était toi, c'était toi...
It was you, it was you, it was you
Ah ah ah ah! putain de toi!
Ah ah ah ah ! tramp that is you!
Ah ah ah ah ah! pauvre de moi...
Ad ah ah ah ah !sucker that's me!

Les yeux fendus et couleur de pistache (5)
With almond eyes colour of pale green
T'as posé sur mon coeur ta patte de velours(6)
You placed upon my heart your safe velvet paw
Fort heureus'ment pour moi t'avais pas de moustache
Very lucky for me you did not have whiskers
Et ta vertu ne pesait pas trop lourd...
And your virtue did not weigh too heavy

Ah ah ah ah! putain de toi!
Ah ah ah ah ! tramp that is you!
Ah ah ah ah ah! pauvre de moi...
Ad ah ah ah ah !sucker that's me!

Aux quatre coins de ma vie de bohème
To the four corners of my gypsy life
T'as prom'né, t'as prom'né le feu de tes vingt ans
You took round, you took the fire of your twenty years
Et pour moi, pour mes chats, pour mes fleurs, mes poèmes
Both for me, for my cats, for my flowers, my poems
C'était toi la pluie et le beau temps...
That was you the rain and the fine days

Ah ah ah ah! putain de toi!
Ah ah ah ah ! tramp that is you!
Ah ah ah ah ah! pauvre de moi...
Ad ah ah ah ah !sucker that's me!

Mais le temps passe et fauche à l'aveuglette
But time goes past, reaping willy nilly
Notre amour mûrissait à peine que déjà,
Our love had scarcely blossomed when already
Tu brûlais mes chansons, crachais sur mes violettes,
You were burning my songs, spitting on my violets
Et faisais des misèr's à mes chats...
And making my cats’ lives a misery
Ah ah ah ah! putain de toi!
Ah ah ah ah ! tramp that is you!
Ah ah ah ah ah! pauvre de moi...
Ad ah ah ah ah !sucker that's me!

Le comble enfin, misérable salope,
The final limit came miserable wench,
Comme il n' restait plus rien dans le garde-manger,
As there was nothing left in the food cupboard
T'as couru sans vergogne, et pour une escalope,
You ran off shamelessly, and for an escalope
Te jeter dans le lit du boucher !
You jumped into bed with the butcher.

Ah ah ah ah! putain de toi!
Ah ah ah ah ! tramp that is you!
Ah ah ah ah ah! pauvre de moi...
Ad ah ah ah ah !sucker that's me!

C'était fini, t'avais passé les bornes
It was all over, you had gone just too far
Et, r'nonçant aux amours frivoles d'ici-bas,
And, renouncing the frivolous loves down below
J' suis r'monté dans la lune en emportant mes cornes,
I climbed back into the moon taking horns she gave me
Mes chansons, et mes fleurs, et mes chats...
My flowers, and my songs, and my cats.

Ah ah ah ah! putain de toi!
Ah ah ah ah ! tramp that is you!
Ah ah ah ah ah! pauvre de moi...
Ad ah ah ah ah !sucker that's me!
!

Georges Brassens
1953 - Les amoureux des bancs publics,
Translation Notes

1) « je vivais dans la lune ». Brassens talks about these days in « Auprès de mon Arbre ». He lived cut off from the world in a dilapidated attic, where there were gaps in the masonry that allowed him to live with the moon and the stars.
2) Some of the felines whom he welcomed were human. From « Auprès de mon Arbre » we learn that in those carefree days a number of different girls slipped in to pass the night with him.
3) Apologies for the language, but Brassens was taken aback by the stunning young girl who came to offer herself to him
4) “couleur de pistache ». The noun means pistachio nut and the adjective describes a soft shade of green.
5) “patte de velours » As in the English “velvet paws”, the meaning is “claws retracted”.

Return to Index page

Trompe la mort

2010-01-21T00:39:00.002Z

« Trompe la mort »: Brassens wrote this song in 1976 after alarmist reports appeared in the newspapers about the severity of his medical problems. Brassens was only 55 years old. The song claims that he as fit as ever and has a time left to live: « C'est pas demain la veille, Bon Dieu, de mes adieux ». The song explains that all the symptoms the journalists were quoting were just his theatrical pretences as a showman and he deals with each in turn.

However the defence that Brassens makes is not what it seems. His excuses are deliberately preposterous, beginning with the claim that his hair hasn’t really gone white - for dramatic effect he is wearing a white wig over the jet black hair he had been well known for. He ends with a last verse of total farce.

Under the comic exaggeration is the sad message that the newspaper reports are correct. The formidable Georges Brassens is experiencing serious physical decline with death not far away. He had five more years to live after writing this song and died in 1981.

Unfortunately I have not been able to find a Brassens video for this song, but the guitarist on this video sings the words very clearly.

Trompe la mort
Uploaded by frati3. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

TROMPE LA MORT(1) – CHEATING DEATH
Avec cette neige à foison
With this snow a-plenty
Qui coiffe, coiffe ma toison,
Which caps my mop of hair
On peut me croire, à vue de nez,
One may think me,at a rough glance
Blanchi sous le harnais
Turned white by the long grind.
Eh bien, Mesdames et Messieurs,
Well then, ladies and gentlemen
C'est rien que de la poudre aux yeux,(2)
Its nothing more than powder in your eyes
C'est rien que de la comédie,
It’s nothing but simple play-acting
Que de la parodie :
Than simple parody

C'est pour tenter de couper court
It’s to try to stop in its tracks
À l'avance du temps qui court,
The advance of racing time
De persuader ce vieux goujat
To persuade this old tormenter
Que tout le mal est fait déjà.
That all the harm’s already done
Mais dessous la perruque j'ai
But under the wig I have
Mes vrais cheveux couleur de jais,
My true hair coloured still jet-black
C'est pas demain la veille,(3) Bon Dieu !
It’s not the time quite yet, Good God !
De mes adieux.
For my farewells

Et si j'ai l'air moins guilleret,
And if I look less sprightly
Moins solide sur mes jarrets,(4)
Less firm on my sturdy legs
Si je chemine avec lenteur
If I move with a slight slowness
D'un train de sénateur,
At a senator’s pace
N'allez pas dire : "Il est perclus"
Don’t go saying : « He has gone lame »
N'allez pas dire : "Il n'en peut plus ",
Do’nt go saying : « He has had it »
C'est rien que de la comédie,
It’s nothing but simple play-acting
Que de la parodie :
Than simple parody

Histoire d'endormir le temps,
Matter of lulling time to sleep
Calculateur impénitent,
Calculator impenitent
De tout brouiller, tout embrouiller
Stirring the lot, stirring the lot up
Dans le fatidiqu' sablier.
In the hourglass of fate
En fait, à l'envers du décor,
In fact, backstage, behind the set
Comme à vingt ans, je trotte encore,
I walk nimbly as at twenty
C'est pas demain la veille, Bon Dieu !
It’s not the time quite yet, Good God !
De mes adieux.
For my farewells

Et si mon coeur bat moins souvent
And if my heart beats less often
Et moins vite qu'auparavant,
And less quickly then before
Si je chasse avec moins de zèle
If I chase with less hot zeal
Les gentes demoiselles,
Those of the fair sex
Pensez pas que je sois blasé
Think not that I am grown weary
De leurs caresses, leurs baisers,
Of their caress and of their kiss
C'est rien que de la comédie,
It’s nothing but simple play-acting
Que de la parodie :
Than simple parody

Pour convaincre le temps berné
To convince credulous old time
Qu'mes fêt's galantes sont terminées,
That my amorous jaunts are over
Que je me retire en coulisse,
That I’m retiring to the wings
Que je n'entrerai plus en lice.
That I’ll enter the lists no more
Mais je reste un sacré gaillard
But I remain a lusty fellow
Toujours actif, toujours paillard,
Still hard at it, still as randy
C'est pas demain la veille, Bon Dieu !
It’s not the time quite yet, Good God !
De mes adieux.
For my farewells

Et si jamais, au cimetière,
And if ever, to the cemetery
Un de ces quatre, on porte en terre,
One of these days, they bring for burial
Me ressemblant à s'y tromper,
So like me to deceive people
Un genre de macchabée,
Something looking like a corpse
N'allez pas noyer le sous fleurs (5)
Don’t go drowning him neath the flowers
En lâchant la bonde à vos pleurs,
By pulling the plug on your tears
Ce sera rien que comédie
It will be merely play acting
Rien que fausse sortie.
Just faking an exit

Et puis, coup de theâtre, quand
And then dramatic climax when
Le temps aura levé le camp,(6)
Time has taken his hook
Estimant que la farce est jouée
Judging that the farce is over
Moi tout heureux, tout enjoué,
I quite happy, game for a laugh
Je m'exhumerai du caveau
I will dig myself from the grave
Pour saluer sous les bravos...
To make my bows to loud applause
C'est pas demain la veille, Bon Dieu !
It’s not the time quite yet, Good God !
De mes adieux.
For my farewells

Translation Notes
1) A trompe-la-mort is a daredevil – someone who cheats death. Trompe la Mort was the nickname given to Vautrin, in Balzac’s “Le Père Goriot”. He was a larger than life character, who was secretly the head of the French criminal fraternity. They called him this name believing that, whatever he did, including murder, he would always escape death on the guillotine. As “tromper” means to deceive and the poem is about deception, perhaps an English translation of the title should include this idea – but it is better and easier to keep the name of Balzac’s famous character!
2) Poudre aux yeux. The image is of a powder cloud as white powder is applied to his wig- as in olden times.

3) “C’est pas demain la veille means “that will not happen just yet”

4) Le jarret means the back of the knee for a man hock for an animal. There is an expression: “Avoir des jarrets d’acier” to have strong legs. Brassens was of athletic build and so I put in the word “sturdy” with this previous phrase in mind.

5) “noyer le souffleur/sous fleurs” “Lâchant la bonde”. Here Brassens is continuing his theatrical images with a contrived idea that I find impossible to translate. The “souffleur” (prompter) is the person who whispers/ breathes the words when the performer forgets his or her lines. The prompter is hidden in a narrow pit at the front of the stage as confined as that in which the corpse in this verse is placed. “La bonde” is bung hole on a barrel. The image is of a flood of tears being released to flood the prompter’s pit. When spoken “souffleur” sounds the same of “sous fleurs”. I have given up on most of the image and stuck to Brassens’ pun with sous fleurs. I feel all the complication is because Brassens is referring to his own internment and eschews sentiment.

6) “Lever le camp” means to strike camp

Return to Index page

La legende de la nonne

2010-01-20T23:45:00.019Z

Brassens put to music nine verses of this famous poem written by Victor Hugo in 1828. As the poem is much admired for its beauty, I have added the verses which Brassens did not include. For some the poem may be read as a salutary warning not to transgress the rules of the church. It would seem however that Hugo’s intent - as well as to write a powerful, evocative poem - was to draw attention to an education which instilled fabricated terrors in the minds of young children at an age when they had no defence.
We can expect Georges Brassens, who was hostile to institutional authority, including that of the church, to disapprove of these educational methods.

La légende de la nonne - The legend about the nun

Venez, vous dont l'œil étincelle,( 1)
Come near, you whose eyes sparkle bright
Pour entendre une histoire encor,
To hear me tell another story,
Approchez, je vous dirai celle
Gather round, I will tell the one
De Doña Padilla del Flor.
Of Doña Padilla del Flor
Elle était d'Alanje, où s'entassent
She came from Alanje, where pile up high
Les collines et les halliers.
The hillsides and the brushwood
Enfants, voici des bœufs (2) qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.(3)

Il est des filles à Grenade,
There are girls in Grenada
Il en est à Séville aussi,
There are some in Seville as well
Qui, pour la moindre sérénade,
Who at the slightest serenade
À l'amour demandent merci;
Are left begging love for mercy
Il en est que parfois embrassent,
And some of them are kissed at times
Le soir, de hardis cavaliers.
By bold suitors, when evening falls.(4)
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Ce n'est pas sur ce ton frivole
It is not with such frivolity
Qu'il faut parler de Padilla,
That we should speak of Padilla
Car jamais prunelle espagnole
For never a Spanish eye
D'un feu plus chaste ne brilla;
Has shone with a light so chaste
Elle fuyait ceux qui pourchassent
She fled from those men who chase
Les filles sous les peupliers.
The girls beneath the poplars
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Elle prit le voile à Tolède,
In Toledo she took the veil
Au grand soupir des gens du lieu,
To deep sighs from the local men
Comme si, quand on n'est pas laide,
As if, when one is not plain,
On n’avait droit d'épouser Dieu.(5)
You had no right to wed the Lord
Peu s'en fallut que ne pleurassent
They were very close to weeping
Les soudards et les écoliers.
Common lads and educated too
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Or, la belle à peine cloîtrée,
Now, the fair maid only just cloistered,
Amour en son cœur s'installa.
Love came and settled in her heart
Un fier brigand de la contrée
A proud brigand from the region
Vint alors et dit : "Me voilà !"
Came just then and said: « Here I am ».
Quelquefois les brigands surpassent
Sometimes you find brigands exceed
En audace les chevaliers
Noble knights in daring
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Il était laid: les traits austères,
Ill favoured : with his face austere
La main plus rude que le gant ;
His hand rougher than a glove
Mais l'amour a bien des mystères,
But love has mysteries aplenty
Et la nonne aima le brigand.
And the nun fell for the brigand
On voit des biches qui remplacent
You see some does who replace
Leurs beaux cerfs par des sangliers.(6)
Their fine deer for rough wild boar
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

La nonne osa, dit la chronique,
The young nun dared, the chron'cler tells
Au brigand par l'enfer conduit,
With the brigand, by hell led on
Aux pieds de Sainte Véronique (7)
At the feet of Saint Veronica
Donner un rendez-vous la nuit,
To make a night-time rendez-vous,
À l'heure où les corbeaux croassent,
At the hour when the crows caw loud
Volant dans l'ombre par milliers.
Flying in thousands in the gloom.
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Or quand, dans la nef descendue,
Now when, she came down in the nave
La nonne appela le bandit,
The nun called out the bandit’s name
Au lieu de la voix attendue,
Instead of the voice expected
C'est la foudre qui répondit.
T’was a thunderbolt that replied
Dieu voulut que ses coups frappassent
God wanted that his blows to strike down
Les amants par Satan liés.
The lovers by Satan conjoint
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Cette histoire de la novice,
This story of the novice
Saint Ildefonse, abbé, voulut (8)
Saint Ildefonse, the priest, wanted
Qu'afin de préserver du vice
In order to preserve from vice
Les vierges qui font leur salut,
Virgins who seek their salvation
Les prieures la racontassent
Prioresses to tell the tale
Dans tous les couvents réguliers.
In all regular convents
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Verses from the poem of Victor Hugo written in 1828
1955 - Chanson pour l'Auvergnat,

This poem is regarded as one of Hugo’s most beautiful poems. Unfortunately the best verses are the later ones that Brassens did not include. We can understand that it would have been a very long song if he had!

In these omitted verses the poetic imagination of the great man of French literature is given full scope as he describes the nightmarish ordeals undergone by the tortured lovers as they emerge from the jaws of hell each night in their frustrated quest to meet together. As well as the epic horror there is also the lyrical pathos of the tragedy of two human beings, whose fatal crime was to fall in love.

COMPLETING VICTOR HUGO’S POEM
(In the following verses I have not repeated the translation of three verses included in Brassens’ song)
In order to read the poem in full we need to go back to the verse where Dona Padilla had planned the meeting with her lover:

Padilla voulait, anathème !
Padilla wanted- anathema !
Oubliant sa vie en un jour,
Forgetting her life in one day
Se livrer, dans l'église même,
To give herself in the church itself
Sainte à l'enfer, vierge à l'amour,
Sacred for hell, virginal for love,
Jusqu'à l'heure pâle où s'effacent
Until the pale hour when burn out
Les cierges sur les chandeliers. –
The candles on the candlesticks
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Or, quand, dans la nef descendue,
La nonne appela le bandit,
Au lieu de la voix attendue,
C'est la foudre qui répondit.
Dieu voulut que ses coups frappassent
Les amants par Satan liés. –
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Aujourd'hui, des fureurs divines
Nowadays, with furies divine
Le pâtre enflammant ses récits,
The shepherd impassioning his tales
Vous montre au penchant des ravines
Points out on the slope of the ravines
Quelques tronçons de murs noircis,
A few remains of blackened walls
Deux clochers que les ans crevassent,
Two steeples that the years have gnawed
Dont l'abri tuerait ses béliers. –
Whose shelter would kill his rams
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Quand la nuit, du cloître gothique
When night, on the gothic cloister
Brunissant les portails béants,
Burnishing the gaping portals
Change à l'horizon fantastique
Changes on the eery horizon
Les deux clochers en deux géants ;
The two steeples to two giants
A l'heure où les corbeaux croassent,
The time of day when the crows caw loud
Volant dans l'ombre par milliers… -
Flying in thousands in the darkness
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Une nonne, avec une lampe,
A nun, holding a lamp
Sort d'une cellule à minuit ;
Comes from a cell on midnight
Le long des murs le spectre rampe,
Along the walls the spectre creeps
Un autre fantôme le suit ;
Another phantom follows
Des chaînes sur leurs pieds s'amassent,
Chains upon their feet are stacked
De lourds carcans sont leurs colliers. –
Heavy iron yokes form their collars
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

La lampe vient, s'éclipse, brille,
The lamp comes, is hid, shines
Sous les arceaux court se cacher,
Neath the arches runs for cover
Puis tremble derrière une grille,
Then dithers behind a grill
Puis scintille au bout d'un clocher ;
Then sparkles at the end of a steeple
Et ses rayons dans l'ombre tracent
And its beams in the darkness trace
Des fantômes multipliés.
Phantoms in countless numbers
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Les deux spectres qu'un feu dévore,
The two spectres devoured by fire
Traînant leur suaire en lambeaux,
Trailing their shrouds in tatters
Se cherchent pour s'unir encore,
Seek once more to be together
En trébuchant sur des tombeaux ;
By staggering over tombstones ;
Leurs pas aveugles s'embarrassent
Their blind footsteps lose their way
Dans les marches des escaliers.
On the steps of the stairways
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Mais ce sont des escaliers fées,
But these are fairy staircases
Qui sous eux s'embrouillent toujours ;
In confused tangle neath them,
L'un est aux caves étouffées,
One to the suffocating cellars
Quand l'autre marche au front des tours
When the other leads to the front of the towers.
Sous leurs pieds, sans fin se déplacent
Beneath their feet is a constant shift
Les étages et les paliers
Of levels and of landings.
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Elevant leurs voix sépulcrales,
Raising their sepulcral voices
Se cherchant les bras étendus,
Seeking each other, arms outstretched,
Ils vont… Les magiques spirales
They go… The magic spirals
Mêlent leur pas toujours perdus ;
Merge their steps forever lost:
Ils s'épuisent et se harassent
Grown weary they exhaust themselves
En détours, sans cesse oubliés. –
In detours, always forgotten
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores

La pluie alors, à larges gouttes,
The rain falls then in big drops
Bat les vitraux frêles et froids ;
Beats the stained panes frail and cold
Le vent siffle aux brèches des voûtes ;
The wind whistles through gaps in vaults
Une plainte sort des beffrois ;
A moan comes from the belfries
On entend des soupirs qui glacent,
One hears sighs which make blood run cold
Des rires d'esprits familiers
Laughter of ghostly spirits. –
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Une voix faible, une voix haute,
One voice weak, one voice loud
Disent : "Quand finiront les jours ? »
Say : “When are the days to end?”
Ah ! nous souffrons par notre faute ;
Ah ! We suffer through our own fault
Mais l'éternité, c'est toujours !
But eternity, is always !
Là, les mains des heures se lassent,
There the hands of the hours tire
A retourner les sabliers…" –
Of turning round the sandglasses
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

L'enfer, hélas ! ne peut s'éteindre.
Hell alas can never burn out
Toutes les nuits, dans ce manoir,
All the nights in this old house
Se cherchent sans jamais s'atteindre
They seek each other never to reach
Une ombre blanche, un spectre noir,
A shadow white, a spectre black
Jusqu'à l'heure pâle où s'effacent
Until the pale hour when die out
Les cierges sur les chandeliers. –
The candles upon their candlesticks
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Si, tremblant à ces bruits étranges,
If trembling at these strange sounds
Quelque nocturne voyageur
Some nocturnal traveller
En se signant demande aux anges
Crossing himself asks the angels
Sur qui sévit le Dieu vengeur,
On whom the avenging God deals so harsh
Des serpents de feu qui s'enlacent
Serpents of fire which writhe together
Tracent deux noms sur les piliers. –
Trace two names upon the pillars
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Cette histoire de la novice,
This story of the novice
Saint Ildefonse, abbé, voulut
Saint Ildefonse, the priest, wanted
Qu'afin de préserver du vice
In order to preserve from vice
Les vierges qui font leur salut,
Virgins who seek their salvation
Les prieures la racontassent
Prioresses to tell the tale
Dans tous les couvents réguliers.
In all regular convents
Enfants, voici des bœufs qui passent,
Children here are bullocks passing
Cachez vos rouges tabliers.
Cover your bright red pinafores.

Translation Notes
1) « vous dont l'oeil étincelle » The nun is telling her horrific tale to happy young children

2) « bœufs qui passent » - boeufs is the word for cattle, but the word is often used for bullocks- Larousse tells me. We all know about "a red rag to a bull” and hence the teacher nun's anxiety. However the use of these two lines as a final refrain to each verse, when they have no link with actual tale, gives us another message. Their teacher is deliberately filling the defenceless minds with exaggerated fears and the final verse of the poem explains that this is deliberate in order to exert religious discipline. 3) “vos rouges tabliers” The children would wear smocks to protect their clothes during the school day.
4) The inappropriate, excited detail suggests the sexual repression of the celibate nuns

5) « épouser Dieu » When a novice nun made her vows, the ritual was of marriage to Jesus Christ and a ring was put on her finger.
6)On voit des biches qui remplacent leurs beaux cerfs par des sangliers - The nuns equate human love with unnatural animal mating.
7) Sainte Véronique. They are to meet under the statue of Saint Veronica.

8) « Cette histoire de la novice, Saint Ildefonse, abbé, voulut » This last verse is also the last verse of Hugo’s poem. Here Hugo gives the name of the church dignitary from whom this story originated and gives his motive: to frighten any nuns tempted to break their vows.

We should expect Hugo, the great humanitarian defender of downtrodden people to be hostile to this abuse of the innocence of children. We should be wary, however, of associating Hugo too closely with pure rationalism. Hugo was mystic who believed he was able to converse with Virgil, Shakespeare and Jesus Christ - but hardly with the Christ of Saint Ildefonse's depiction!

This is a recording made by the contemporary singer, songwriter, actor, Renaud,whose own song "Mistral Gagnant"I include in my post of Brassens' Les Chateaux de Sable:

renaud - legende de la nonne
Uploaded by bisonravi1987. - News videos from around the world.

Return to Index page

La mauvaise herbe

2009-04-28T00:55:00.008+01:00

In this song, Brassens asks people to allow some space and tolerance to individualists, like him, who cannot accept the conventional values of society. He feels indifferent to patriotism and has a natural affinity with those whose life-style gets them looked down upon as outsiders.

La mauvaise herbe – The worthless weed (1)

La Mauvaise Herbe (live)
Uploaded by Ben-Yehuda. - See the latest featured music videos.

Quand l' jour de gloire est arrivé, (2)
When the day of glory came
Comm' tous les autr's étaient crevés,
As all the rest were dead and gone
Moi seul connus le déshonneur
I alone knew the dishonour
De n' pas êtr' mort au champ d'honneur.
To lie not dead on the field of honour

Je suis d'la mauvaise herbe,
I am some worthless weed
Braves gens, braves gens,
Good people, good people,
C'est pas moi qu'on rumine
It’s not I, chewed to cud
Et c'est pas moi qu'on met en gerbe...(3)
And it’s not I they put in sheaves
La mort faucha les autres
Death cut down the others
Braves gens, braves gens,
Good people, good people
Et me fit grâce à moi, (4)
And me it left unharmed,
C'est immoral et c'est comm' ça !
It’s immoral and it’s like that
La la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
Et je m' demand'
And I wonder
Pourquoi, Bon Dieu,
Why then Good God
Ça vous dérange (5)
It puts you out
Que j' vive un peu...
That I should live a bit
Et je m' demand'
And I wonder
Pourquoi, Bon Dieu,
Why then, Good God
Ça vous dérange
It puts you out
Que j' vive un peu...
That I should live a bit.

La fille à tout l'monde(6) a bon coeur,
The girl for all is good at heart,
Ell' me donne, au petit bonheur
She gives me, when luck will have it
Les p'tits bouts d' sa peau, bien cachés,
The little ends of her skin well hidden
Que les autres n'ont pas touchés.
That the others have not touched

Je suis d'la mauvaise herbe,
I am some worthless weed
Braves gens, braves gens,
Good people, good people,
C'est pas moi qu'on rumine
It’s not I, chewed to cud
Et c'est pas moi qu'on met en gerbe...
And it’s not I they put in sheaves

Elle se vend aux autres,
She charges the others
Braves gens, braves gens,
Good people, good people,
Elle se donne à moi,
She gives free to me.
C'est immoral et c'est comme ça !
It’s immoral and it’s like that !
La la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
Et je m' demand'
And I wonder
Pourquoi, Bon Dieu,
Why then, Good God
Ça vous dérange
It puts you out
Qu'on m'aime un peu.
That I am loved a bit
Et je m' demand'
And I wonder
Pourquoi, Bon Dieu,
Why then, Good God
Ça vous dérange
It puts you out
Qu'on m'aime un peu..
That I am loved a bit.

Les hommes sont faits, nous dit-on,
All men are made, they tell us,
Pour vivre en band', comm' les moutons.
To live in groups, like flocks of sheep.
Moi, j' vis seul, et c'est pas demain
I live alone, and no time soon
Que je suivrai leur droit chemin.
Shall I follow their right direction..

Je suis d'la mauvaise herbe,
I am some worthless weed
Braves gens, braves gens,
Good people, good people,
C'est pas moi qu'on rumine
It’s not I, chewed to cud
Et c'est pas moi qu'on met en gerbe...
And it’s not I they put in sheaves

Je suis d' la mauvaise herbe,
I am some worthless weed
Braves gens, braves gens,
Good people, good people
Je pousse en liberté
I grow in liberty
Dans les jardins mal fréquentés !
In the gardens where few folk stray
La la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
Et je m' demand'
And I wonder
Pourquoi, Bon Dieu,
Why then Good God
Ça vous dérange
It puts you out
Que j' vive un peu...
That I should live a bit

Georges Brassens
1954 - Les amoureux des bancs publics

Notes
(1) “La mauvaise herbe” means “the weed”, but I put “worthless” in front because of image conveyed in English when the epithet is applied to a person - we think of some-one weak and ineffectual. This is not appropriate for the powerful physical presence and personality of Brassens. In reality, weeds are often the biggest and sturdiest plants in our gardens and I suppose that some-one described as a weed ought to feel quite flattered.

(2) “Le jour de gloire est arrive” – a well-known line in the French National Anthem- the day of glory has arrived, with the Allied victory of 1945. Brassens had however opted out of the Second World War, hidden by his dear friend, Jeanne, in her slum Paris tenement. I tell the story more fully in my comments on the song: "Chanson pour l’Auvergnat".

(3) The “Good people” are not weeds like the author of the poem. The contrasting image for these worthy folk is the corn of the fields. They have a useful purpose in the world, just as the corn feeds the cattle and yields a fruitful harvest, evidenced by the sheaves in the fields.

(4) « Faire grâce à » means « to spare ». (I make changes occasionally to keep a certain flow to the lines)

(5) “Ça vous derange” – The “you” he is addressing is not primarily God but all the worthy people who might disapprove of him and his conduct- in which case “Good God” would seem to be more of an exclamation.

(6) The girl who sells herself to everyone has put herself outside the bounds of respectable society. She recognises that he is a fellow outsider. In their natural fellowship, the poet and the prostitute enjoy an uninhibited and sincere relationship.

Brassens had depicted himself as an outsider in his song collection of the previous year with his song; "La mauvaise reputation".

Click here to return to the full index of Brassens songs on this blog

Georges Brassens- Mourir pour des idées- with English translation and commentary

2009-03-16T22:26:00.014Z

Mourir pour des idées

Brassens tells us that after the hostile response he has had after writing two recent songs (“Les deux oncles” and “La tondue”) he has decided to change his standpoint and accept that it’s a good idea to die for an ideology, his only proviso being that death should be a lifetime in coming. The song goes on to justify this delay.

mourir pour des idées
Uploaded by jaydooy. - Explore more music videos.

Mourir pour des idées
Mourir pour des idées, l'idée est excellente.
To die for some ideas. The idea is excellent
Moi j'ai failli mourir de ne l'avoir pas eue,(A)
I came close to dying for not having had it, (i.e. not having had the idea)
Car tous ceux qui l'avaient, multitude accablante,
For all those who had it, a most forceful multitude
En hurlant à la mort me sont tombés dessus.
Howling out for my blood came down most hard on me
Ils ont su me convaincre et ma muse insolente,
They knew how to convince me and my insolent muse
Abjurant ses erreurs, se rallie à leur foi
Recanting her mistakes, adheres to their belief
Avec un soupçon de réserve toutefois :
With just a slight reservation all the same
Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but death none too hasty
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but from death none too hasty

Jugeant qu'il n'y a pas péril en la demeure,
Judging there is no great peril in hanging on
Allons vers l'autre monde en flânant en chemin
Let’s go to the next world while dawdling on the way
Car, à forcer l'allure, il arrive qu'on meure
For, by forcing the pace, chance is you might die
Pour des idées n'ayant plus cours le lendemain.
For some ideas, nobody holds the day after
Or, s'il est une chose amère, désolante,
Now if it’s a bitter thing, and woeful
En rendant l'âme à Dieu c'est bien de constater
Rend’ring one’s soul to God, it’s only to discover
Qu'on a fait fausse route, qu'on s'est trompé d'idée,
That you lost your way, that your idea was wrong.
Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but death none too hasty
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but from death none too hasty.

Les Saint Jean Bouche d'Or qui prêchent le martyre,
The Saint Johns Chrysotom (1) who preach martyr’s deaths
Le plus souvent, d'ailleurs, s'attardent ici-bas.
Most frequently, themselves, linger down on earth.
Mourir pour des idées, c'est le cas de le dire,
To die for some ideas, we are quite right to say
C'est leur raison de vivre, ils ne s'en privent pas.
Is their reason for living, they won’t give it away.
Dans presque tous les camps on en voit qui supplantent
In almost all the groups, you see some who’ll supplant
Bientôt Mathusalem dans la longévité.
Quite soon Mathusala as to longevity.
J'en conclus qu'ils doivent se dire, en aparté (2)
I conclude they must say under their breath:
"Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but death none too hasty
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but from death none too hasty

Des idées réclamant le fameux sacrifice,
Ideas demanding the supreme sacrifice
Les sectes de tout poil en offrent des séquelles,(3)
Sects of every ilk bring zealots for the act
Et la question se pose aux victimes novices (4)
And the question is asked of the novice victims:
Mourir pour des idées, c'est bien beau mais lesquelles ?
To die for some ideas, is quite fine but which ones?
Et comme toutes sont entre elles ressemblantes,
And as they are all very much alike
Quand il les voit venir, avec leur gros drapeau,
When he sees them coming, their huge flag held aloft
Le sage, en hésitant, tourne autour du tombeau. (5)
The wise man turns from the tomb, takes a bit more time
Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but death none too hasty
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but from death none too hasty

Encor s'il suffisait de quelques hécatombes (6)
Also if it took only a few mass slaughters
Pour qu'enfin tout changeât, qu'enfin tout s'arrangeât !
For all at last to change, for all at last go right
Depuis tant de grands soirs que tant de têtes tombent, (7)
Since so many great nights when so many heads fell
Au paradis sur terre on y serait déjà
In our heaven on earth we would be now installed
Mais l'âge d'or sans cesse est remis aux calendes,
But the golden age is postponed constantly
Les dieux ont toujours soif, (8)n'en ont jamais assez,
The gods are still athirst, have never had enough
Et c'est la mort, la mort toujours recommencée...
And it is death, death, over and over again
Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but death none too hasty
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but from death none too hasty.

Ô vous, les boutefeux, ô vous les bons apôtres,
Oh you firebrands, oh you righteous apostles,
Mourez donc les premiers, nous vous cédons le pas.
Be the first to die then, we stand aside for you.
Mais de grâce, morbleu ! laissez vivre les autres,
But for mercy’s sake, morbleu! let the others live.
La vie est à peu près leur seul luxe ici-bas ;
Life is nearly their sole luxury down here
Car, enfin, la Camarde est assez vigilante,
For in truth, the grim reaper keeps close watch enough
Elle n'a pas besoin qu'on lui tienne la faux.
She does not need people to hold for her the scythe
Plus de danse macabre autour des échafauds !
No more dance macabre around the grim scaffolds
Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but death none too hasty
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but from death none too hasty

1972 – Fernande.

Notes
(A) (I missed putting this note in and so I am putting it under"A" until I renumber the whole list). When Brassens says he almost died for not having ideas, he is referring to the violent reception he was given after writing his song "Les Deux Oncles". When he says he had rejected ideas in this song, he means the ideologies that make people kill each other. He asked for equal sympathy for one of his uncles who died fighting for the Allied cause and the second who died fighting for the Fascist cause. We have to remember that France had a complex and conflicting web of political loyalties during the Second World War and that when Brassens wrote this song, the French President De Gaulle, had made Germany his major ally while he pursued anti-British policies. All people are entitled to their own opinions from their own experience. However, most people would admit that Brassens did not express himself very tactfully in "Les Deux Oncles", suggesting that all the suffering of these horrific years rested on a nationalistic fight between the "Teutons" and the "Tommies". I don't remember any reaction in Britain but the anger in some sections of the French public was intense.
(1) Saint John Chrysotom the 14th century bishop was known as the “Golden Mouth” on account of the power of his oratory..
(2) En aparté : When something is said as an aside on the stage, so that, in theory, the audience can hear but the characters in the play cannot.
(3) Les séquelles usually means consequences, things that follow. Brassens is uses its archaic meaning of “followers”
(4) Brassens’ little joke. Martyrdom is something you can’t build up experience in. All martyrs are novices.
(5) tourne autour du tombeau. There are two ideas in this line. Collins Robert tells us that “Un individu tourne autour de la maison depuis une heure” means some-one has been hanging around outside the house for an hour. The phrase could also link with the expression: “tourner autour du pot” = take your time about what you are going to do.
(6) Hécatombes- A hecatomb was originally a sacrifice to the ancient Greek and Roman gods of 100 oxen or cattle. Brassens uses it in its modern meaning of a mass slaughter.
(7) Brassens is talking about the frenzied slaughter of the French Revolution. The alliteration of the “t” in this line is the drumbeat as heads fall.
(8) « Les dieux ont soif » is Anatole France’s brilliant novel about the period of the Terror. I have a summary of the book on my literature website. To read the summary -it's long!- click here

A Footnote
Arthur Koestler made this comment about ideologies:
2)..... the crimes of violence committed for selfish, personal motives are historically insignificant compared to those committed ad majorem gloriam Dei, out of a self-sacrificing devotion to the flag, a leader, a religious faith or political conviction.

Click here to return to the full index of Brassens songs on this blog

Georges Brassens- La Tondue - with English translation and commentary

2009-03-16T13:17:00.017Z

In this song Brassens expresses his shock at the cruelty of which groups of people are capable in the grip of a strong idea.
After the liberation of France from the Germans, there was a period when groups of people in France took the law into their own hands and settled scores against those who were accused of collaboration. In some cases people were arbitrarily condemned and then lined up against the wall and shot. Among the victims of these reprisals were women who had fraternised with the Germans. Some of these, we are told, were prostitutes who had worked in military brothels -as if this would excuse this public cruelty!- many were just ordinary girls who had fallen for the charms of young men of another nationality. The punishment for these women is described by Brassens

georges brassens - la tondue
Uploaded by bisonravi1987.

La tondue -The girl with the shaven head

La belle qui couchait avec le roi de Prusse,(1)
The beauty who slept with the Prussian king
Avec le roi de Prusse,
With the Prussian king
À qui l'on a tondu le crâne rasibus,
Whose scalp they shaved ‘til totally bald
Le crâne rasibus,
‘Til totally bald

Son penchant prononcé pour les "ich liebe dich ", (2)
Her very pronounced taste for the "ich liebe dich ",
Pour les "ich liebe dich ",
For the "ich liebe dich ",
Lui valut de porter quelques cheveux postiches,
Meant her wearing, instead, hair which was false
Quelques cheveux postiches.
Instead, hair which was false.

Les braves sans-culottes, et les bonnets phrygiens, (3)
The brave sans-culottes, and the phrygien bonnets
Et les bonnets phrygiens,
And the phrygien bonnets
Ont livré sa crinière à un tondeur de chiens,
Handed over her hairdo to a shearer of dogs
À un tondeur de chiens.
To a shearer of dogs

J'aurais dû prendre un peu parti pour sa toison,
I ought ‘have stood up a bit for the sake of her mane
Parti pour sa toison,
For the sake of her mane.
J'aurais dû dire un mot pour sauver son chignon,
Ought to have said a word to rescue her chignon
Pour sauver son chignon,
To rescue her chignon

Mais je n'ai pas bougé du fond de ma torpeur,
But I did not budge, fixed in a deep torpor
Du fond de ma torpeur.
Fixed in a deep torpor
Les coupeurs de cheveux en quatre (4) m'ont fait peur,
Cutters of hair right down to the roots made me scared,
En quatre m'ont fait peur.
To the roots, made me scared.

Quand, pire qu'une brosse, elle eut été tondue,
When worse than crew-cut, they had shaved off her hair
Elle eut été tondue,
They had shaved off her hair
J'ai dit : " C'est malheureux, ces accroch'-coeur perdus,
I said “It’s sad indeed, those soft kiss curls (5) all lost
Ces accroch'-coeur perdus. "
Those soft kiss curls all lost
Et, ramassant l'un d'eux qui traînait dans l'ornière,(6)
And picking up one such, which was left in the roadway
Qui traînait dans l'ornière,
Which was left in the roadway
Je l'ai, comme une fleur, mis à ma boutonnière,(6)
I fixed it like a flower, into my coat lapel
Mis à ma boutonnière.
Into my coat lapel

En me voyant partir arborant mon toupet,
On seeing me go off, flaunting my lock of hair
Arborant mon toupet (7)
Flaunting my lock of hair,
Tous ces coupeurs de natt's m'ont pris pour un suspect,
All those cutters of plaits, took me to be a suspect
M'ont pris pour un suspect.
Took me to be a suspect

Comme de la patrie je ne mérite guère,
As of my country my deserts are small
Je ne mérite guère
My deserts are small
J'ai pas la Croix d'Honneur, j'ai pas la Croix de Guerre,
I hold no Cross of Honour, I hold no Cross of War
J'ai pas la Croix de Guerre,
I hold no cross of war
Et je n'en souffre pas avec trop de rigueur,
And this does not pain me to any great degree
Avec trop de rigueur.
To any great degree
J'ai ma rosette (8) à moi : c'est un accroche-coeur,
I do have my rosette: It’s a girl’s kiss curl
C'est un accroche-coeur.
It’s a girl’s kiss curl.
Georges Brassens
1964 - Les copains d'abord.

NOTES
(1) Le roi de Prusse. Brassens just means a German soldier, but feels his first line will be spoiled by saying this bluntly. I can understand this and I have read several explanations for this device. My own idea is that it gives a glimpse of the romantic view of the girl in love.
(2) "ich liebe dich ". (I know I’m saying what we all know already) This phrase means « Je t’aime », the intimate form of I love you.
(3) Les braves sans-culottes, et les bonnets phrygiens. In this line Brassens identifies the mass groups of ordinary people who joined in the violent reprisals against alleged collaborators with the “sans-culottes” of the Revolution of 1789. The common people of France were then given this name because they didn't wear upper class breeches or “culottes”. The Phrygian bonnet was a symbol adopted by the 18th Century Revolution as it was worn under the Roman Empire by former slaves who had been freed. Brassens aroused the anger of left wing activists by making this analogy.
(4) Les coupeurs de cheveux en quatre. « En quatre » is used in a number of expressions to mean to the highest degree (for example “se mettre en quatre pour quelq’un” = to do your utmost for some-one. Brassens was afraid but all the same he would not have been the first choice for bullies to pick on. For a time, Brassens was employed as a bodyguard for Jean-Paul Sartre.
(5) Soft kiss curls. I put in the adjective to give a 3 syllable translation.
(6) L'ornière means « the rut ». It just did not sound right in English. I did not like the sound of the direct translation of boutonnière- buttonhole.
(7) Mon toupet has 2 meanings (a) my tuft of hair (b) my impudence. It was recognised by these administrators of rough justice as an act of defiance.
(8) A Rosette is an insignia of honour in the military and in the Légion d’honneur.

The job completed, the girl is led through the streets with her Franco-German baby.

FOOTNOTE
Arthur Koestler has said:
..... the evils of mankind are caused, not by the primary aggressiveness of individuals, but by their self-transcending identification with groups whose common denominator is low intelligence and high emotionality.

Return to Index page

La chasse aux papillons

2009-01-20T11:39:00.034Z

La chasse aux papillons

Brassens is usually pessimistic about the permanence of human love but in this merry, bawdy song he suggests that extreme sexual passion is able to weld a couple together, fate willing, in a happy, lasting union.

Brassens_La chasse aux papillons
Uploaded by kitsch. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Un bon petit diable à la fleur de l'âge,
A right little devil in the prime of his life
La jambe légère et l'oeil polisson,
Nimble of limb and mischief in his eye
Et la bouche plein' de joyeux ramages,
And mouth replete with the merriest of banter
Allait à la chasse aux papillons.
Was off on the chase of the butterflies.
Comme il atteignait l'orée du village,
As he was approaching the edge of the village
Filant sa quenouille, il vit Cendrillon,
Threading her distaff,(1) he saw Cind’rella
Il lui dit : « Bonjour, que Dieu te ménage,
He said to her « Good day, may the Good Lord keep thee.
J' t'emmène à la chasse aux papillons.»
I’m taking thee to chase the butterflies

Cendrillon, ravie de quitter sa cage
Cind’rella, delighted to escape her cage(2)
Met sa robe neuve et ses botillons ;
Puts on her new dress and her new bootees
Et bras d'ssus bras d'ssous vers les frais bocages
And arms linked together, to the cool, leafy groves,
Ils vont à la chasse aux papillons.
They go off on the chase of butterflies.
Ils ne savaient pas que sous les ombrages,
They did know that under the thick foliage
Se cachait l'amour et son aiguillon,(3)
Cupid was hiding with his goading spear
Et qu'il transperçait les coeurs de leur âge,
And that he was wont to target hearts when young like theirs
Les coeurs des chasseurs de papillons.
The hearts of the hunters of butterflies.

Quand il se fit tendre, ell' lui dit : « J' présage
When he grew romantic, she said to him: « I sense
Qu' c'est pas dans les plis de mon cotillon,
It’s not in the folds of my petticoat,
Ni dans l'échancrure de mon corsage,
Neither down the fr0nt of the bodice of my dress,
Qu'on va-t-à la chasse aux papillons. »
That you go on the hunt for butterflies »
Sur sa bouche en feu qui criait : « Sois sage ! »
Upon her mouth on fire which cried out « Behave now !»
Il posa sa bouche en guis' de bâillon,
He placed his mouth to gag her further words
Et c' fut l' plus charmant des remue-ménage
And it turned into the most charming of frolics
Qu'on ait vus d' mémoire de papillon.
Seen in the memory of butterfly.(4)

Un volcan dans l'âme, i' r'vinr'nt au village,
Volcanos in their hearts they made their way back home
En se promettant d'aller des millions,
Pledging to each other to go, millions,
Des milliards de fois, et mêm' davantage,
Nay, billions of times and even more than that,
Ensemble à la chasse aux papillons.
Off together in chase of butterflies
Mais tant qu'ils s'aim'ront, tant que les nuages
While they love each other, as long as the dark clouds
Porteurs de chagrins les épargneront,
Bearers of life’s woes show mercy on them
Il' f'ra bon voler dans les frais bocages,
It will be nice to fly to cool and leafy groves.
I' f'ront pas la chasse aux papillons..
They won’t be chasing any butterflies….

Notes
(1) Apparently a distaff is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibres, keeping them untangled (Wikipedia).
(2) Perhaps a reference to her virtual imprisonment by the ugly sisters.
(3)Un aiguillon is a goad, which is a metal point on a long pole used to prick cattle to encourage them to move in the direction required. Cupid’s usual weapon would be an arrow or a dart. “ Cupid’s darts” translates into French: les flèches de Cupidon. On this occasion Cupid seems to be using an extreme weapon to exert extra stimulus to the lovers.
(4) “In the memory of man/ In living memory” translates “De mémoire d’homme” hence this little joke, the butterflies being the only spectators.

Georges Brassens
(1953 - La mauvaise réputation,

Return to Index page

La non-demande en mariage

2008-11-19T00:04:00.017Z

The title of this song: “The Non proposal of Marriage” suggests a cynical view of the relationship of a man with a woman. In fact, the song is a sincere love song, in which Brassens expresses to his lifelong fiancée, Joha Heiman, his deep appreciation for her role in their very successful and very individual partnership.

brassens - non demande en mariage
Uploaded by bisonravi1987.

Ma mie, de grâce, ne mettons
Beloved, for mercy’s sake, let us
Pas sous la gorge à Cupidon
Not load, beneath Cupid’s throat
Sa propre flèche,
His own arrow, (1)
Tant d'amoureux l'ont essayé
So many lovers have tried
Qui, de leur bonheur, ont payé
Who have paid with their lost joys for
Ce sacrilège...
This sacrilege…

J'ai l'honneur de
I have the honour
Ne pas te demander ta main,
Not to ask your hand in marriage
Ne gravons pas
Let’s not inscribe
Nos noms au bas
Our names at the end
D'un parchemin.
Of some parchment

Laissons le champ libre à l’oiseau, (Cupid)
Let’s leave a free hand to the fellow
Nous serons tous les deux priso-
We will both of us be two pris
nniers sur parole,
..oners on parole
Au diable, les maîtresses queux
Devil take the mistress chefs
Qui attachent les coeurs aux queues
Who pin their hearts to handles
Des casseroles!
Of pots and pans

J'ai l'honneur de
I have the honour
Ne pas te demander ta main,
Not to ask your hand in marriage
Ne gravons pas
Let’s not inscribe
Nos noms au bas
Our names at the end
D'un parchemin.
Of some parchment

Vénus se fait vieille souvent
Venus herself often grows old
Elle perd son latin devant
She loses her latin (2) faced by
La lèchefrite
The dripping pan.
A aucun prix, moi je ne veux
At no price would I ever wish
Effeuiller dans le pot-au-feu
To pluck petals for the stew from
La marguerite.
The marguerite. (3)

J'ai l'honneur de
I have the honour
Ne pas te demander ta main,
Not to ask your hand in marriage
Ne gravons pas
Let’s not inscribe
Nos noms au bas
Our names at the end
D'un parchemin.
Of some parchment

Il peut sembler de tout repos
It might well seem the easy way
De mettre à l'ombre, au fond d'un pot
To put, well out of view, at the bottom
De confiture,
Of a jam jar
La jolie pomme défendue,
The pretty forbidden fruit
Mais elle est cuite, elle a perdu
But it is cooked, it has quite lost
Son goût "nature".
Its fresh picked taste.

J'ai l'honneur de
I have the honour
Ne pas te demander ta main,
Not to ask your hand in marriage
Ne gravons pas
Let’s not inscribe
Nos noms au bas
Our names at the end
D'un parchemin.
Of some parchment

On leur ôte bien des attraits,
You remove so many of their charms
En dévoilant trop les secrets
By revealing too much the secrets
De Mélusine. (4)
Of Melusine.
L'encre des billets doux pâlit
The ink of billets doux fades
Vite entre les feuillets des li-
Fast between the pages of books
vres de cuisine.
About cooking

J'ai l'honneur de
I have the honour
Ne pas te demander ta main,
Not to ask your hand in marriage
Ne gravons pas
Let’s not inscribe
Nos noms au bas
Our names at the end
D'un parchemin.Of some parchment

De servante n'ai pas besoin,
O f servant I have no need
Et du ménage et de ses soins
And from housekeeping and its tasks
Je te dispense...
I make you free
Qu'en éternelle fiancée,
So that, eternal fiancee,
A la dame de mes pensées
Of you, lady of my choice,
Toujours je pense...
I think always.

J'ai l'honneur de
I have the honour
Ne pas te demander ta main,
Not to ask your hand in marriage
Ne gravons pas
Let’s not inscribe
Nos noms au bas
Our names at the end
D'un parchemin.
Of some parchment

NOTES
1) It was for Cupid, the God of love, to aim his arrows himself. Love should be spontaneous and it is a sacrilege for people to think to arrange things for themselves.
2) perd son latin – The phrase « J’y perds mon latin » means « I am completely baffled by it ». Brassens uses this image to conjure up the mental decline caused by domestic chores and it is humorous as the Goddess of Love was a Roman Goddess..
3) Effeuiller la marguerite. Plucking the petals of the oxeye daisy is a game that lovers play, while saying “She loves me – she loves me not.”. Another image to suggest the adulteration of love by domesticity.
4) In Breton folk-lore, Mélusine was a fairy upon whom a wicked spell had been cast which turned her into a siren on one day each week. A local nobleman, Raimond de Lusignan, came across her with other fairies in the woods and was captivated by her beauty and gentle manners. She agreed to marry him on condition that he did not seek to find out her life story or try to see her on Saturdays. They had a happy and most prosperous relationship until one Saturday…. As this is a folk tale, which are invariably very miserable you can guess the rest. Brassens is saying that both parties in a relationship are entitled to their own private space, where they retain things secret from the other.
5) The French also talk of “le fruit défendu”. I substituted “fruit” because I did not like the sound of the English word “apple” in this line.
6) la dame de mes pensées….Toujours je pense. There is a play on words here that I find impossible to translate. In the tradition of chivalry, a knight before entering the lists would choose one lady, of whom he would be the champion and to whom he would dedicate his endeavours. She became “la dame de ses pensées”. It was a relationship of the mind, a platonic love, because the lady chosen by the knight would, more often, be married to someone else. In “Je me suis fait tout petit” Brassens suggests that their relationship was of the same kind. However the mention of the forbidden apple suggests that not only was sex an element of their relationship, but that it always retained the tangy flavour of seduction.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Georges Brassens and Joha Heiman shared each others’ lives, doing a lot of things together, but they lived apart in their separate homes. They had regular telephone conversations and called around to see each other frequently. She went on tour with him and stood in the wings during his performances, keeping an eye on everything. Their’s was a personal and a professional relationship but certainly not a domestic one. They each had their own space, which could be described perhaps as their Saturday of Mélusine.

Georges Brassens is reported as saying of his "Puppchen" that she was not his wife, she was his goddess. On her death in 1999, she was buried in the grave of Georges Brassens.

Further Information about Joha Heiman
There are a number of songs that Brassens wrote about Joha on this site. One of these is "Je me suis fait petit" and my posting of this song got me in discussion with other bloggers.As a result there is now much more detail about Joha and about her relationship with Brassens there, which I and other bloggers have written after the song. If you wish to look at it, the following title is the link: Je me suis fait petit

http://brassenswithenglish.blogspot.com/2008/02/je-me-suis-fait-tout-petit_08.html

The day after I posted this song, I read in the Times of the rise in the number middle-class, middle-aged couples, who choose to "live apart together".

Click here to return to the full index of Brassens songs on this site

LES TROMPETTES DE LA RENOMMÉE

2008-11-08T17:02:00.012Z

This is Brassens at his most shocking and offensive and he is deliberately so. Apparently he had been advised (in 1960) to liven up his image in keeping with an age that was beginning to swing. One suggestion was that he should revive public attention by leaking spicy details of his private life. Brassens thinks that this would be nasty not only for him but for those who have shared his life. In each verse he mercilessly piles on the detail of the squalid, destructive role others would have him play. He refuses to change and says he will just stand still on stage and play his guitar as always. He calls this scratching his stomach to show his disregard for presentation. If the public do not want this, he will pack it all in and rest peacefully on his laurels, which in his case is not a laurel wreath but the solitary laurel sprig he believes he has earned.

Georges Brassens - les trompettes de la renommée
Uploaded by vodka33.

Brassens chooses the winged goddess “La Renomée” for his theme, because of the aspect of fame that she represents. From his reading of Virgil, Brassens knew the goddess, Fama, was conceived by her mother, the Earth, out of revenge against the gods. She is a gigantic, grotesque monster, possessing countless tongues, ears and also mouths from which she sounds forth her trumpets.

I put this song in my collection not because it is one of my favourites but because students of Brassens’ work have referred to it.

Je vivais à l'écart de la place publique,
I lived apart from the public eye
Serein, contemplatif, ténébreux, bucolique... (1)
Serene, contemplative, sombre,
bucolic
Refusant d'acquitter la rançon de la gloir',
Refusing to hand over the ransom asked for fame
Sur mon brin de laurier je dormais comme un loir. (2)
On my sprig of laurel I would sleep dormouse like
Les gens de bon conseil ont su me fair' comprendre
People of good counsel were able to make me see
Qu'à l'homme de la ru' j'avais des compt's à rendre
That to the man in the street, I had some debts to pay
Et que, sous peine de choir dans un oubli complet,
And that, on pain of falling in complete oblivion,
J' devais mettre au grand jour tous mes petits secrets.
I must bring into the open all my little secrets

{Refrain:}
Trompettes
Trumpets
De la Renommée,
Of Goddess Fame,
Vous êtes
You make
Bien mal embouchées ! (3)
A most discordant din !

Manquant à la pudeur la plus élémentaire,
Flouting the most elementary modesty
Dois-je, pour les besoins d' la caus' publicitaire,
Must I, for the needs of the publicist’s cause,
Divulguer avec qui, et dans quell' position
Divulge with whom and in what position
Je plonge dans le stupre et la fornication?
I plunge into debauchery and fornication?
Si je publi' des noms, combien de Pénélopes(4)
If I publish names, how many Penelopes
Passeront illico pour de fieffé's salopes,
Will be seen straightaway as the most arrant whores
Combien de bons amis me r'gard'ront de travers,
How many good friends will give me funny looks?
Combien je recevrai de coups de revolver!
How many revolver shots will hit their mark on me!
{Refrain:}
Trompettes
Trumpets
De la Renommée,
Of Goddess Fame,
Vous êtes
You make
Bien mal embouchées ! (3)
A most discordant din !

Brassens omits this next verse.

A toute exhibition, ma nature est rétive,
Public display makes my nature ill at ease,
Souffrant d'un' modesti' quasiment maladive,
Suffering from modesty that’s almost unhealthy.
Je ne fais voir mes organes procréateurs
I do not show my reproductive organs
A personne, excepté mes femm's et mes docteurs.
To anyone, except my women and my doctors.
Dois-je, pour défrayer la chroniqu' (5) des scandales,
Must I, to be headline news in gossip columns,
Battre l' tambour (6) avec mes parti's génitales,
Drum up attention with my genitals as sticks.
Dois-je les arborer plus ostensiblement,
Must I raise them on high more ostensibly
As a choir boy carries the holy sacrament.
Comme un enfant de chœur porte un saint sacrement ?

Refrain
Trompettes
Trumpets
De la Renommée,
Of Goddess Fame,
Vous êtes
You make
Bien mal embouchées ! (3)
A most discordant din !

Une femme du monde, et qui souvent me laisse
A woman of society, who often gives me
Fair' mes quat' voluptés (7) dans ses quartiers d' noblesse,
Free rein to voluptuous joys in her noble quarters
M'a sournois'ment passé, sur son divan de soi',
On the quiet passed on, upon her silken couch,
Des parasit's du plus bas étage qui soit...
Parasites of the basest kind that be.
Sous prétexte de bruit, sous couleur de réclame,
Under the pretext of sensation, under the heading of publicity
Ai-j' le droit de ternir l'honneur de cette dame
Have I the right to tarnish the honour of this lady?
En criant sur les toits, et sur l'air des lampions (8) :
By shouting from the rooftops and chanting the catchphrase
" Madame la marquis' m'a foutu des morpions ! " ? (9)
“Madame la Marquise has given me her crabs!”?

Refrain
Trompettes
Trumpets
De la Renommée,
Of Goddess Fame,
Vous êtes
You make
Bien mal embouchées ! (3)
A most discordant din !

Le ciel en soit loué, je vis en bonne entente
Heaven indeed be praised, I live on the best of terms,
Avec le Pèr' Duval, (10) la calotte chantante,
With le père Duval, the singing skullcap,
Lui, le catéchumène,(11) et moi, l'énergumèn',
He the catechumen, I the non-conforming man,
Il me laisse dire « merd', je lui laiss' dire amen,
He lets me say “Shit!”, I let him say “Amen”,
En accord avec lui, dois-je écrir' dans la presse
With his approval, must I write then in the press
Qu'un soir je l'ai surpris aux genoux d' ma maîtresse,
That one evening I surprised him at the knees of my mistress,
Chantant la mélopé' d'une voix qui susurre, (12)
Singing a murmured chant in a slushing voice,
Tandis qu'ell' lui cherchait des poux dans la tonsure ? (13)
The while she searched for him the fleas in his bald patch

Refrain
Trompettes
Trumpets
De la Renommée,
Of Goddess Fame,
Vous êtes
You make
Bien mal embouchées ! (3)
A most discordant din !

Avec qui, ventrebleu ! faut-il que je couche
So with whom, ventrebleu !, must I go to bed
Pour fair' parler un peu la déesse aux cent bouches ?
To provoke a bit the goddess with hundred mouths?
Faut-il qu'un' femme célèbre, une étoile, une star, 14
Must a woman who is a celebrity, a star
Vienn' prendre entre mes bras la plac' de ma guitar' ?
Come to take in my arms the place of my guitar?
Pour exciter le peuple et les folliculaires,
To excite the people and the gutter press.
Qui'est-c' qui veut me prêter sa croupe populaire,
Who is willing to lend me her much fancied butt?
Qui'est-c' qui veut m' laisser faire, in naturalibus,
Who is willing to let me, not wearing a stitch,
Un p'tit peu d'alpinism' sur son mont de Vénus ?
Have a bit of a scramble on her mount of Venus

Refrain
Trompettes
Trumpets
De la Renommée,
Of Goddess Fame,
Vous êtes
You make
Bien mal embouchées ! (3)
A most discordant din !

Sonneraient-ell's plus fort, ces divines trompettes,
Would these trumpets of the Gods ring out more loud
Si, comm' tout un chacun, j'étais un peu tapette, (15)
If, like each and everyone, I was a bit that way,
Si je me déhanchais comme une demoiselle
If I swayed my hips more like a young woman
Et prenais tout à coup des allur's de gazelle?
And suddenly took on a gazelle like grace
Mais je ne sache pas qu'ça profite à ces drôles
But I’m not aware that these jokers gain at all,
De jouer le jeu d' l'amour en inversant les rôles,
From playing the game of love by inverting the roles,
Qu'ça confère à ma gloire un' onc' de plus-valu', (16)
That this would add one ounce more merit to my name.
Le crim' pédérastique, aujourd'hui, ne pai' plus.
The crime of same sex love, today, no longer pays.

Refrain
Trompettes
Trumpets
De la Renommée,
Of Goddess Fame,
Vous êtes
You make
Bien mal embouchées ! (3)
A most discordant din !

Après c'tour d'horizon des mille et un' recettes
After this review of the thousand and one smart tricks
Qui vous val'nt à coup sûr les honneurs des gazettes,
Which are certain to earn the honours of the press
J'aime mieux m'en tenir à ma premièr' façon
I prefer to keep to my first way of doing things
Et me gratter le ventre en chantant des chansons.
And scratch my stomach, as ever, while singing songs
Si le public en veut, je les sors dare-dare,
If the public wants, I bring them out quick time.
S'il n'en veut pas je les remets dans ma guitare,
If not, I put them all back into my guitar,
Refusant d'acquitter la rançon de la gloir',
Refusing to hand over the ransom asked for fame
Sur mon brin de laurier je m'endors comme un loir.
On my laurel sprig, I rest, sleeping like a dormouse

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

NOTES From Wikipedia,

PHEME or OSSA was the goddess or spirit (daimon) of rumour, report and gossip. She was also, by extension, the dual spirit of fame and good repute in a positive sense, and infamy and scandal in the bad.
In Greek mythology, Pheme (Greek: Φήμη, Roman equivalent: Fama) was the personification of fame and renown, her favour being fame, her wrath being scandalous rumors.

MY NOTES
1) Bucolic- Brassens saw himself at home in a pastoral setting in his song “Auprès de mon arbre”. (The adjective ‘bucolic’ is derived from the Greek word for herdsmen). By using this adjective, he reminds us that his attitude has a long, honourable tradition dating back to the poets of Greece and Rome

2) Je dormais comme un loir. There are two expressions based on “sleeping” in this line. Dormir comme un loir= to sleep like a dormouse. “S’endormir sur ses lauriers” to rest on one’s laurels.

3) Trompettes… mal embouchées. Brassens is making a play on words. “Emboucher la trompette” is to put the trumpet to your lips to play – in this case wrongly. The idiom “Mal embouché » means speaking coarsely like the English to bad mouth.

4) Pénélope was the faithful wife of Ulysses.

5) défrayer la chronique = to be in the news- to be in the limelight

6) Battre l' tambour. The translation of town crier is tambour de ville because a little drum was used to draw attention, where the English used a bell

7) Mes quat' voluptés : This is a play on words from the phrase « Laisser faire à quelqu’un ses quatre voluptés » = to leave some-one a free hand to do what they like. Alone, the plural noun “voluptés” means sensual pleasures. Ses quartiers refers to the quarters on her noble coat of arms, but has a double meaning.

8) l'air des lampions : This is a chant made by a group of people, which should really be three syllables repeated on the same note. For example, where impatient English people will sing repeatedly the one line: “Why are we waiting?” the French will chant Com-men-cez.., Com-men-cez…. The chant here is shaped by the alliteration of four m sounds.

9) morpions - are pubic lice

10) le Père Duval - Brassens has just said that he should not be expected to reveal secrets of his friends and colleagues. In this verse, he does just that. Le Père Duval (1918- 1984) was a Jesuit priest, who was a gifted songwriter and solo guitarist. He appeared on the same stages as Georges Brassens and was sometimes known as Brassens in a cassock. He was very popular in the 1950s and 1960s and gave more than 3,000 concerts in 44 countries. Under the strain of his professional career he became an alcoholic and had great difficulty in overcoming this addiction. Brassens mischievously tells us he also had another weakness of the flesh.

11) Catéchumène – As this means some-one who is receiving religious instruction it does not apply to a Jesuit priest , but Brassens likes the play on the word with “énergumène” which means a rowdy person.

12) La mélopée means monotonous chant, Susurrer means to whisper. The onomatopoeia of the two French words perfectly conveys the action.

13) This line is intended to give a description of the relative positions of the man and woman rather than give an exact explanation of their activity.

14) une étoile, une star, - as the two words have the same meaning, one noun only is required in the translation.

15) Tapette- Collins Robert tells us that this equates in English to « poof » or « queer ». I am reluctant to use this as the translation would, in contemporary political correctness, make him guilty of a hate crime. As an admirer of Brassens’ character, I am absolutely certain that he did not hate homosexuals. As he says in this same line, homosexuality is all around. A large number of the leading figures in entertainment and the arts were homosexual. At some concerts, the great French songwriter and singer, Charles Trenet was on the same bill as Brassens. What was different in those days was that homosexuality was a criminal offence. Brassens cynically tells those who might have him act as if he had such inclinations to arouse the clamour of the press, that homosexuality does not pay. It is true that Brassens had on some subjects strong feelings that could be represented by the unsympathetic as hatred, but these were directed at people with power who oppressed their fellows. Those vulnerable people he refers to in this verse do not come into that category

16) plus-value is a word used in commerce = increase in value, appreciation.

17) Le crime pédérastique. In the 1950s the word pédéraste was used to describe a homosexual. The homosexual act was not decriminalised in France until the 4th August 1982.

Click here to return to the full index of Brassens songs on this blog

Saturne

2008-07-06T17:58:00.014+01:00

Brassens said this song, which he acknowledged as written for his partner Joha, was one of his favourites. It deals with a major theme of classical poetry: that “youth is a thing that cannot last” but while accepting this, Brassens believes that the joys of youth need not end so prematurely. He celebrates instead the charms of the mature woman and the comforts of love that can be enjoyed in the Indian Summer of life. When he wrote this poem, Brassens was about 42 years old and his Puppchen had turned fifty.

Texte :

Il est morne, il est taciturne,
He is dour, he is taciturn,
Il préside aux choses du temps
He rules over things of time
Il porte un joli nom "Saturne"(1)
He bears a pretty name « Saturn »
Mais c'est un dieu fort inquiétant.
But he is a god, most disquieting.
Il porte un joli nom "Saturne"
He bears a pretty name « Saturn »
Mais c'est un dieu fort inquiétant.
But he is a god, most disquieting.

En allant son chemin morose,
Going along his way morose,
Pour se désennuyer un peu,
His boredom to relieve a bit,
Il joue à bousculer les roses, (2)
He plays at knocking down each rose.
Le temps tue le temps comme il peut.
Time kills time as he is able.
Il joue à bousculer les roses,
He plays at knocking down each rose,
Le temps tue le temps comme il peut.
Time kills time as he is able.

Cette saison, c'est toi ma belle,
At this time, tis you, my fair
Qui as fait les frais de son jeu
Who have borne the brunt of his sport
Toi qui as payé la gabelle,(3)
You who paid his imposition
Un grain de sel dans tes cheveux.
A fleck of silver in your hair.
Toi qui a payé la gabelle,
You who paid his imposition
Un grain de sel dans tes cheveux.
A fleck of silver in your hair.

C'est pas vilain les fleurs d'automne,
They lack not beauty autumn flowers
Et tous les poètes l'ont dit
And all poets told us so
Je te regarde et je te donne
I look at you and stake my word
Mon billet (4) qu’ils n'ont pas menti.
That the poets did not lie
Je te regarde et je te donne
I look at you and stake my word
Mon billet qu'ils n'ont pas menti.
That the poets did not lie

Viens encore, viens ma favorite,
Come once more, my favourite (5) come
Descendons ensemble au jardin
Let’s down to the garden together
Viens effeuiller la marguerite (6)
Come count off our love with petals
De l'été de la Saint Martin.(7)
From the bloom of Indian Summers
Viens effeuiller la marguerite
Come count off our love with petals
De l'été de la Saint Martin.
From the bloom of Indian summers

Je sais par coeur toutes tes grâces
I know by heart all your graces
Et, pour me les faire oublier,
And to make me forget them all
Il faudra que Saturne en fasse
It would need for Saturn to make
Des tours d'horloge et de sablier !(8)
Turns of the clock and hourglass
Et la petite pisseuse d'en face (9)
Peut bien aller se rhabiller.(10)

TRANSLATION NOTES
(1) Saturne – He is the God of time, who in legend eats up his children, just as time eventually destroys us all
(2) Les roses – As in English poetry- “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may….”, roses symbolise the beauty of young women.
(3) La gabelle was a detested tax on salt levied by the monarchy before the Revolution. Brassens makes it the tax paid with age to Saturn and its mark is the salt white of the first grey hair. I find this image somewhat over-contrived, although the French who have the expression: “poivre et sel” to describe greying hair might accept it more readily.
(4) Je te donne mon billet (or more common -je te fiche mon billet) means: I am ready to put my money on it.
(5) Ma favorite. We are told that Brassens referred to Joha as “his favourite” as well as his “püppchen ”. As the meaning of “favourite” is a person preferred above others this does not preclude a liking for others, which could lead to a circumstance considered in the last verse of this poem(6) Effeuiller la marguerite is to play the lovers’ game of plucking the petals saying: “She loves me. She loves me not”.
(7) La marguerite de l'été de la Saint Martin is the chrysanthemum, a flower of the late months of the year. The feast of Saint Martin on the 11th of November is associated with a spell of mild weather and is what we call an Indian Summer. To the poet this symbolises youth reborn.
(8) Des tours d'horloge et de sablier : The fingers of the clock will have to go round and round and the hour glass will need to turned upside down endlessly, because he will never forget the beauty of his mistress.
(9) Et la petite pisseuse d'en face. The word that Brassens chooses to describe the young girl gives the English speaking listener or reader a sharp shock. As we have the same word for “pisser” i.e. “to piss”, we can understand that he is contemptuously dismissing her as a girl who wets her knickers, which would seem to us no higher than schoolchild abuse. However French bloggers, whose comments are posted below, tell us that the word is not so objectionable in French. Looking in the French- English Robert dictionary, a meaning given is “a (female) brat”, but the word is starred to warn of its impolite usage.
Three degrees of interpretation are suggested for Brassens’ choice of this word:
i) The most practical and down to earth is that Joha was aware that his eye had been wandering to an attractive young neighbour, arousing Joha’s passionate jealousy which was an outstanding feature of her character. Brassens therefore had to express his strong distaste towards the girl.
ii) The explanation put forward by those who have an absolute conviction in Brassens’ devotion to the one love of his life, is that Brassens had no interest in the girl but was using her to contrast the richer benefits that his mature partner brought to him.
iii) The most idealistic interpretation is that there was no other female involved, but that the pisseuse is a personification of the inadequacies of raw youth.

The proponents of the last explanation would claim that the lofty tone of the poem is maintained to the end, while the proponents of the first delight in the dramatic contrast of the trivial language of the last two lines with the lofty tone of the rest.
10) Elle peut bien aller se rhabiller – She might as well clear off/ buzz off/ beggar off. The colloquial expression of contempt continues the idea that she (or “it”-i.e. youth) has no relevance to their lives.

MY ORIGINAL MISUNDERSTANDING OVER THE FINAL VERSE

When I first posted this song, I was working on a performance where Brassens omitted the final verse and I jumped to the conclusion that it was deliberate censorship on his part of lines which recorded a personal row between him and his sweetheart and which contained personal invective. I realised how wrong I was when I read a tribute that he made to Joha near the end of his life. In it he spoke of half a dozen of the songs that he had been inspired by his love for his Püppchen. Inevitably, Saturne was in the list, but the words he quoted were from the last verse of the song, which obviously meant a lot to him. He wrote:
.......... et «Saturne»
Je sais par coeur toutes tes grâces
Et pour me les faire oublier
Il faudra que Saturne en fasse
Des tours d'horloge, de sablier.

This is the original version which I had on this post :

georges brassens - saturne
Uploaded by bisonravi1987.

A comment from a french blogger:
I received this comment from a French blogger on the 25th March 2009, and was very grateful to be reminded how beautiful the French find this song. Unfortunately I accidentally deleted the message while making my most recent post. This is ungracious on my part and so I am copying it here:
K said...
Je viens tout juste de tomber sur votre blog en cherchant Saturne... c'est une si belle chanson! :) ...même malgré les deux dernières lignes! :

Je suis toujours agréablement surpris de trouver de l'anglais autour de mes chansonniers français préférés.

Bravo pour votre blog; j'y reviendrai assurément!

Merci K. Un message encourageant me fait du bien.

Click here to return to the full index of Brassens songs on this site

La cane de Jeanne- Brassens Translation

2008-04-29T20:32:00.017+01:00

This is a simple Brassens song which a lot of French people know from their primary school days. It tells the true, sad story of the death of the pet female duck of his friend Jeanne Planche. Mme Planche had given Brassens a temporary home many years ago that he never got round to leaving. The solemn, slow rhythm makes the song a funeral march and the consideration expressed for the deceased tells how deep was the sense of loss. However, as, in the end, the subject is one duck that Jeanne had bought to eat and hadn’t had the heart to, I think we gather that Brassens is having a gentle tease with this soft-hearted woman of whom he was so fond.

georges brassens - la cane de jeanne
Uploaded by bisonravi1987.

JEANNE'S PET DUCKLING

In translation the vocabulary is simple but it is the rhythm that counts:3-3-6-7-3-2Brassens does it by lingering on syllables and so I tried it. Having explained to those who do not know that une cane is a female duck, I should like to retain "cane" in my English, as "duck" is a hard sound.

La cane
The cahn-eu (3 syllables)
De Jeanne
Of Jann-eu (3 syllables)
Est morte au gui(i) l'an neuf,
Has died on New Year’s day (6 syllables)
Elle avait fait, la veille,
She had made on the eve-eu (7 syllabels)
Merveille !
Marvel-leu! (3 syllables)
Un oeuf !
An egg! (2 syllables)

La cane
The cahn-eu
De Jeanne
Of Jann-eu
Est morte d'avoir fait,
Has died from having caught
Du moins on le présume,
At least, we so presume
Un rhume,
A cold -deu
Mauvais !
Bad one!

La cane
The cahn-eu
De Jeanne
Of Jann-eu
Est morte sur son oeuf
Has died upon her egg
Et dans son beau costume
And in her fine costume- me
De plumes,
Of plumage
Tout neuf !
Brand New!

La cane
The cahn-eu
De Jeanne,
Of Jann-eu
Ne laissant pas de veuf,
No wid’wer left to mourn,
C'est nous autres(ii) qui eumes
T’was us, us lot, who had- deu
Les plumes,
The plumage
Et l'oeuf !
And egg!

Tous, toutes,
All us folk
Sans doute,
No doubt-eu
Garderons longtemps le
Will cherish for years the
Souvenir de la cane
Memory of the cahn-eu
De Jeanne
Of Jann-neu
Morbleu !
Morb-leu ! (iii)

Click here to return to the full index of Brassens songs on this blog
TRANSLATION NOTES
(i) au gui = at the mistletoe. At the New Year, the tradition is to kiss under the mistletoe to wish good luck.
(ii) nous autres = us lot
(iii) Morbleu ! We have to end with an oath. This is an old-fashioned oath that French children would not be familiar with. Collins Robert suggests “Gazooks” as a translation. Even if the rest of the song is put into English, I would like to keep the despairing French oath for effect. Some critics think it is a cry against human mortality. I think it is despair about how long Jeanne is going to go on about her sweet little duck.

“LA CANE DE JEANNE” IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

The videos of children performing the song have not been too impressive, but I thought the following using children singing clearly and artwork for the presentation could work quite well

La Cane De Jeanne -Hommage Brassens Ecole Chantemerle
Uploaded by yocot73. - Independent web videos.

A note for my primary schoolteacher daughter, Katharine.
If I was turning this into a French presentation for Parents' evening, I would think of dividing it into three parts.
Part one: The children's presentation.
I would borrow some of the artwork fom the French video. I like the duck being only intermittently dead! If when the children bring their work to the central display, they can do a kind of slow march for the first two and last two lines, that would be clever. At some point a big egg is put on a separate stand and is left there.

Part two: the music teacher turns to the parents and tells them that the roles are going to be reversed and they are going to be the performers and the children are going to applaud them if deserving.

The chidren give out sheets with the copy of the song in English. The music teacher gives them a brief rehearsal of the first verse stressing the importance of the rhythm with excessive stress put on the "eu" endings. The parents then sing the whole song with the music teacher stopping for a repeat if the parents miss an "eu".
The music teacher should insist that the parents say the final oath - which contains the last "eu" sound with feeling.
The children finally give the applause that is merited.

Part three: the previous part is meant to be lighthearted and noisy, ready for a change of mood in this section.
The teacher sees that all the artwork has been cleared from the stage, but that the egg has been forgotten. The teacher selects a child and says:
"Anne, we have forgotten the egg of the Cane de Jeanne. Would you mind bringing it to me?"

The child goes up to the egg and makes to get hold of the artwork. Suddenly she stops and puts her ear to the egg.

The teacher asks what is wrong.

"I can hear a tapping sound", the child replies. Immediately she stands in front of the egg hiding it from the audience. Unseen, she removes the top part of the egg. Then she steps aside to show the egg to the audience and points to the egg saying:"Look what was in the egg of the Cane de Jeanne!"

The broken egg now has the face of a happy chick on show. -I would borrow that picture from the French video.

If our dramatic timing is good we have moved from the theme of death to re-birth.

Click here to return to the full index of Brassens songs on this blog

Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux Brassens Translation

2008-04-26T21:08:00.021+01:00

Elsa, the poet's muse.

The lyrics of this song are taken from a very famous poem by Louis Aragon (1897-1982). Its mood is melancholic and pessimistic. Aragon admits that it was affected by his difficulties during the harsh times at the end of the war, which prevented him living life to the full with his beloved wife, Elsa. He felt that if you created a high ideal of love, the realities of life would of necessity involve a betrayal

Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux Georges Brassens
Uploaded by myonlylover11. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux

Rien n'est jamais acquis à l'homme Ni sa force
Nothing is man’s to have and hold. Not his strength
Ni sa faiblesse ni son coeur Et quand il croit
Not his weakness and not his heart. And when he thinks
Ouvrir ses bras son ombre est celle d'une croix
To open out his arms, his shadow forms a cross
Et quand il croit serrer son bonheur il le broie
And when he thinks to grasp some joy, he crushes it.
Sa vie est un étrange et douloureux divorce
His life is a divorce, full of hurt and questioning.
Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux
There’s no happiness in love

Sa vie Elle ressemble à ces soldats sans armes
His life is like that of troops not issued with arms
Qu'on avait habillés pour un autre destin
Whose uniform proclaims a different destiny
A quoi peut leur servir de se lever matin
To what avail they rise from their bunks each morning
Eux qu'on retrouve au soir désarmés incertains
They whom the evening finds disarmed and uncertain
Dites ces mots Ma vie Et retenez vos larmes
Say then these words, my love and please fight back your tears

Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux
There’s no happiness in love

Mon bel amour mon cher amour ma déchirure
My fair loved one, my dear loved one, so torn by life
Je te porte dans moi comme un oiseau blessé
I bear you within me just like an injured bird.
Et ceux-là sans savoir nous regardent passer
And those who unknowing watch us as we pass by
Répétant après moi les mots que j'ai tressés
Repeating after me the words that I have woven
Et qui pour tes grands yeux tout aussitôt moururent
And which for your fair eyes died like a flash away

Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux
There’s no happiness in love

Le temps d'apprendre à vivre il est déjà trop tard
The time to learn to live, already, is long gone
Que pleurent dans la nuit nos cœurs à l'unisson
Let our hearts in the night weep both in unison
Ce qu'il faut de regrets pour payer un frisson
What it takes in regrets to repay one small thrill
Ce qu'il faut de malheur pour la moindre chanson
What it takes in sorrow to pen the slightest song
Ce qu'il faut de sanglots pour un air de guitare
What it takes in sad tears for one tune on guitar

Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux
There’s no happiness in love

Here is an attractive girl called Joul singing the same song.

Brassens "Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux" by Joul
Uploaded by Joulmusique. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Click here to return to the full index of Brassens songs on this blog

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Aragon met the Russian-born Elsa Triolet (1896-1970), his future wife, in 1928. Triolet was herself an authoress and her published work stretched from the late 1930s until the year of her death. She was Aragon's companion for forty years and greatly influenced his writing

TRANSLATION NOTES
(A few not too serious personal comments)

I am conscious of having no deep knowledge of Aragon. I was a teacher of French language and literature but my acquaintanceship with Aragon was only a passing one. Without any insight, however, I find myself wanting to play the game of asking what precise human experiences are hidden under the abstractions of the poem. Perhaps an expert on Aragon will put me right afterwards.

The first verse makes it quite clear, as Aragon himself explained, that he and Elsa were going through a bad patch. It had shaken their confidence as they had believed the love and understanding they used to share was forever - but nothing is permanent in life! What he is going through is inexplicable, love has revealed an underside of immense suffering. Wishing only happiness with Elsa he has destroyed it. Perhaps they are at a very painful stage of break-up - divorce. Aragon is using this word in an abstract sense, talking about negative and positive aspects in every human experience, but his choice of word might suggest also a personal split.

The second verse is a single continuous image and I am hesitant about interpreting it. Something that as a man he has been prepared for, he is no longer able to do and his life is all empty frustration. The image about soldiers is dignified, and my interpretation seems unworthy. However, I have a suspicion that Elsa is using the major weapon of women in a partnership and has withdrawn his conjugal rights and he wants her to know how he feels.

The third verse seems to be Aragon's acknowledgement of the great hurt he has caused Elsa, who is torn and wounded. The experience has convinced him that there is no such thing as happy love.

The last verse tells me in what way he hurt Elsa. I suspect that the short moments of excitement that have brought so much aggro with his wife were spent with an attractive young temptress. Aragon had quite a number of them listed in his little red book before he met Elsa. Untypically, for a man with strong Communist principles, he had a love affair with Nancy Cunard, who was the heiress to the great international shipping company.
His final plea is that they should get through these moments of torment side by side, blaming all the suffering on the human condition. However he reminds her that suffering is the inspiration of so much great art.

Thee photograph is of Louis Aragon.

JUST TALKING TO MYSELF

A similar poem in English literature on the theme of melancholic pessimism about love and life would perhaps be “Dover Beach”, which Matthew Arnold wrote in about 1851. In it the poet asks his new wife to stand with him to face the insecurities and disappointments of modern life, when love is inadequate, traditional moral values are collapsing and men fight each other in a darkness of ignorance, where they do not know whom they are fighting and why.

I must admit that I am also adding this poem, because I admire the style of the reader and wish to keep this handy as a reminder to myself. He conveys the rhythm and the poetry but does not get in the way himself. Not an easy thing to achieve!

Dans l'eau de la claire fontaine

2008-04-26T20:35:00.015+01:00

This is a light-hearted song about a young girl swimming naked in a country spring. "A la claire fontaine" is one of the multitude of traditional French songs that Brassens knew so well and which gave him such great pleasure. However he limits himself to the first verse:
A la claire fontaine
M'en allant promener
J'ai trouve l'eau si belle
Que je m'y suis baigne.
All the rest of the song is Brassens' gentle fantasy.
I think the delicate illustration painted by Marie-France RIVIERE perfectly conveys the idyll.
I have chosen the first video because I admire the guitar skills. Daily Motion do not seem to give his name.
I dedicate this to all in my family who play the guitar or who are learning to.
Brassens' own recording is after the text

Brassens - Dans l'eau de la claire fontaine (reprise)
Uploaded by colimacon34. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Dans l'eau de la claire fontaine (i)
In the clear pool of a forest spring
Elle se baignait toute nue
She was swimming in the nude
Une saute de vent soudaine
A sudden change in wind direction
Jeta ses habits dans les nues (ii)
Threw her clothes far into the sky

En détresse, elle me fit signe
In disarray she signalled to me
Pour la vêtir, d'aller chercher
For her cover, to go and get
Des monceaux de feuilles de vigne
Plenty of leaves from the vine plants
Fleurs de lis ou fleurs d'oranger
Fleurs de lis or orange flowers.

Avec des pétales de roses
With the help of petals of roses
Un bout de corsage lui fis
A bit of a top I made her.
La belle n'était pas bien grosse
The fair maiden was not very big
Une seule rose a suffi
One single rose proved quite enough

Avec le pampre de la vigne
With the branch I had pulled from a vine
Un bout de cotillon lui fis
A bit of petticoat I made
Mais la belle était si petite
But the fair maiden was so dainty
Qu'une seule feuille a suffi
That one single leaf proved enough

Elle me tendit ses bras, ses lèvres
She offered to me her arms, her lips
Comme pour me remercier
As if to show to me her thanks
Je les pris avec tant de fièvre
I accepted them with so much zest
Qu'ell' fut toute déshabillée
That she was stripped completely bare

Le jeu dut plaire à l'ingénue
The game must have pleased the unspoilt girl
Car, à la fontaine souvent
For, to that spring many more times
Ell' s'alla baigner toute nue
She went and she bathed in the nude,
En priant Dieu qu'il fit du vent
Praying to God for the wind to blow
Qu'il fit du vent...
The wind to blow

TRANSLATION NOTES
(i) Fontaine – as well as meaning fountain, it also means a water spring (The most common word to translate spring is - une source)
(ii) Les nues – means the clouds, the skies. It is more literary than “les nuages”

Brassens Ds l'eau de la Claire Fontaine
Uploaded by paleopale. -

Click here to return to the full index of Brassens songs on this blog

L'orage - Brassens song with translation

2008-04-22T10:58:00.012+01:00

Brassens tells how a violent thunderstorm thrust into his arms a young wife with whom he experienced a passion that he had never known before and has never known since. The final line of the song links with "Une Jolie Fleur" which has the same emotions and the same outcome.

george brassens - L'orage
Uploaded by Lili-bellule. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Parlez-moi de la pluie et non pas du beau temps,
Talk to me about the rain and not about the fine weather,
Le beau temps me dégoûte et m' fait grincer les dents,
Fine weather is not to my taste and sets my teeth on edge.
Le bel azur me met en rage,
Beautiful azure sky infuriates me,
Car le plus grand amour qui m' fut donné sur terre
For the greatest love that was granted to me on earth
Je l' dois au mauvais temps, je l' dois à Jupiter, (i)
I owe it to the bad weather, I owe it to Jupiter
Il me tomba d'un ciel d'orage.
It struck me like a thunderbolt from a stormy sky.

Par un soir de novembre, à cheval sur les toits,
On one November evening, mounted over the rooftops
Un vrai tonnerr' de Brest, avec des cris d' putois, (ii)
A true thunderstorm from Brest, with ear-splitting screeches
Allumait ses feux d'artifice.
Set off its display of pyrotechnics.
Bondissant de sa couche en costume de nuit,
Leaping up from her bed in her night attire
Ma voisine affolée vint cogner à mon huis
My terror-stricken neighbour came to hammer at my portal
En réclamant mes bons offices.
Begging for my good offices.

« Je suis seule et j'ai peur, ouvrez-moi, par pitié,
“I am alone and frightened, open please for me, for pity’s sake
Mon époux vient d' partir faire son dur métier,
My husband has just left to carry out his harsh profession
Pauvre malheureux mercenaire,
Poor, unfortunate mercenary
Contraint d' coucher dehors quand il fait mauvais temps,
Forced to sleep outdoors when the weather is bad
Pour la bonne raison qu'il est représentant
For the good reason that he is a representative
D'un' maison de paratonnerres. »
For a firm of lightning conductors.”

En bénissant le nom de Benjamin Franklin,(iii)
Blessing the name of Benjamin Franklin
Je l'ai mise en lieu sûr entre mes bras câlins,
I put her in a safe place snuggled in my arms
Et puis l'amour a fait le reste !
And then love did the rest!

Toi qui sèmes des paratonnerre' à foison,
You who spread all around conductors in abundance
Que n'en as-tu planté sur ta propre maison ?
Why did you not stick one of them on your own roof?
Erreur on ne peut plus funeste...
A mistake of the most fateful possible….

Quand Jupiter alla se faire entendre ailleurs,
When Jupiter went to make himself heard elsewhere
La belle, ayant enfin conjuré sa frayeur
The beautiful young woman, having finally cast off her fright
Et recouvré tout son courage,
And recovered all her courage
Rentra dans ses foyers fair' sécher son mari
Went back home to get her husband dried out
En m' donnant rendez-vous les jours d'intempérie,
Offering me a rendez-vous for the days of inclement weather
Rendez-vous au prochain orage.
Rendez-vous for the next storm.

À partir de ce jour j' n'ai plus baissé les yeux,
From that moment, I never again looked down to the ground
J'ai consacré mon temps à contempler les cieux,
I devoted my time to contemplating the skies
À regarder passer les nues,
To watching the clouds go by,
À guetter les stratus, à lorgner les nimbus,
To keeping an eye on the stratus, to peering at the nimbus
À faire les yeux doux au moindre cumulus,
To tenderly eye the least bit of cumulus
Mais elle n'est pas revenue.
But she never came back.

Son bonhomm' de mari avait tant fait d'affaires,
Her good man of a husband had done so much business
Tant vendu ce soir-là de petits bouts de fer,
Sold so many bits of iron on that evening
Qu'il était dev'nu millionnaire
That he had become a millionaire
Et l'avait emmenée vers les cieux toujours bleus,
And had taken her away to skies always blue,
Des pays imbécile' où jamais il ne pleut,
Of the stupid countries where never does it rain
Où l'on ne sait rien du tonnerre.
Where people know nothing about thunder

Dieu fass' que ma complainte aille, tambour battant, (iv)
God grant that my lament goes, with beating drum
Lui parler de la pluie, lui parler du gros temps
Speak to her about the rain, speak to her about the violent weather
Auxquels on a t'nu tête ensemble,
To which we faced up together
Lui conter qu'un certain coup de foudre assassin
Tell her that a certain murderous thunderbolt
Dans le mill' de mon coeur a laissé le dessin (v)
Hit the bullseye of my heart to leave behind the pattern
D'un' petit' fleur qui lui ressemble...
Of a little flower that is her likeness…
Georges Brassens
(1960 - Le mécréant,)
TRANSLATION NOTES
i) Jupiter- The ancient God, Jupiter is often depicted holding thunderbolts in his hands.
ii) Putois – un putois is a pole cat. « Crier comme un putois” means to emit deafening shreaks.
iii) Benjamin Franklin- physicist (1706 – 1790) invented the lightning conductor.
iv) Tambour battant – means briskly- (Collins-Robert). As the drum was used to draw attention like the town crier’s bell in Britain, perhaps the image can be kept to associate also the beating rain.
v) Laissé le dessin. Thunderbolts can leave behind a plant-like imprint on the skin

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Les Copains d'Abord

2008-04-15T21:32:00.047+01:00

Les Copains d'Abord is dedicated to the close friends who joined Brassens on boating trips off the South coast of France in a boat called “Les copains d'abord”. The song was written for a film, Les copains (1964), directed by Yves Robert. One of the striking features of Brassens’ life was the enduring friendships that he forged, evident also in his other songs.

On the original video, since deleted, Brassens continued with "Ballade des dames du temps jadis". To see Villon's poem with translation and commentary please click Ballade des dames du temps jadis2

Brassens les copains d'abord

Uploaded by paradixman.

LES COPAINS D'ABORD
Non ce n'était pas le Radeau
No it wasn’t the raft
De la Méduse(i) ce bateau,
Of the Medusa this boat
Qu'on se le dise au fond des ports
Let people say so at the back of the harbours
Dise au fond des ports,
Say at the back of the harbours
Il naviguait en pèr' peinard(ii)
It sailed along indifferent to all else
Sur la grand-mare des canards(iii)
On the great duckpond of the inland sea
Et s'app'lait Les Copains d'Abord
And the boat’s name was
Les Copains d'Abord.
Friends first(iv)

Ses fluctuat nec mergitur (v)
Its fluctuat nec mergitur – (rocking without sinking)
C'était pas d'la littérature,
Did not go down in literature
N'en déplaise aux jeteurs de sort,(vi)
With all due respect to the people who predicted the worst,
Aux jeteurs de sort,
To the people who predicted the worst,
Son capitaine et ses mat'lots
Its captain and its sailors
N'étaient pas des enfants d'salauds,
Were not sons of bitches
Mais des amis franco de port,
But straightforward friends
Des copains d'abord.
Friends first

C'étaient pas des amis de luxe,
They were not very refined friends
Des petits Castor et Pollux(vii),
(Not) little Castors and Polluxes
Des gens de Sodome et Gomorrhe(viii),
(Not) men from Sodom and Gommorrha
Sodome et Gomorrhe,
C'étaient pas des amis choisis
Not friends of the distinction to be chosen
Par Montaigne et La Boétie(ix),
By Montaigne and La Boétie
Sur le ventre ils se tapaient fort, (Literally- they thumped themselves hard in the stomach refers to their boisterous fun - Thanks Jean Marc for the correction)
They would split their sides with laughter
Les copains d'abord.
The friends first
.

C'étaient pas des anges non plus,
They were not angels either
L'Évangile, ils l'avaient pas lu,
The Holy Gospel they had not read
Mais ils s'aimaient tout's voil's dehors,
But they liked each other , all sails set
Toutes voil's dehors,
All sails set
Jean, Pierre, Paul(x) et compagnie,
John, Peter, Paul and company
C'était leur seule litanie
It was their only litany
Leur credo, leur confiteor,
Their credo, their confiteor,
Aux copains d'abord.
For the friends first.

Au moindre coup de Trafalgar(xi),
At the least shot of Trafalgar – The slightest threat of serious danger
C'est l'amitié qui prenait l'quart,
It was friendship that took the helm
C'est ell' qui leur montrait le nord,
That was what showed to them true north
Leur montrait le nord,
Showed to them true north
Et quand ils étaient en détresse,
And when they were in distress
Qu'leurs bras lancaient des s.o.s.,
When their arms sent their S.O.S.
On aurait dit des sémaphores,
You would have taken them to be semaphores(xii)
Les copains d'abord.
Friends first

Au rendez-vous des bons copains,
When the good pals met together
Y'avait pas souvent de lapins(xiii),
It was not often that people did not turn up
Quand l'un d'entre eux manquait à bord,
When one of them was missing on board
C'est qu'il était mort,
It was because he had died
Oui, mais jamais, au grand jamais,
Yes, but never, never ever
Son trou dans l'eau n'se refermait(xiv),
Did death close its waters over him
Cent ans après, coquin de sort !
One hundred year after, what the blazes!
Il manquait encor.
He was still missed

Des bateaux j'en ai pris beaucoup,
Boats, I’ve been on a lot of them
Mais le seul qui ait tenu le coup,
But the only one that was up to the mark
Qui n'ait jamais viré de bord,
Which never tacked to the wind
-mais viré de bord,
Never tacked to the wind
Naviguait en père peinard
Sailed along, indifferent to all else
Sur la grand-mare des canards
On the great duckpond of the inland sea
Et s'app'lait Les Copains d'Abord
And had the name of
Les Copains d'Abord.
Friends first

TRANSLATION NOTES
(i)Some malicious observers in the harbours they passed must have suggested that the unprepossessing boat of Brassens with its motley company resembled the survivors of the wreck of the Medusa on their raft as painted by Géricault.

(ii)Un père Peinard is an older man, relaxed about the world, who takes life as it comes.
(iii)La grand-mare des canards. There are different interpetations given to this. As I have lived in Montpellier, my choice would be that he is referring to L’étang de Thau, a big coastal salt lake.

(iv)When spoken or sung this sounds like “copains de bord” which means shipmates and would also convey the theme of the song
(v)Fluctuat nec mergitur means "She is tossed by the waves, but is not sunk". This phrase is the motto under of the city coat of arms of Paris, whose emblem is a ship floating on a rough sea
(vi)Un jeteur de sort = a wizard (Collins Robert)
(vii)Castor and Pollux were inseparable friends in ancient legend.
(viii),Sodome et Gomorrhe. Perhaps the previous reference to a famous friendship in ancient literature, where such friendships were sometimes sexually ambivalent makes it necessary for Brassens to make clear that homosexuality was not the basis of their friendship.
(ix)Étienne de La Boétie (1530–1563) was a close friend of Montaigne. He was a French writer and political philosopher.
(x)Jean, Pierre, Paul. These names sound like references to the bible but refer to his close friends. Pierre, for example Pierre Onténiente was his lifelong friend -see “Auprès de mon arbre”
(xi)Un coup de Trafalgar means a treacherously unforeseen disaster, (referring to Nelson’s destruction of the French fleet in 1805)
(xii)sémaphores – The comic image of the panicking friends as semaphores is perhaps more vivid to the French. France built the first comprehensive semaphore system during the 1790s for military and government communications. The network included 555 stations and stretched over 4,800 kilometers. Its stations used apparatus such as towers with pivoting blades, shutters, or paddles, or hand-held flags.
(xiii)“Poser un lapin” means to fail to keep an appointment.
(xiv)“Faire un trou dans l’eau” 'Jamais son trou dans l'eau ne se refermait' means that the dead was never forgotten. It refers to a burial at sea. (Thanks to an anonymous French blogger who corrected me.)

The continuing international appeal of Brassens' songs
Les Bandits, a young American jazz group, on the New York cabaret circuit, include the songs of Brassens in their repertoire. I admire the vivacity of their performance.

Ballade des dames du temps jadis

I have now made a translation of Villon's complete poem and have put it on a separate post. To read it please click the following link: Ballade des dames du temps jadis2

In the original video that I posted of "Les Copains" Brassens went on to sing the first verse only of the song

On this new post, you will find a recording of the full song by Brassens with good visuals.

Also I have made a translation into English with my translation notes.

Also I have posted the historical background notes that I found I needed for my translation

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Les amours d'antan Brassens Translation

2008-04-11T19:48:00.011+01:00

Brassens had earlier composed a song, “Ballade des dames du temps jadis”, based on a famous poem by François Villon, (c. 1431-c. 1463), which glorified the great figures of ancient history, legend and myth who had come to personify a romantic vision of beauty and love forever lost. In this second song, Brassens contrasts his personal down to earth experiences of love and beauty, ironically enjoying the absence of reflections of glory and nobility in the exuberant promiscuity of his life without pretension.

Please note that the following clip has the wrong title on Daily Motion

Brassens - Les Amours D'Antan
Uploaded by bisonravi1987.

Moi, mes amours d'antan c'était de la grisette(1)
My own loves of yesteryear were easy girls of humble birth
Margot, la blanchecaille(2), et Fanchon, la cousette...
Margot, the laundress and Fanchon the trainee dressmaker

Pas la moindre noblesse, excusez-moi du peu,
Not the least nobility, excuse me for the omission
C'étaient, me direz-vous, des grâces roturières,
They were you will tell me Graces from the common people
Des nymphes de ruisseau, des Vénus de barrière(3)...
Nymphs from out the gutter’s stream, Venuses from by the city gates
Mon Prince, on a les dam's du temps jadis qu'on peut...
My Prince one has the ladies of yesteryear that one can

Car le coeur à vingt ans se pose où l'oeil se pose,
For the heart at twenty years tarries where the eye tarries
Le premier cotillon venu vous en impose,
The first underskirt that comes along wins you over
La plus humble bergère est un morceau de roi.
The most humble shepherdess is a piece of royalty
Ça manquait de marquise, on connut la soubrette,
Short of a marchioness, one got to know the chambermaid
Faute de fleur de lys on eut la pâquerette,
For lack of the fleur de lys one had the daisy
Au printemps Cupidon fait flèche de tout bois...
In Spring Cupid turns all wood into arrows

On rencontrait la belle aux Puces(4), le dimanche :
One met the fair lady at the flea market on Sundays
"Je te plais, tu me plais..." et c'était dans la manche,
« You like me, I like you… » and we were well away
Et les grands sentiments n'étaient pas de rigueur.
And grand sentiments were not insisted on
"Je te plais, tu me plais... viens donc beau militaire..."
« You like me, I like you… » come along then handsome military gentleman
Dans un train de banlieue on partait pour Cythère(5),
On a suburban train, we set off for Kythera- the island of Aphrodite
On n'était pas tenu mêm' d'apporter son coeur...
One was not obliged even to take along your heart.

Mimi, de prime abord, payait guère de mine,
Mimi, at first glance, was not much to look at,
Chez son fourreur sans doute on ignorait l'hermine,
At her furriers no doubt they knew nothing about ermine
Son habit sortait point de l'atelier d'un dieu...
Her garb in no way came from the workshop of a God
Mais quand, par-dessus le Moulin de la Galette(6),
But when, over the windmill de la Galette
Elle jetait pour vous sa parure simplette,
She threw away for you her simple undergarment
C'est Psyché tout entièr' qui vous sautait aux yeux.
It was Psyché in full splendour who leapt forth to your gaze
Au second rendez-vous y' avait parfois personne,
At the second rendez-vous, sometimes there was no-one there
Elle avait fait faux bond, la petite amazone(3),
She had jumped in the wrong direction the little Amazon
Mais l'on ne courait pas se pendre pour autant...
But you did not go away and hang yourself for all that.
La marguerite commencée avec Suzette,
The daisy petals you began to pluck with Suzette
On finissait de l'effeuiller(7) avec Lisette
You finished counting off with Lisette
Et l'amour y trouvait quand même son content.
And love found there its satisfaction just the same.

C'étaient, me direz-vous, des grâces roturières,
They were you will tell me Graces from the common people
Des nymphes de ruisseau, des Vénus de barrière(3)...
Nymphs from out the gutter’s stream, Venuses from by the city gates
Mais c'étaient mes amours, excusez-moi du peu,
But they were my loves, excuse me for the omission
Des Manon, des Mimi, des Suzon, des Musette,
Manons, Mimis, Suzons, Musettes
Margot, la blanchecaille(2), et Fanchon, la cousette...
Margot, the laundress and Fanchon the trainee dressmaker
Mon Prince, on a les dam's du temps jadis qu'on peut...
My Prince one has the ladies of yesteryear that one can

(1)La grisette means flighty working class girls
(2) la blanchecaille is slang for blanchisseuse
(3)Vénus de barrière had the meaning of a woman who sold herself
Amazone, in common parlance meant the same, especially used for a woman who drove around in a carriage
(4)Les Puces - The most famous flea market in Paris is the one at Porte de Clignancourt, officially called Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, but known to everyone as Les Puces
(5)Cythère –the Greek island of Kythera. The island of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. A famous painting by the famous French artist Watteau is called “Embarquement de Cythère
(6)Jeter par-dessus le Moulin de la Galette. This image contains 2 elements :
(a) The image of a place to find pleasure in Paris, which recalls Renoir’s painting of “Le Bal Du Moulin De La Galette”
(b) An image of sexual abandon because « jeter son bonnet par-dessus le moulin » means to do a flamboyant action in defiance of convention, particularly on the part of a woman
(7)“Effeuiller la marguerite” is to play “She loves me- she loves me not”.
.
Renoir’s picture of Parisians enjoying themselves

Embarquement de Cythère by Watteau

Georges Brassens 1961

Fernande Brassens Lyrics Translation

2008-03-23T17:28:00.019Z

Click here for the full index of Brassens songs

Carla Bruni, wife of the French President, an accomplished singer, chooses to sing a Brassens song at one of her performances and the song she chooses is banned on French radio. She is not only beautiful, she has a sense of humour. I like the naughty twinkle in her eye when she tells us that she has been advised against singing this song but that she is going to sing it all the same.

Quand Carla Bruni en pinçait pour Fernande
Uploaded by fgomez54. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

This is Brassens performing his song:

georges brassens - fernande
Uploaded by bisonravi1987.

This song deals with the inconsistent sexual consolations available to men when they are in situations deprived of women. That Brassens includes himself in this company links with the sexual frustration of his mature years (after years of plenty) described in “Auprès de mon arbre” and with the apparently sexless relationship which his “Pupchen” offered him - see “Je me suis fait tout petit”. It might also link with his conviction that sexual love in one human relationship is a thing that cannot last expressed in “Les amoureux des bancs publics.”

The song is the kind of childish ribald song that we Englishmen as well like to sing at the top of our voices when our morale is low- for example squaddies making their way back to barracks, tired wet and cold. To avoid causing offence, I have not given a direct translation for "Je bande". (See the translation note at the very bottom of the page). I hope that this does not destroy the impact.

Fernande
Une manie de vieux garçon,
Strange habit of an old bachelor
Moi, j'ai pris l'habitude
I have got into the way
D'agrémenter ma solitude
Of spicing up my loneliness
Aux accents de cette chanson :
With the accents of this song

Quand je pense à Fernande
When I think of Fernande
Je bande, je bande,
It's so hard, It's so hard,
Quand j' pense à Félicie
When I think of Félicie
Je bande aussi,
It's hard as well,
Quand j' pense à Léonore,
When I think of Léonora
Mon Dieu, je bande encore
Good Lord, it's hard once more
Mais quand j' pense à Lulu,
But when I think of Lulu
Là, je ne bande plus.
There,it is hard no more
La bandaison, papa,
An erection papa,
Ça n' se commande pas.
Decides things for itself.

C'est cette mâle ritournelle, **
It is this popular male refrain
Cette antienne virile,
This long-time virile chant
Qui retentit dans la guérite
Which rings out from the sentry box
De la vaillante sentinelle :
Of the valiant guard on sentry duty

Quand je pense à Fernande
When I think of Fernande
Je bande, je bande,
It's so hard, It's so hard,
Quand j' pense à Félicie
When I think of Félicie
Je bande aussi,
It's hard as well,
Quand j' pense à Léonore,
When I think of Léonora
Mon Dieu, je bande encore
Good Lord, it's hard once more
Mais quand j' pense à Lulu,
But when I think of Lulu
Là, je ne bande plus.
There,it is hard no more
La bandaison, papa,
An erection papa,
Ça n' se commande pas.
Decides things for itself.

Afin de tromper son cafard,
In order to beat his boredom
De voir la vie moins terne,
To see his life less gloomily
Tout en veillant sur sa lanterne,
While tending to his lamp
Chante ainsi le gardien de phare :
The lighthousekeeper sings out like this.

Quand je pense à Fernande
When I think of Fernande
Je bande, je bande,
It's so hard, It's so hard,
Quand j' pense à Félicie
When I think of Félicie
Je bande aussi,
It's hard as well,
Quand j' pense à Léonore,
When I think of Léonora
Mon Dieu, je bande encore
Good Lord, it's hard once more
Mais quand j' pense à Lulu,
But when I think of Lulu
Là, je ne bande plus.
There,it is hard no more
La bandaison, papa,
An erection papa,
Ça n' se commande pas.
Decides things for itself.

Après la prière du soir,
After evening prayers
Comme il est un peu triste,
As he is a little sad
Chante ainsi le séminariste
The trainee priest sings out like this
À genoux sur son reposoir :
Kneeling at his altar

Quand je pense à Fernande
When I think of Fernande
Je bande, je bande,
It's so hard, It's so hard,
Quand j' pense à Félicie
When I think of Félicie
Je bande aussi,
It's hard as well,
Quand j' pense à Léonore,
When I think of Léonora
Mon Dieu, je bande encore
Good Lord, it's hard once more
Mais quand j' pense à Lulu,
But when I think of Lulu
Là, je ne bande plus.
There,it is hard no more
La bandaison, papa,
An erection papa,
Ça n' se commande pas.
Decides things for itself.

À l'Étoile où j'étais venu
On the Place de l’Étoile where I had come to
Pour ranimer la flamme,
In order to revive the flame
J'entendis ému jusqu'aux larmes
I heard moved to tears
La voix du Soldat Inconnu :
The voice of the unknown soldier :

Quand je pense à Fernande
When I think of Fernande
Je bande, je bande,
It's so hard, It's so hard,
Quand j' pense à Félicie
When I think of Félicie
Je bande aussi,
It's hard as well,
Quand j' pense à Léonore,
When I think of Léonora
Mon Dieu, je bande encore
Good Lord, it's hard once more
Mais quand j' pense à Lulu,
But when I think of Lulu
Là, je ne bande plus.
There,it is hard no more
La bandaison, papa,
An erection papa,
Ça n' se commande pas.
Decides things for itself.

Et je vais mettre un point final
And I am going to bring to an end
À ce chant salutaire,
This salutary song
En suggérant aux solitaires
By suggesting to lonely people
D'en faire un hymne national.
To turn it into a national anthem

Quand je pense à Fernande
When I think of Fernande
Je bande, je bande,
It's so hard, It's so hard,
Quand j' pense à Félicie
When I think of Félicie
Je bande aussi,
It's hard as well,
Quand j' pense à Léonore,
When I think of Léonora
Mon Dieu, je bande encore
Good Lord, it's hard once more
Mais quand j' pense à Lulu,
But when I think of Lulu
Là, je ne bande plus.
There,it is hard no more
La bandaison, papa,
An erection papa,
Ça n' se commande pas.
Decides things for itself.

TRANSLATION NOTES
* Collins Robert advise that the word “bander” is an indecent word that you are advised not to use if you are not a native French speaker. It means "to have or to get an erection". Until now- the 31st of Match 2010 - I have translated the line more delicately, saying "I get turned on". However, I have come in for a lot of criticism from bloggers who say that if Brassens in his characteristically blunt fashion says: " I have an erection ..... , I, as an honest translator must say the same.
The expression in English seemed to make a mess of the lines and I suggest this version instead. I use these words because a close friend, now advancing in years, who was a soldier in the second World War and spent years as a POW, told me that the standard first line of a solder's letter home was:"It is hard when I think of you my darling"- Thus combining the emotional and the physical.

** C'est toujours la même ritournelle means « It’s always the same old tune » - Collins Robert

Georges Brassens 1972

Comment from a reader who reproaches me:
Anonymous said...

There is something I don't understand ... David writes:

After a couple of weeks my weblog tells me that a number of readers
are trying to find the exact translation. I will put it far at
the bottom of this page but if it offends tell me and I will remove
it

At the bottom of the page, we have:

Je bande means "I get an erection"

This is a very delicate and formal translation. Can anybody be offended by that ???

19 September 2008 06:37

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Les amoureux des bancs publics Brassens lyrics translation

2008-03-17T20:13:00.009Z

Brassens is made very angry when he sees an intensely religious family abuse a couple for their public display of passion. To Brassens, moments of happiness are very precious as they fade so quickly.

Les Amoureux des Bancs Publics (live)
Uploaded by Ben-Yehuda. - Explore more music videos.

(I am sorry that I have lost a lot of French accents in this text. I shall have to sort this out later)

Les gens qui voient de travers
People who give funny looks
Pensent que les bancs verts
Think that the green benches
Qu'on voit sur les trottoirs
That you see on the pavements
Sont faits pour les impotents ou les ventripotents
Are made for people with bad legs or pot-bellies
Mais c'est une absurdité
But that’s an absurdity
Car à la vérité
For in truth
Ils sont là c'est notoir'
They are there , it’s common knowledge
Pour accueillir quelque temps les amours debutants
To welcome for a little while couples whose love is new

Les amoureux qui s' bécott'nt sur les bancs publics,
Lovers who smooch on public benches
Bancs publics, bancs publics,
Public benches, public benches
En s' fouttant pas mal du regard oblique
Not caring one bit about the sidelong glances
Des passants honnetes
Of the proper folk who pass by
Les amoureux qui s' bécott'nt sur les bancs publics,
Lovers who smooch on public benches
Bancs publics, bancs publics,
Public benches, public benches
En s' disant des " Je t'aim' " pathétiqu's
Saying to each other « I love you », so emotional
Ont des p'tit's gueul' bien sympatiqu's.
Have little faces that are very appealing

Ils se tiennent par la main
They hold each other by the hand
Parlent du lendemain
Speak of the morrow
Du papier bleu d'azur
Of the sky blue paper
Que revetiront les murs de leur chambre à coucher.
Which the walls of their bedroom will assume
Ils se voient déjà doucement
Sweetly, they see each other already
Ell' cousant, lui fumant,
She sewing, he smoking his pipe
Dans un bien-etre sur
Comfortably secure
Et choisissant les prénoms de leur premier bébé
And choosing the names of their first baby

Les amoureux qui s' bécott'nt sur les bancs publics,
Lovers who smooch on public benches
Bancs publics, bancs publics,
Public benches, public benches
En s' fouttant pas mal du regard oblique
Not caring one bit about the sidelong glances
Des passants honnetes
Of the proper folk who pass by
Les amoureux qui s' bécott'nt sur les bancs publics,
Lovers who smooch on public benches
Bancs publics, bancs publics,
Public benches, public benches
En s' disant des " Je t'aim' " pathétiqu's
Saying to each other « I love you », so emotional
Ont des p'tit's gueul' bien sympatiqu's.
Have little faces that are very appealing

Quand la saint' famill' Machin*
When the holy family what’s-their-names
Croise sur son chemin
Pass on their way
Deux de ces malappris
Two of these badly brought up people
Ell' leur décoche hardiment en passant des propos venimeux
They let fly at them, full force, with hurtful remarks as they walk by
N'empech' que tout' la famille
No matter that all the family
Le pér' la mér' la fille
Father, mother, daughter
Le fils le saint esprit
Son, Holy Spirit
Voudrait bien de temps en temps pouvoir s' conduir' comme eux
Would very much like to be able to behave like them from time to time

Les amoureux qui s' bécott'nt sur les bancs publics,
Lovers who smooch on public benches
Bancs publics, bancs publics,
Public benches, public benches
En s' fouttant pas mal du regard oblique
Not caring one bit about the sidelong glances
Des passants honnetes
Of the proper folk who pass by
Les amoureux qui s' bécott'nt sur les bancs publics,
Lovers who smooch on public benches
Bancs publics, bancs publics,
Public benches, public benches
En s' disant des " Je t'aim' " pathétiqu's
Saying to each other « I love you », so emotional
Ont des p'tit's gueul' bien sympatiqu's.
Have little faces that are very appealing

Quand les mois auront passé
When the months have gone by
Quand seront apaisés
When they have cooled down
Leurs beaux reves flambants
The fires of their beautiful dreams
Quand leur ciel se couvrira de gros nuages lourds
When their sky is covered with big heavy clouds
Ils s'apercevront emus
Deeply moved, they will become aware
Qu' c'est au hasard des rues
That it was through a random choice of streets
Sur un d' ces fameux bancs
On one of those notorious benches
Qu'ils ont vécu le meilleur morceau de leur amour.
That they lived out the best piece of their love.

Les amoureux qui s' bécott'nt sur les bancs publics,
Lovers who smooch on public benches
Bancs publics, bancs publics,
Public benches, public benches
En s' fouttant pas mal du regard oblique
Not caring one bit about the sidelong glances
Des passants honnetes
Of the proper folk who pass by
Les amoureux qui s' bécott'nt sur les bancs publics,
Lovers who smooch on public benches
Bancs publics, bancs publics,
Public benches, public benches
En s' disant des " Je t'aim' " pathétiqu's
Saying to each other « I love you », so emotional
Ont des p'tit's gueul' bien sympatiqu's.
Have little faces that are very appealing

*If you can’t think of a man’s name you say: le père Machin = Mr. What’s-his-name.
Similarly “Mrs what’s her name” = la mère Machin.

Georges Brassens 1954
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Aupres de mon arbre Video Text Translation

2008-02-28T16:48:00.015Z

http://brassenswithenglish.blogspot.com/2008/02/aupres-de-mon-arbre.html

This song expresses his remorse that he had allowed himself to neglect what is really valid in life, the simple pleasures that spontaneously come you way, in order to go chasing material satisfaction.

Aupre?s de Mon Arbre (live)
Uploaded by Ben-Yehuda

This recording was made on 29 January 1976 Location: Paris.
It is a spontaneous and improvised version sung by Serge Lama with Georges Brassens playing guitar.

I chose this video because in his recorded performances Georges omitted the scandalous last verse. This version is not complete either because Serge Lama omitted the verse about Georges’ old wooden pipe.

J'ai plaque(2) mon chêne
I ditched my oak tree
Comme un saligaud
Like a (heartless) bastard
Mon copain le chêne
My pal, the oak tree
Mon alter ego
My alter ego
On était du même bois
We were of the same wood
Un peu rustique un peu brute
A bit rustic, a bit crude
Dont on fait n'importe quoi
From which you can make whatever
Sauf naturell'ment les flutes.
Except of course flutes.(3)
J'ai maint'nant des frênes
I have now ash trees
Des arbr's de judée
Trees of Judea(4)
Tous de bonne graine
All of good stock(5)
De haute futaie
Rising high
Mais toi tu manque à l'appel
But you are missing (from the roll call)
Ma vieille branche de campagne
My old country branch
Mon seul arbre de Noël
My only Christmas tree
Mon mât de cocagne.
My greasy pole(6)

(refrain)
Auprès de mon arbre,
Close by my tree
Je vivais heureux
I was living happily
J'aurais jamais dû m'éloigner d' mon arbre
I ought never to have moved away from my tree
Auprès de mon arbre,
Close by my tree
Je vivais heureux
I was living happily
J'aurais jamais dû le quitter des yeux
I ought never to have let it out of my sight(1)

Je suis un pauvr' type
I am a poor bloke
J'aurais plus de joie
I would not have any pleasure again
J'ai jeté ma pipe
I have thrown away my pipe
Ma vieill' pipe en bois
My old wooden pipe
Qu'avait fumé sans s' fâcher
Which had smoked without trouble
Sans jamais m'brûlé la lippe
Without having burnt my bottom lip
L' tabac d' la vache enragé(7)
The most desperate tobacco
Dans sa bonn' vieill' têt' de pipe
In the good old head of the pipe
J'ai des pip's d'écume
I have meerschaum pipes
Ornées de fleurons
Adorned with flowerlets
De ces pip's qu'on fume
Some of those pipes you smoke
En levant le front
Looking down your nose
Mais j' retrouv'rai plus ma foi
But I will never find again
Dans mon coeur ni sur ma lippe
Either in my heart or on my lip
Le goût d' ma vieill' pip' en bois
The taste of my old wooden pipe
Sacré nom d'un' pipe (French oath)
Blooming heck (Translation loses the reference to a pipe)
(refrain)
Auprès de mon arbre,
Close by my tree
Je vivais heureux
I was living happily
J'aurais jamais dû m'éloigner d' mon arbre
I ought never to have moved away from my tree
Auprès de mon arbre,
Close by my tree
Je vivais heureux
I was living happily
J'aurais jamais dû le quitter des yeux
I ought never to have let it out of my sight(1)

Le surnom d'infâme
Calling me a vile rogue
Me va comme un gant
Fits me like a glove.
D'avecques ma femme
From my wife
J'ai foutu le camp
I cleared off
Parc' que depuis tant d'années
Because for so many years
C'était pas un' sinecure
It was not an easy job
De lui voir tout l' temps le nez
To see her all the time
Au milieu de la figure
Making things so obvious(8)
Je bats la campagne
I search around frantically
Pour dénicher la
To unearth the
Nouvelle compagne
New lady friend
Valant celle-là
As good as the former
Qui, bien sûr, laissait beaucoup
Who, admittedly, left a lot
Trop de pierr's dans les lentilles
Too many little stones in the lentilles
Mais se pendait à mon cou
But who threw her arms around my neck
Quand j' perdais mes billes.
When, playing marbles, I lost all I had
(refrain)
Auprès de mon arbre,
Close by my tree
Je vivais heureux
I was living happily
J'aurais jamais dû m'éloigner d' mon arbre
I ought never to have moved away from my tree
Auprès de mon arbre,
Close by my tree
Je vivais heureux
I was living happily
J'aurais jamais dû le quitter des yeux
I ought never to have let it out of my sight*

J'avais un' mansarde
I used to have an attic room
Pour tout logement
As my only lodgings
Avec des lézardes
With open cracks
Sur le firmament
Onto the firmament
Je l'savais par coeur depuis
I have got to know it by heart since
Et pour un baiser la course
An the path for a kiss
J'emmenais mes bell's de nuit
I used to lead my beauties of the night
Faire un tour sur la grande ourse
To make a tour over the Great Bear
J'habit' plus d' mansarde
I no longer live in an attic
Il peut désormais
From now on, it can
Tomber des hall'bardes
Rain in bucketfuls
Je m'en bats l'oeil mais,
I don’t care a damn but
Mais si quelqu'un monte aux cieux
But if someone has climbed to the heavenly heights
Moins que moi j'y paie des prunes
Less than I, I’ll bet a fortune
Y a cent sept ans qui dit mieux
Any advance? It’s simply ages
Since I last saw the moon
Qu' j'ai pas vu la lune!
( refrain)
Auprès de mon arbre,
Close by my tree
Je vivais heureux
I was living happily
J'aurais jamais dû m'éloigner d' mon arbre
I ought never to have moved away from my tree
Auprès de mon arbre,
Close by my tree
Je vivais heureux
I was living happily
J'aurais jamais dû le quitter des yeux
I ought never to have let it out of my sight*

TRANSLATION NOTES
1) Out of sight and out of mind in French is “loin des yeux, loin du coeur”
2)Plaquer means to ditch, to walk out on, but there is a pun because it means to veneer oak etc
3) This line is meaningless in English. The expression in French is : “être du bois dont on fait des flûtes » which means to be all things to all men and not a person of principle.
4) Tradition says that Judas, someone else who betrayed his background hung himself from an ash
5) Etre de la mauvaise graine means to be of bad stock, perhaps crude like his natural background
6) In village festivities, legs of ham, bottles , and other goodies were hung on a mât de cocagne and for the entertainment of the crowd young people used to climb up precariously to retrieve them
7) manger de la vache enragée means to anything out of desperate hunger
8)The phrase “cela paraît comme le nez au milieu du visage » means that it looks obvious
9) 107 ans means ages since. I needed to find an English translation to give a specific time so that the challenge of the bet would be meaningful. I have not thought of one yet. The moon to which he refers in the last line has a second meaning of a well-rounded female bottom, his admiration for which he expresses in other songs. See Venus Callipyge

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

During the war Brassens was living in Paris. In 1943, Brassens was conscripted into a German compulsory work service program and sent to a camp inGermany. After a year, Brassens returned to Paris on a two-week leave, Instead of going back to Germany, he went into hiding at the home of a couple, Jeanne and Marcel Planche,. They lived in a Parisian hovel at 9 impasse Florimont, with no gas, no water and no electricity. It was only a temporary stay but Brassens stayed on for 22 years until 1966. His professional career had been flourishing since 1952, but, incredibly, he preferred to live in this familiar squalor.
Brassens best friend from the labour camp days, Pierre Onténiente later joined him there. After the death of Brassens , Onténiente told how Brassens had a duplicate key of his apartment so that he could sneak lady friends there at night. His room became, as he puts it euphemistically: “le lieu de ses rendez-vous galants ».

Oncle Archibald Video and Text

2008-02-20T15:21:00.011Z

Oncle Archibald

brassens

Uncle Archibald was a self-effacing, trusting man, too easily used by others. After he had dropped dead chasing a thief who stole his watch – and the rest of his time on earth- Brassens consoles himself with this fantasy about his death – swift, painless, humorous even, becoming a marriage which protects him eternally from the rogues and cheats who had exploited him throughout his life.

Brassens _Oncle Archibald
Uploaded by kitsch. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Ô vous, les arracheurs de dents,*
Oh you bare-faced liars
Tous les cafards, les charlatans,
All the sneaks , the charlatans
Les prophètes,
The fortune tellers
Comptez plus sur Oncle Archibald
Don’t count any longer on Uncle Archibald
Pour payer les violons du bal **
To pay out his money to get nothing back
À vos fêtes... (bis)
At your jaunts. (Repeat)

En courant sus à un voleur
While running after a thief
Qui venait de lui chiper l'heure
Who had just pinched the time
À sa montre,
On his watch
Oncle Archibald, - coquin de sort !
Uncle Archibald- dammit !
Fit, de Sa Majesté La Mort,
Came with Her Majesty Death
La rencontre... (bis)
Face to face.

Telle un' femm' de petit' vertu,
Acting like a woman of easy virtue
Elle arpentait le trottoir du
She paced the pavement of the
Cimetière,
Cemetery
Aguichant les homm's en troussant
Attracting the men by tucking up
Un peu plus haut qu'il n'est décent
A little higher than is decent
Son suaire... (bis)
The shroud she wore

Oncle Archibald, d'un ton gouailleur,
Uncle Archibald,quite jokingly
Lui dit : "va-t'en fair' pendre ailleurs
Said to it »Go and get it hung somewhere else
Ton squelette...
Your skeleton
Fi des femelles décharnées !
Fi on skinny women !
Vive les bell's un tantinet
Long live the beauties a bit
Rondelettes !" (bis)
On the chubby side!

Lors, montant sur ses grands chevaux,***
Getting on her high horse
La mort brandit la longue faux
Death brandished the long
D'agronome
Farmer’s sythe
Qu'elle serrait dans son linceul,
Which she clasped in her shroud
Et faucha d'un seul coup, d'un seul,
And cut down with a single stoke, a single one
Le bonhomme... (bis)
The good fellow…..

Comme il n'avait pas l'air content,
As he was not looking so pleased
Elle lui dit : "Ça fait longtemps
She said to him : « It’s been a long time
Que je t'aime...
That I have loved you
Et notre hymen à tous les deux
And our wedding for us both
Était prévu depuis l' jour de
Was planned right back from the day of
Ton baptême... (bis)
Your baptism

Si tu te couches dans mes bras,
If you lie down in my arms
Alors la vie te semblera
Then life will seem
Plus facile...
Easier for you
Tu y seras hors de portée
In there you will be out of reach
Des chiens, des loups, des homm's et des
Of the dogs, the wolves, the men and
Imbéciles... (bis)
Of the imbeciles

Nul n'y contestera tes droits,
No-one will contest your rights there
Tu pourras crier : viv' le roi !
You will be able to shout : Long live the king
Sans intrigue...
Quite openly…….
Si l'envie te prend de changer,
If the whim takes you to have a change
Tu pourras crier sans danger
You will be able to shout without risk
Viv' la Ligue ! (bis)
Long live the League !****

Ton temps de dupe est révolu,
Your time as people’s mug is come and gone
Personne ne se payera plus
No-one again will afford himself anything
Sur ta bête*****...
On your credit
Les "Plaît-il, maître?" auront plus cours,
Servile apologies will be used no more
Plus jamais tu n'auras à cour-
Never again will you have to
-ber la tête..." (bis)
Bow your head

Et mon oncle emboîta le pas
And my uncle followed on the heels
De la bell', qui ne semblait pas,
Of the fair woman, who did not seem
Si féroce...
So fierce
Et les voilà, bras d'ssus, bras d'ssous,
And there they were, arm in arm
Les voilà partis je n' sais où
There they were gone I know not where ******
Fair' leurs noces... (bis)
To celebrate their nuptuals

Ô vous, les arracheurs de dents,*
Oh you bare-faced liars
Tous les cafards, les charlatans,
All the sneaks , the charlatans
Les prophètes,
The fortune tellers
Comptez plus sur Oncle Archibald
Don’t count any longer on Uncle Archibald
Pour payer les violons du bal **
To pay out his money to get nothing back
À vos fêtes... (bis)
At your jaunts.

Notes
*Mentir comme un arracheurs de dents means to be a barefaced liar

** payer les violons du bal means to pay for something for which you get nothing.

*** montant sur ses grands chevaux death is often drawn as a skeleton on a horse

**** The King and the League represent conflicting political loyalties. It is a reference to lines of La Fontaine:
Le sage dit, selon les gens:
Vive le Roi ! Vive la Ligue !
This refers to the civil conflict in France in the 1580s, when the Duke de Guise led a league of extremist Catholics to replace Henri III by the Cardinal de Bourbon.

***** If people were broke and could not pay their bill, the person owed money would say “Laissez-moi votre cheval. Je me paierai sur votre bête

****** As he is a sceptic, Brassens may not be too certain about heaven.

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Tag for Delicious
Save This Page

Le Gorille - Video and Text

2008-02-16T21:59:00.015Z

This is Georges Bressons’ first single « Le Gorille » (1952)

brassens

"Le Gorille," was Georges Brassens’ first single. It was released at the end of 1952. It caused controversy and was banned from French radio until 1955. Some attribute this to its strong anti-death penalty stance, but it was probably more the detail of Brassens’ scandalous tale, which some found, not without reason, pornographic.
Since I posted this translation, this video of Brassens singing the song has been posted on YouTube and there are excellent subtitles,written by VNRose 3. This translator has a large number of modern French songs with subtitles posted on YouTube- fantastic!

I will keep my own translation with the text printed below for now as the odd linguistic point that I struggled with might still have some interest.

I have written my translation on the alternate line of the verse.

LYRICS OF LE GORILLE

C'est à travers de larges grilles
It was through wide iron bars
Que les femelles du canton
That the females of the district
Contemplaient un puissant gorille,
Gazed upon a powerful gorilla
Sans souci du qu'en-dira-t-on
Unworried about what people will say about it
Avec impudeur, ces commères
Shamelessly, these chattering women
Lorgnaient même un endroit précis
Had their eyes on even one precise place
Que, rigoureusement ma mère
Which my mother has strictly
M'a défendu d'nommer ici
Forbidden me to name here
Gare au gorille !
Beware of the gorilla !

Tout à coup, la prison bien close
Suddenly the well enclosed prison
Où vivait le bel animal
In which the fine animal lived
S'ouvre on n'sait pourquoi (je suppose
Opens up, they don’t know why (I suppose
Qu'on avait dû la fermer mal)
That some-one must not have closed it properly)
Le singe, en sortant de sa cage
The ape, on coming out of his cage
Dit « c'est aujourd'hui que j'le perds »
Said “It’s today that I lose it”
Il parlait de son pucelage
He was talking of his virginity
Vous avez deviné, j'espère
You guessed, I hope
Gare au gorille !
Beware of the gorilla !

L'patron de la ménagerie
The boss of the menagerie
Criait, éperdu : « Nom de nom !
Shouted frantically « Damn it !
C'est assommant car le gorille
That’s a real drag for the gorilla
N'a jamais connu de guenon »
Has never known any female ape.
Dès que la féminine engeance
As soon as the feminine rabble
Sut que le singe était puceau
Knew that the ape was a virgin
Au lieu de profiter de la chance
Instead of taking advantage of their luck
Elle fit feu des deux fuseaux
They made off like a flash on their spindly legs*
Gare au gorille !
Beware of the gorilla

Celles-là même qui, naguère
The very same ones who, a short time ago
Le couvaient d'un oeil décidé
Lusted after him with a determined eye
Fuirent, prouvant qu'ell's n'avaient guère
Ran away, proving that they had hardly any
De la suite dans les idées
Consistency in their thoughts
D'autant plus vaine était leur crainte
All the more empty was their fear
Que le gorille est un luron
That the gorilla is a lustful fellow
Supérieur à l'homme dans l'étreinte
Superior to man in the embrace of love.
Bien des femmes vous le diront
A lot of women will put you right on that
Gare au gorille !
Beware of the gorilla.

Tout le monde se précipite
Everybody rushes
Hors d'atteinte du singe en rut
Out of reach of the ape on heat
Sauf une vieille décrépite
Except for an old lady in no fit condition
Et un jeune juge en bois brut
And a young judge totally emotionless
Voyant que toutes se dérobent
Seeing that all the women are making off
Le quadrumane accéléra
The four-handed creature accelerated
Son dandinement vers les robes
His waddling walk towards the long skirts
De la vieille et du magistrat
Of the old woman and of the magistrate
Gare au gorille !
Beware of the gorilla

« Bah ! soupirait la centenaire
« Bah » sighed the hundred year old woman.
Qu'on puisse encore me désirer
That some-one might still desire me
Ce serait extraordinaire
That would be extraordinary
Et, pour tout dire, inespéré »
And, to be totally frank beyond my wildest hopes. »
Le juge pensait, impassible
The judge was thinking impassive
« Qu'on me prenne pour une guenon
« That I should be taken for a female ape
C'est complètement impossible »
Is completely impossible »
La suite lui prouva que non
The outcome proved him wrong.
Gare au gorille !
Beware the gorilla !

Supposez que l'un de vous puisse être
Suppose that one of you might be
Comme le singe, obligé de
Like the ape obliged to
Violer un juge ou une ancêtre
Violate a judge or a very, very old woman
Lequel choisirait-il des deux ?
Which one would he choose of the two
Qu'une alternative pareille
Let a similar alternative
Un de ces quatres jours, m'échoie
One of these days fall to me
C'est, j'en suis convaincu, la vieille
It is the old woman, I am convinced
Qui sera l'objet de mon choix
Who will be the object of my choice
Gare au gorille !
Beware of the gorilla.

Mais, par malheur, si le gorille
But, unfortunately, if the gorilla
Aux jeux de l'amour vaut son prix
In the games of love is worth his rating
On sait qu'en revanche il ne brille
We know that on the other hand, he doesn’t stand out
Ni par le goût, ni par l'esprit
Either by his taste or by his intellect
Lors, au lieu d'opter pour la vieille
So, intead of opting for the old woman
Comme aurait fait n'importe qui
As anybody else would have done
Il saisit le juge à l'oreille
He grabbed the judge by the ear
Et l'entraîna dans un maquis
And dragged him into the undergrowth
Gare au gorille !
Beware the gorilla

La suite serait délectable
What follows would be delectable
Malheureusement, je ne peux
Unfortunately, I cannot
Pas la dire, et c'est regrettable
Tell it and that’s regrettable
Ça nous aurait fait rire un peu
That would have made us laugh a bit
Car le juge, au moment suprême
For the judge, at the supreme moment
Criait : « Maman », pleurait beaucoup
Cried out »Mamma ! » wept a lot
Comme l'homme auquel le jour même
Just like the man from whom, that very day
Il avait fait trancher le cou
He had had the head cut off.
Gare au gorille !
Beware the gorilla!

* TRANSLATION NOTE
The French expression that he is making play on is « faire feu des quatre fers » used for horses setting off so fast their hooves spark.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Here we see Brassens the anarchist attacking, with his humour those who like judges and priests dress up in fancy robes to make themselves authorities over the lives of their fellow humans.
The song refers to a clash with his mum. Whereas his dad was proud of the success of his son, his mother, a music lover who enjoyed his early songs, was shocked by “Le gorille” and his other scandalous songs. A devout Catholic, she never once went to see her son perform on stage, because she said she had no wish to listen to him uttering insanities.

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Le parapluie - Video Lyrics Translation

2008-02-12T01:47:00.016Z

Brassens is at his most gentle and romantic. Some people think that this describes his first meeting with his lifelong companion, Joha Heiman. She also was tiny in build, hence the affectionate name which Brassens had for her: Puppchen. This German word means "little doll"

Brassens_Le parapluie
Uploaded by kitsch. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Il pleuvait fort sur la grand-route
The rain came down hard on the main road
Ell' cheminait sans parapluie
She struggled on, no umbrella
J'en avais un, volé, sans doute
I had got one, stolen its certain
Le matin même à un ami
From a close pal that same morning
Courant alors à sa rescousse
Hurrying then to rescue the lady
Je lui propose un peu d'abri
I offer her the shelter I have.
En séchant l'eau de sa frimousse
Drying the wet from her sweet features
D'un air très doux, ell' m'a dit " oui "
In a soft voice, she tells me « Oui »

Un p'tit coin d'parapluie
A li’l bit of my ‘brella
Contre un coin d'paradis
For a bit of paradise
Elle avait quelque chos' d'un ange
She’d something angelic about her
Un p'tit coin d'paradis
A li’l bit of paradise
Contre un coin d'parapluie
For a bit of my ‘brella
Je n'perdais pas au chang', pardi
I got the best deal, gracious me.

Chemin faisant, que ce fut tendre
Making our way, how tender it was
D'ouïr à deux le chant joli
To hear , we two,the pretty song
Que l'eau du ciel faisait entendre
Played by water pouring from heaven
Sur le toit de mon parapluie
On the roof of my umbrella.

J'aurais voulu, comme au déluge
I would have liked, as at the great Flood
Voir sans arrêt tomber la pluie
To see rain fall, no break in sight
Pour la garder, sous mon refuge
Just to keep her, under my refuge
Quarante jours, quarante nuits
For forty days and forty nights

Un p'tit coin d'parapluie
A li’l bit of my ‘brella
Contre un coin d'paradis
For a bit of paradise
Elle avait quelque chos' d'un ange
She’d something angelic about her
Un p'tit coin d'paradis
A li’l bit of paradise
Contre un coin d'parapluie
For a bit of my ‘brella
Je n'perdais pas au chang', pardi
I got the best deal, gracious me.

Mais bêtement, même en orage
But stupidly, even in a great storm
Les routes vont vers des pays
Roads lead you on to other parts
Bientôt le sien fit un barrage
Her place soon loomed like a barrage
A l'horizon de ma folie
On the horizon of my folly
Il a fallu qu'elle me quitte
It had to be that she should leave me
Après m'avoir dit grand merci
Thanking me most effusively
Et je l'ai vue toute petite
And I saw her, girl so petite,
Partir gaiement vers mon oubli
Go gaily where no thought’s of me.

Un p'tit coin d'parapluie
A li’l bit of my ‘brella
Contre un coin d'paradis
For a bit of paradise
Elle avait quelque chos' d'un ange
She’d something angelic about her
Un p'tit coin d'paradis
A li’l bit of paradise
Contre un coin d'parapluie
For a bit of my ‘brella
Je n'perdais pas au chang', pardi
I got the best deal, gracious me.
Written in 1952

Biographical notes
The final verse of the song does not see the event it describes as the start of a love affair, saying that the young lady was going home to give no further thought to him.

It is often assumed that the poem describes a chance meeting between Brassens and Joha Heiman, mainly from the description of the petite young lady under his umbrella. Brassens’ affectionate name for his lifelong partner was his “Püppchen”- his “Little Doll”.

In a conversation with Georges Brassens, extracts of which I have copied below, Brassens spoke of his songs which had been inspired by his love of his Püppchen. I was surprised that in the four songs he quoted on the spot, “Le Parapluie” did not appear – however he said there were many others.

Having read his biography, I want to believe that the poem describes a chance meeting between Brassens and the beautiful Estonian, when he was a shy 25 years old and had never dared speak to her. I am copying Brassens own account, to leave you to form your own opinion. (I have put my translation of this at the end)

Speaking towards the end of his life, Brassens tells us:

JOHA HEIMAN’S LIFE-STORY UNTIL 1939

Je l'ai souvent répété, Püppchen ce n'était pas ma femme, c'était ma déesse.

Joha Heiman était originaire d'Estonie. Elle avait connu une enfance peu attrayante. Sa mère est morte alors qu'elle n'avait que deux ans et son père s'est alors remarié avec la soeur de sa première femme. Mais ce couple n'était que conflits et tensions. Aussi, Joha profita de la première occasion pour s'en libérer. Et c'est en prenant un poste de jeune fille au pair dans une famille bourgeoise qu'elle vint s'installer à Paris où vivait déjà une soeur de son père. C'était en 1930, elle avait 19 ans. Mais, espérant fuir un climat de confrontation, elle connut à nouveau adversité et tensions dans cette famille où elle devait enseigner l'allemand aux enfants. Aussi, pour s'en sortir, elle choisit d'apprendre le métier de couturière, une valeur sûre pour les jeunes filles à l'époque.

Puis, beaucoup à cause de ces circonstances, elle s'engagea sans grand enthousiasme dans un mariage terne dont la seule dimension réjouissante fut la venue d'un enfant. Si elle s'émerveillait de cette valorisation marquante de sa vie, du bonheur d'être mère, l'événement ne revalorisera pas son mariage. Bien au contraire. Un mari jaloux et possessif n'acceptait pas l'attention et l'amour qu'elle portait à leur fils. C'est bien à cette époque que je croisais cette belle passante.
BRASSENS TELLS HOW HE FIRST MET JOHA IN 1939 –HE WAS ABOUT 18
Un peu avant la guerre, j'avais remarqué une douce jeune fille (j'ai mis longtemps à réaliser
qu'elle avait dix ans de plus que moi) que je croisais occasionnellement lors de flâneries dans mon quartier. Aux sourires complices que nous échangions, j'ai deviné qu'elle avait compris que j'avais noté son trajet quotidien et ses horaires et que ce n'était plus par hasard que je ralentissais le pas en la croisant.

THE OUTBREAK OF WAR
Puis ce fut le gouffre de la guerre. Les privations étaient multiples. La mienne fut de ne plus pouvoir marcher librement dans la rue. Pendant quatre ans. ……..
JOHA PENDANT LA GUERRE 1939 -1945
Puis, le grand dérangement. Le mari fut dès le début de la guerre fait prisonnier et y restera pendant quatre ans. À son retour, il n'y avait plus aucun attachement et les procédures de divorce furent entamées.
APRÈS LA LIBERATION DE LA FRANCE 1945
Puis, la vie ayant repris son cours, c'est, cette fois-ci, par le jeu du hasard que nos routes se croisèrent à nouveau. Le charme opérait toujours. Et ce n'est que beaucoup plus tard que j'ai su qu'elle m'avait parfaitement reconnu. Il a fallu que nous nous retrouvions face à face dans le métro pour que j'ose enfin lui parler. Spontanément, je me retrouvais à la raccompagner chez elle et je crois bien que c'est par complicité mutuelle que le trajet du point A au point B ne fut pas du tout la ligne droite. Comme je l'avais quelques fois aperçue avec un jeune enfant, je me doutais qu'elle devait être mariée. Mais son attitude me permettait d'espérer des circonstances particulières. Aussi, je parvins à surmonter ma timidité de jouvenceau soupirant et lui proposai un rendez-vous. Nous ne nous sommes plus jamais quittés.

(BRASSENS’ BIOGRAPHICAL COMMENTS TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH)
¬ JOHA HEIMAN’S LIFE-STORY UNTIL 1939

Joha Heiman came originally from Estonia. She had experienced an unappealing childhood. Her mother had died when she was only two years old and her father then got married again to the sister of his first wife. But this couple was nothing but quarrels and tension. Therefore Joha took advantage of the first opportunity to break free and it was by taking a post of au pair with a middle-class family that she came to settle in Paris, where her father’s sister was already living. That was in 1930 and she was 19 years old. However, hoping to run away from an atmosphere of confrontation, she came across once it again with the hostility and confrontation in this family where she was to teach German to the children. Therefore, to get away from it, she chose to learn the trade of a seamstress, a reliable career for girls at that time.

Then, very much much because of these circumstances, she entered into, without any great enthusiasm; a dismal marriage in which the only cheerful dimension was the arrival of a child. If she delighted in this marked improvement in the quality of her life and in the happiness of being a mother, the event did not improve the quality of her marriage. Much to the contrary. A jealous and possessive husband could not accept the attention and love which she devoted to her son. It was indeed at this period that I met this beautiful passer-by.

BRASSENS TELLS HOW HE FIRST MET JOHA IN 1939 –HE WAS ABOUT 18
It was shortly before the outbreak of war. I had noticed a sweet girl (it took me a long time to realise that she was 10 years older than I was) whom I passed now and again when I was strolling around my district of Paris. From the complicit smiles which we exchanged, I guessed that she had understood that I had noted the route of her daily walk and her daily routines and that it was no longer by chance that I slowed down my step as I walked past her.

THE OUTBREAK OF WAR
Then came the huge gap of the war years. The deprivations were many fold. Mine was to no longer be able to walk freely on the street. For four years it lasted..........

JOHA DURING THE WAR 1939-1945
Then came the big upheaval for Joha and her family. Her husband is thrown into prison right from the beginning of the war and will stay there for four years. On his return home, there was no longer any attachment between the married couple and divorce proceedings were started.
AFTER THE LIBERATION OF FRANCE 1945
Brassens resumes his story:
Then, life having resumed its course, it was on this occasion by pure chance, that our two paths crossed once again. The magic still worked its charm. And it was only much later that I found out that she had recognised me perfectly. And it took a face-to-face encounter on the metro for me to dare finally to speak to her. Spontaneously I got around to taking her back home and I very much believe that is it was through mutual collusion that the path we took from point A to point B was not at all a straight line. As I had several times noticed her with a young child I suspected that she must be married but her attitude allowed me to hope for some special circumstances. Therefore, I managed to overcome my shyness of a young suitor and suggest a rendez-vous. We have never left each other since.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The very individual, loving relationship, which Georges Brassens and Joha Heiman forged together was to last more than thirty years, ended by the death of Brassens.

I have given further details of Joha Heiman's part in his life in biographical comments with the following songs:

Je me suis fait tout petit.

La non-demande en mariage.

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Save This Page

La mauvaise réputation - Video Lyrics Translation

2008-02-10T03:02:00.012Z

In this song Brassens expresses his sense of standing apart from conventional society. He had anarchistic sympathies and is quoted as saying: "I am not very fond of the law." He was impatient of middle class values and stuffy sexual prudery and held strong anti-clerical views.

Georges Brassens - La mauvaise réputation (live)
Uploaded by vodka33. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

COMMENT ON THE VIDEO
In the last twenty years of his life, Brassens suffered great pain caused by kidney disease. He had surgery on his kidneys in 1963 and again in 1967. During his many tours in France and across the world, it was obvious that he was a very sick man. This video shows this all too well. It was cancer of the kidneys which caused his death on October 29th 1981

Au village, sans prétention,
In the village, without pretention,
J'ai mauvaise réputation.
I have a bad reputation
Qu'je m'démène ou qu'je reste coi
Whether I make an effort or whether I keep quiet
Je pass' pour un je-ne-sais-quoi!
I am regarded as a I don’t know what.

Je ne fais pourtant de tort à personne
Yet I don’t do harm to anyone
En suivant mon chemin de petit bonhomme.
Going on my own sweet way.
Mais les brav's gens n'aiment pas que
But the good folk don’t like that
L'on suive une autre route qu'eux,
You follow another way than them
Non les brav's gens n'aiment pas que
No the good folk don’t like that
L'on suive une autre route qu'eux,
You follow another way than them
Tout le monde médit de moi,
Every-one speaks ill of me
Sauf les muets, ça va de soi.
Except for the dumb, that goes without saying

Le jour du Quatorze Juillet
On the day of the 14th of July
Je reste dans mon lit douillet.
I keep to my cosy bed
La musique qui marche au pas,
The marching music
Cela ne me regarde pas.
That doesn’t concern me
Je ne fais pourtant de tort à personne,
Yet I don’t do harm to anyone
En n'écoutant pas le clairon qui sonne.
By not listening to the bugle that sounds
Mais les brav's gens n'aiment pas que
But the good folk don’t like that
L'on suive une autre route qu'eux,
You follow another way than them
Non les brav's gens n'aiment pas que
No the good folk don’t like that
L'on suive une autre route qu'eux,
You follow another way than them
Tout le monde me montre du doigt
Everyone points at me
Sauf les manchots, ça va de soi.
Except for those without arms, that goes without saying

Quand j'croise un voleur malchanceux,
When I run into an unlucky thief
Poursuivi par un cul-terreux;
Chased by cultural chap
J'lance la patte et pourquoi le taire,
I stick out my foot and why keep it quiet,
Le cul-terreux s'retrouv' par terre
The cultural chap finds himself on the ground
Je ne fait pourtant de tort à personne,
Yet I don’t do harm to anyone
En laissant courir les voleurs de pommes.
By letting apple thieves have a run.
Mais les brav's gens n'aiment pas que
L'on suive une autre route qu'eux,
Non les brav's gens n'aiment pas que
But the good folk don’t like that
L'on suive une autre route qu'eux,
You follow another way than them
Tout le monde se rue sur moi,
Everybody pounces on me
Sauf les culs-de-jatte, ça va de soi.
Except for those without legs, that goes without saying

Pas besoin d'être Jérémie,
No need to be a Jeremiah
Pour d'viner l'sort qui m'est promis,
To guess the fate that awaits me
S'ils trouv'nt une corde à leur goût,
If they find a rope to their liking,
Ils me la passeront au cou,
They will put it around my neck
Je ne fais pourtant de tort à personne,
Yet I don’t do harm to anyone
En suivant les ch'mins qui n'mènent pas à Rome,
By following the paths that don’t lead to Rome
Mais les brav's gens n'aiment pas que
But the good folk don’t like that
L'on suive une autre route qu'eux,
You follow another way than them
Non les brav's gens n'aiment pas que
No the good folk don’t like that
L'on suive une autre route qu'eux,
You follow another way than them
Tout l'mond' viendra me voir pendu,
Everybody will come to see me hanged
Sauf les aveugles, bien entendu
Except for the blind, of course.

Biographical notes
Brassens was not an outsider in the sense that he was rejected and alone. In comment that I will add to the post on "Chanson pour l'auvergnat" below, we will see that he had many long-lasting friends. His instincts were, however anarchistic and he is quoted as saying: "I am not very fond of the law." He was impatient of middle class values and stuffy sexual prudery, and often shocks - as will clearly be seen in other songs.

The theme of petty thieving touched a raw nerve with him. -
When he was seventeen, Georges and some schoolmates decided to make money by stealing from their families. Georges stole items of jewelry from his sister. The police were alerted and apprehended the gang. Some of the parents felt little mercy for their sons and left them to serve prison sentences. Brassen's father immediately picked up his son from the commissariat to support him, but Brassens was expelled from school and his parents decided to send him to Paris in February 1940 to escape the scandal. He lived at the house of his mother's sister, Aunt Antoinette (and there he met Jeanne Planche who was to play a big part in his life......)

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Tag for Delicious
Save This Page

Je me suis fait tout petit -Video Lyrics Translation

2008-02-08T22:18:00.015Z

In this song,Georges Brassens describes his total subjection to his partner, Joha Heiman, with whom he shared his life from 1947 until his death in October 1981. This song has been described as a love song, but although it was addressed to a woman whom he loved sincerely, it is hard to find any expression of love in it. A more accurate classification would seem to be "Lament of a hen-pecked husband". It made me think of known relationships that chug along, fuelled by mutual hostility and of good relationships that have bad patches. But then it occurred to me that as Joha would be standing in her usual position in the wings as he sang, if this song was serious,he could expect a number of projectiles from the side. A blogger wrote to tell me that he was sure that Brassens was joking and he made these good points:

When I listen to the song, the way he sings it, kind of "cosy" , with that warm voice... I believe he is just kidding around. Just as many men joke about how the woman has them "dominated" but in a good way... I do not believe he is really complaining. I think he is saying..."once I was a wolf, now I am a puppy .... but it is because I love you so much, that is why I have changed

Je me suis fait tout petit
Uploaded by magnanime77. - Explore more music videos.

Je Me Suis Fait Tout Petit Pour une Poupée
I made myself quite small for a doll

Je n'avais jamais ôté mon chapeau
I had never taken my hat off
Devant personne
For anyone
Maintenant je rampe et je fais le beau
Now I grovel and I sit up and beg
Quand elle me sonne
When she rings for me,

J'étais chien méchant, elle me fait manger
I was an ill tempered dog, she makes me eat
Dans sa menotte
From her tiny hand
J'avais des dents d'loup, je les ai changées
I used to have wolf teeth, I have changed them
Pour des quenottes
For the first teeth of a child

Je m'suis fait tout p'tit devant une poupée
I have become quite small before a doll
Qui ferme les yeux quand on la couche
Who closes her eyes when you put her to bed
Je m'suis fait tout p'tit devant une poupée
I have become quite small before a doll
Qui fait Maman quand on la touche
Who goes « Mamma » when you touch her

J'était dur à cuire, elle m'a converti
I was a tough cookie, she has converted me
La fine mouche
The wily creature
Et je suis tombé tout chaud, tout rôti
And I fell all hot, ready roasted
Contre sa bouche
Against her mouth
Qui a des dents de lait quand elle sourit
Which has milk teeth when she smiles
Quand elle chante
When she sings
Et des dents de loup quand elle est furie
And wolf’s teeth when she is a fury
Qu'elle est méchante
How wicked she is.

Je m'suis fait tout p'tit devant une poupée
Qui ferme les yeux quand on la couche
Je m'suis fait tout p'tit devant une poupée
Qui fait Maman quand on la touche

Je subis sa loi, je file tout doux
I submit to her law, I watch my step
Sous son empire
Under her rule
Bien qu'elle soit jalouse au-delà de tout
Although she is jealous in the extreme
Et même pire
And even worse

Une jolie pervenche qui m'avait paru
A blue periwinkle flower ,who had seemed to me
Plus jolie qu'elle
Prettier than her
Une jolie pervenche un jour en mourut
A pretty periwinkle died from it
A coup d'ombrelle
Lashed by a parasol

Je m'suis fait tout p'tit devant une poupée
Qui ferme les yeux quand on la couche
Je m'suis fait tout p'tit devant une poupée
Qui fait Maman quand on la touche

Tous les somnambules, tous les mages m'ont
All the sleepwalking psychics, all the astrologers
Dit sans malice
Told me with good intent
Qu'en ses bras en croix, je subirais mon
That in her crossed arms, I would suffer
Dernier supplice
the throes of death
Il en est de pires il en est d'meilleures
There are better ways, there are worse
Mais à tout prendre
But all in all
Qu'on se pende ici, qu'on se pende ailleurs
Whether one hangs here , whether one hangs elsewhere
S'il faut se pendre
If you have to hang yourself

Je m'suis fait tout p'tit devant une poupée
Qui ferme les yeux quand on la couche
Je m'suis fait tout p'tit devant une poupée
Qui fait Maman quand on la touche

Biographical notes:

BIOGRAPHICAL COMMENTS
Brassens wrote this song in 1955, when he had been in his relationship with Joha Heyman for about eight years. She had come from Estonia to Paris in 1930 to take a post as an au pair. Brassens had seen her first when he was a youth of 18 and he had been captivated by her beauty. The war intervened but they met up again in 1947 and became close. ( I have copied Brassens’ account of their first meetings in “Le Parapluie”.) . She was nine years older than Brassens and she stayed with him for 35 years as his eternal fiancée. When she died in 1999, she was buried at his side in the cemetery at Sète
The song, “Je me suis fait tout petit” is generally taken to be a personal account of their relationship. One critic has said that the romance of the song is marred by the mention of hanging himself, but others do not see any romance in the song at all.
INTERPRETATIONS OF THE SONG
The pessimistic interpretation
The objective facts speak of a very unhappy, abusive relationship:
It is a grim picture of how the acquisition of supremacy by one of the two partners in marriage or a similar exclusive relationship can destroy the freedom and dignity of the subservient party so that life no longer has any meaning and death is the ultimate escape. In this case, the man is the victim. A proud and independent human being has been reduced to the status of a poodle responding and performing at his mistress’s beck and call.
Sex has become an instrument of the control of the female partner. She offers sex or more often refuses it at her own whim with no regard to her partner’s wishes. The chorus of the song tells how the woman goes to bed to fall straight to sleep and cries out if he touches her.
The gossip of those who knew Brassens seems to confirm that the love that had begun, passionate and exciting, had now grown cold and that sexual contact was now virtually non-existent. This seemed to be borne out by the couple’s decision never to live under the same roof. And Brassens makes no bones about telling of his sexual deprivation in other songs. In “Fernande” he links himself with those forced to do without intercourse like lighthouse keepers and priests. In “Auprès de mon arbre”, he claims the world record for duration of celibacy.
Although the female partner in the song has no sexual need of the male, she is madly jealous and totally possessive and she drives away any other woman who could offer him consolation. Brassens had nted Joha’s jealousy as early as a first love song written about her. In «J'ai rendez-vous avec vous», he says : « La lumière que je préfère, C'est celle de vos yeux jaloux. ».
As social workers testify, it is easy to irecognise those in an abusive relationship, but it is most difficult to wrest someone free from such total control. Brassens seems to put himself in this victim category in this poem when he says that the hold that she has on him is such that he is reconciled to being tied to her until the moment when he hangs himself.
In this disillusioned view of the union of two people, Brassens is expressing one of his recurring themes: the conviction that stifling domesticity and the imprisonment of two people in a tight relationship such as matrimony kills love and precludes human happiness. The same idea is found in Les amoureux des bancs publics – Auprès de mon Arbre – La non-demande en mariage. Other poems seem to suggest a better alternative. In place of the trials of long-term relationships, brief moments of bliss can be tasted in the ephemeral pleasures of sensual encounters without commitment.
All this previous evidence appears to confirm the impression that the material of the song should be taken seriously

BRASSENS’ PROTESTATIONS ABOUT THE SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS OF HIS UNION WITH JOHA HEIMAN
In contrast with the depiction in the poem of their personal incompatibility., we know that Brassens usually spoke of Joha with great affection and referred to her affectionately as his “Püppchen”, the German diminutive of doll. We know also that Brassens valued lifelong friendships with kindred souls who offered the warmth of their company without infringing on the other’s need for space - Copains d’abord.
In an interview in the last year of his life, he detailed the love and support that Joha gave him :

….il m'apparaît évident que je n'aurais pas pu travailler autant et si bien sans la sérénité, la plénitude, l'épanouissement que procurent amour, tendresse et complicité profonde

He tells of the help she gave him in the six years of hard grind before he achieved success:

Pendant six longues années de vaches maigres, elle était ma compagne attentionnée, ma confidente, ma muse et un précieux support moral et affectif.

In the 35 years they were together, he turned to her first for comment on his new compositions. Also she took care of all his practical arrangements: what he should wear on stage, publicity shots, accommodation, and arrangements for receptions.
Brassens repeatedly said of his Püppchen:

"Ce n'est pas ma femme, c'est ma déesse."

CONCLUSION
To suggest that Brassens was an embittered and inadequate man, unable to break from the control of another would certainly demean him. This he would be if the tone of this poem was serious. But we have seen in other poems such as “Rien à jeter” that when he talks of Joha, there is a big element of teasing. In this poem, it is all teasing with massive exaggeration consistent throughout. His Püppchen had almost certainly approved of the lyrics of the song and was laughing in the wings at this feast of absurdity.

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Chanson pour l'auvergnat - Video Lyrics Translation

2008-02-08T13:52:00.014Z

Georges Brassens pays tribute to those who have enriched his life with individual acts of kindness and expresses his confidence that they will receive their due reward.

georges brassens - l'auvergnat
Uploaded by bisonravi1987

Elle est à toi cette chanson
It is for you this little song
Toi l'Auvergnat qui, sans façon,
Man of Auvergne who with no fuss,
M'a donné quatre bouts de bois
Once gave me four pieces of wood
Quand dans ma vie il faisait froid.
When in my life there was great cold.

Toi qui m'a donné du feu quand
You who gave me a fire when
Les croquantes et les croquants
Women and men with self-respect
Tous les gens bien intentionnés
All the folk of righteous intent
M'avaient fermés la porte au nez.
Had slammed their doors closed in my face.

Ce n'était rien qu'un feu de bois
It was nothing but a wood fire
Mais il m'avait chauffé le corps
But it had warmed through my body
Et dans mon âme, il brûle encore
And in my soul it burns on still
À la manière d'un feu de joie...
Just as from some scorching bonfire.

Toi, l'Auvergnat quand tu mourras
Auvergnan, when you come to die
Quand le croc-mort t'emportera
When the mortician drives you off
Qu'il te conduise à travers ciel
May he take you to,through the sky,
Au père éternel.
The father eternal.

Elle est à toi cette chanson
It is for you this little song
Toi l'hôtesse qui, sans façon,
You the hostess who,with no fuss,
M'a donné quatre bouts de pain
Once gave me four pieces of bread
Quand dans ma vie il faisait faim.
When in my life there was hunger

Toi qui m'ouvrit ta huche quand
You who opened your larder when
Les croquantes et les croquants
Women and men with self-respect
Tous les gens bien intentionnés
All the folk of righteous intent
S'amusaient à me voir jeuner.
Were enjoying seeing me starve.

Ce n'était rien qu'un peu de pain
T'was nothing but one piece of bread
Mais il m'avait chauffé le corps
But it had warmed through my body
Et dans mon âme, il brûle encore
And in my soul, it burns on still
À la manière d'un grand festin...
Just as from some resplendent feast.

Toi, l'hôtesse quand tu mourras
You, hostess, when you come to die
Quand le croc-mort t'emportera
When the mortician drives you off
Qu'il te conduise à travers ciel
May he take you to,through the sky,
Au père éternel.
The father eternal.

Elle est à toi cette chanson
It is for you this little song
Toi l'étranger qui, sans façon,
You, the stranger, who, with no fuss,
D'un air malheureux m'a sourit
Looking saddened gave me a smile
Lorsque les gendarmes m'ont pris
When the policemen came for me.

Toi qui n'a pas applaudi quand
You who never applauded when
Les croquantes et les croquants
Women and men with self-respect
Tous les gens bien intentionnés
All the folk of righteous intent
Riaient de me voir rammené.
Laughed at seeing me led away

Ce n'était rien qu'un peu de miel
T'was nothing but one sweeter touch
Mais il m'avait chauffé le corps
But it had warmed through my body
Et dans mon âme, il brûle encore
And in my soul it burns on still
À la manière d'un grand soleil...
Just as from some radiant sun ...

Toi, l'étranger quand tu mourras
You, stranger, when you come to die
Quand le croc-mort t'emportera
When the mortician drives you off
Qu'il te conduise à travers ciel
May he take you to,through the sky,
Au père éternel.
The father eternal.

TRANSLATION NOTE
(1) Les Croquants - Le Petit Robert dictionary tells us that « les croquants » were peasants who rose in revolt during the reigns of Henri IV and Louis XIII. It says that the word then took on the meaning of peasants and is sometimes used with sense of thief or skinflint. Since working on Brassens’ song “Les Croquants”, I have formed the idea that the word is a pejorative for someone who arouses your strong hostility just as we say: “the bastards!” and the reason for the hostility depends on the context. In this case, I think Brassens found his respectable neighbours superior and judgemental.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
If the song suggests that acts of friendship are rare, this would certainly not represent the life of Georges Brassens. He had a unique gift of friendship. In March 1943, he was conscripted to a German work camp at Basdorf. The friends he made there were his friends for life. Among them was a particularly close friend, Pierre Onténiente. When he returned to Paris on leave in March 1944, he went into hiding, sheltered by a married couple, Marcel and Jeanne Planche, who lived in a slum house in Paris. They were to play a big part in his life. Brassens' temporary stay in this insalubrious quartier extended until 1966. The Auvergnat who is thanked in this song is Marcel and the hostess who gave him a roof is Jeanne. He wrote other songs for Jeanne, the most famous is “La cane de Jeanne”. She was an inveterate animal lover.

Jeanne was Brassens’ mother and companion. But we have to suspect a stronger emotional tie. Speaking long after the death of Brassens, Pierre Onténiente, confided that Jeanne was in love with Georges and was jealous about him. Marcel was either indifferent or unaware, as his habit was to start to get drunk from eight in the morning,
It was a great loss for Brassens when Jeanne died in 1968.

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Anonymous said...
Thank you for the translations. I was looking for a translation of "Chanson Pour L'Auvergnat" when I found your site. I first heard the song performed by Cornelis Vreeswijk (Dutch-Swedish artist resembling and inspired by Brassens) with a very different text, "Alice's Snaps", in Swedish. In fact I thought it was Brassens who had copied him when I heard "Chanson Pour L'Auvergnat" first time on the radio. You migth be intereseted in checking Vreeswijk out, some songs on youtube although I don't find "Alice's Snaps" there. His texts are all in Swedish, I think, unfortunately for non-Swedish speakers.

Have a nice Easter,
Morten
22 MARCH 2008 14:29

Tag for Delicious
Save This Page

Il suffit de passer le pont - Video Text Translation

2008-02-07T22:04:00.013Z

This song meant a lot to Brassens. It was the one song that he included in every performance he gave. It tells of two young people who are both making love for the first time. 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.

Brassens - il suffit de passer le pont
Uploaded by kitsch. - Explore more music videos.

Il suffit de passer le pont(1)
All it takes is crossing the bridge

C'est tout de suite l'aventure
It’s straightaway real adventure

Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon(1)
Just let me take hold of your skirt

J't'emmèn' visiter la nature (2)
I’ll take you to study nature

L'herbe est douce à Pâques fleuries (3)
The grass is soft at Easter in bloom

Jetons mes sabots, tes galoches (4)
Off with my rough clogs, and yours more fine

Et, légers comme des cabris
And light footed as young goats

Courons après les sons de cloches
Let’s run after the sounds of church bells

Ding din don ! les matines sonnent (5)
Ding, ding dong ! the morning chimes ring

En l'honneur de notre bonheur
To honour the joy that we feel

Ding din dong ! faut l'dire à personne
Ding, ding dong ! Must not tell a soul

J'ai graissé la patte au sonneur
I have greased the bell ringer’s palm

Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon
Just let me take hold of your skirt

Courons, guilleret, guillerette (6)
Let’s run, carefree lad, carefree lass.

Il suffit de passer le pont
All it takes is crossing the bridge

Et c'est le royaum' des fleurettes(7)
And it’s the kingdom of spring flowers

Entre tout's les bell's que voici
Among all the pretty ones here

Je devin' cell' que tu préfères
I guess the one that you prefer

C'est pas l'coqu'licot (7), Dieu merci
It is not the red poppy, thank the Lord

Ni l'coucou (7), mais la primevère (7)
Nor cowslip, but the spring primrose,

J'en vois un' blottie sous les feuilles
I see one snuggling neath the leaves

Elle est en velours comm' tes joues (8)
It is of velvet like your cheeks

Fais le guet pendant qu'je la cueille (9)
Keep your eyes skinned while I pluck it

" Je n'ai jamais aimé que vous "
I have never loved before you.

Il suffit de trois petits bonds
All it takes is three little jumps

C'est tout de suit' la tarantelle (10)
It’s straightaway the Tarantella

Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon
Just let me take hold of your skirt

J'saurai ménager tes dentelles (11)
I’ll treat your lace with tender care

J'ai graissé la patte au berger
I have greased the shepherd boy’s palm

Pour lui fair' jouer une aubade (12)
To get him to play a serenade

Lors, ma mie, sans croire au danger
So, my love, no risk to think of

Faisons mille et une gambades
Let’s make jumps a thousand and one

Ton pied frappe et frappe la mousse
Your foot hits and hits on the moss

Si l'chardon s'y pique dedans
If’t thistle in there should prickle

Ne pleure pas, ma mie qui souffre (13)
Do not weep my love, who’s in pain

Je te l'enlève avec les dents
I’ll draw it from you with my teeth

On n'a plus rien à se cacher
We’ve each nothing to hide from now on

On peut s'aimer comm' bon nous semble
We can share love as we think fit

Et tant mieux si c'est un péché (14)
All the better, if it’s a sin

Nous irons en enfer ensemble
We’ll go down to Hell together

Il suffit de passer le pont
All it takes is crossing the bridge

Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon
Just let me take hold of your skirt

Georges Brassens 1953

TRANSLATION NOTES

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.

(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) 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.

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

(4) 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” which were clogs with more fancy, laced uppers. They throw these off as they start to undress.

(5) 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.

(6) Guilleret, guillerette – the Collins dictionary says that « être guilleret » means to be full of beans.

(7) c'est le royaum' des fleurettes- 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 has medicinal qualities. The line about le coquelicot would not make sense if I was too tasteful to explain that les coquelicots means menstruation.

(8) Elle est en velours comm' tes joues- another anatomical image

(9) Pendant qu'je la cueille (9) –Cueillir la fleur has also a second meaning, which is the theme of this poem.

(10) La tarantelle –A very lively and energetic dance from Southern Italy

(11) Dentelles – Lace, which Larousse defines as something very transparent and light – another suggestive image.

(12) 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.

(13) Ne pleure pas, ma mie qui souffre –A link to what was said in the image of note 11.

(14) C'est un péché – Love 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.

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.

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Les passantes - Video Lyrics Translation

2008-02-07T14:25:00.028Z

I hope you enjoy this melancholic song by Georges Brassens
The poetic words of Antoine Pol say that most of the experiences of life are incomplete and unsatisfactory. Yet the song itself reminds us that from all this life has its own music.

Les Passantes (live) (duo)
Uploaded by Ben-Yehuda. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

At the end of a TV show the presenter asked Brassens to perform his favourite song "Les Passantes". After some confusion as they had not rehearsed this, Brassens chose the key and the song began

Les Passantes

Je veux dédier ce poème
I wish to dedicate this poem
A toutes les femmes qu'on aime
To all of the women that one loves
Pendant quelques instants secrets
During a few secret moments
A celles qu'on connait à peine
To those whose acquaintance is fleeting
Qu'un destin différent entraîne
Whom a different fate draws away
Et qu'on ne retrouve jamais
And whom one never meets again.

A celle qu'on voit apparaître
To the one whom you saw appear
Une seconde à sa fenêtre
For a brief second at her window
Et qui, preste, s'évanouit
And who, straightway, is lost from sight
Mais dont la svelte silhouette
And yet of whom the sleek silhouette
Est si gracieuse et fluette
Is traced so graceful and so slender
Qu'on en demeure épanoui
That you remain filled with her glow.

A la fine et souple valseuse
To the dainty, lithe girl of the waltz
Qui vous sembla triste et nerveuse
Who seemed to you tense and unhappy
Par une nuit de carnaval
On one night spent at Carnival
Qui voulut rester inconnue
Who wished to remain just a stranger
Et qui n'est jamais revenue
And who has never come back to join
Tournoyer dans un autre bal
In the whirl of another ball

A la compagne de voyage
To the lady travelling with you
Dont les yeux, charmant paysage
Whose eyes, a view of total charm
Font paraître court le chemin
Make the journey seem soon over
Qu'on est seul, peut-être, à comprendre
Whom you alone might understand
Et qu'on laisse pourtant descendre
And yet whom you allow to alight
Sans avoir effleuré sa main
Without the mere touch of her hand.

A celles qui sont déjà prises
To those who are already taken
Et qui, vivant des heures grises
And who, living tedious hours
Près d'un être trop différent (1)
Next to someone too different
Vous ont, inutile folie,
Have let you , act of pointless folly
Laissé voir la mélancolie
Observe the profound melancholy
D'un avenir désespérant
Of a future deprived of hope

Chères images aperçues
Treasured images only half seen
Espérances d'un jour déçues
Disappointed hopes of just one day
Vous serez dans l'oubli demain
Tomorrow you will be erased
Pour peu que le bonheur survienne
Should happiness chance to come along
Il est rare qu'on se souvienne
It is a rarity that one recalls
Des épisodes du chemin
Small incidents on the way.

Mais si l'on a manqué sa vie
But if you have missed out in your life
On songe avec un peu d'envie
You dream with some feelings of envy,
A tous ces bonheurs entrevus
Of all these small joys briefly seen
Aux baisers qu'on n'osa pas prendre
Of the kisses you didn’t dare take
Aux cœurs qui doivent vous attendre
Of the hearts which have to await you
Aux yeux qu'on n'a jamais revus
Of eyes that were not seen again

Alors, aux soirs de lassitude
And so, when evenings are weary
Tout en peuplant sa solitude
While you populate your loneliness
Des fantômes du souvenir
With the phantoms of your memory
On pleure les lèvres absentes
You weep for the lips that are absent
De toutes ces belles passantes
Of all those fair ladies who passed by
Que l'on n'a pas su retenir
Whom you had not the wit to keep.

This song is Georges Brassens' setting of the poem by Antoine Pol

(1) Brassens tells us that when he wrote this verse, he had in his thoughts his life-long partner Joha Heiman, who was enduring a loveless marriage when he first met her.
------------------------------------------------------------
We probably all have brief “might have been” relationships that stay with us for all time. The English poet, Thomas Hardy had a pretty redhead called Elizabeth Brown.

To Lizbie Browne

1
Dear Lizbie Browne,
Where are you now?
In sun, in rain? —
Or is your brow
Past joy, past pain,
Dear Lizbie Browne?

2
Sweet Lizbie Browne
How you could smile,
How you could sing! —
How archly wile
In glance-giving,
Sweet Lizbie Browne!

3
And Lizbie Browne,
Who else had hair
Bay-red as yours,
Or flesh so fair
Bred out of doors,
Sweet Lizbie Browne?

4
When, Lizbie Browne,
You had just begun
To be endeared
By stealth to one,
You disappeared,
My Lizbie Browne!

5
Ay, Lizbie Browne,
So swift your life,
And mine so slow,
You were a wife
Ere I could show
Love, Lizbie Browne.

6
Still, Lizbie Browne,
You won, they said,
The best of men
When you were wed....
Where went you then,
O Lizbie Browne?

7
Dear Lizbie Browne,
I should have thought,
"Girls ripen fast,"
And coaxed and caught
You ere you passed,
Dear Lizbie Browne!

8
But, Lizbie Browne,
I let you slip;
Shaped not a sign;
Touched never your lip
With lip of mine,
Lost Lizbie Browne!

9
So, Lizbie Browne,
When on a day
Men speak of me
As not, you'll say,
"And who was he?" —
Yes, Lizbie Browne!
________________________________________

Les Passantes is beautiful in Italian as well:

Une jolie fleur - Video and Text

2008-02-06T19:40:00.016Z

georges brassens - une jolie fleur
Uploaded by bisonravi1987.

Une jolie fleur – a song for all men who were jilted by the only woman they could ever love.

The singer tells us that he does not feel any resentment against his lost mistress now. I am not sure that some of his description of her is very charitable though! When a man has lost a woman, who, to use John Denver’s phrase totally “filled up his senses”, it is hard to be objective.

Jamais sur terre il n'y eut d'amoureux
Never on earth have there been any lover
Plus aveugle que moi dans tous les âges
More blind than I was throughout the ages
Mais faut dir' qu' je m'étais crevé les yeux
But must be said that I had poked out my eyes
En regardant de trop près son corsage
Looking at her bust at too close quarters

Un' jolie fleur dans une peau d'vache (1)
A pretty flower in the skin of a cow
Un' jolie vach' déguisée en fleur
A pretty cow disguised as a flower
Qui fait la belle et qui vous attache
Who struts her stuff , catches you easy
Puis, qui vous mèn' par le bout du cœur (2)
Then tugs you along on your heartstrings

Le ciel l'avait pourvue des mille appas
Heaven had supplied her thousands of charms
Qui vous font prendre feu dès qu'on y touche
Which set you aflame as soon as you touch them
L'en avait tant que je ne savais pas
She’d so many that I just did not know
Ne savais plus où donner de la bouche
No longer knew where to give my mouth to .

Un' jolie fleur dans une peau d'vache
A pretty flower in the skin of a cow
Un' jolie vach' déguisée en fleur
A pretty cow disguised as a flower
Qui fait la belle et qui vous attache
Who struts her stuff and catches you easy
Puis, qui vous mèn' par le bout du cœur
Then tugs you along on your heartstrings

Ell' n'avait pas de tête, ell' n'avait pas
She did not have much sense, she did not have
L'esprit beaucoup plus grand qu'un dé à coudre
A mind that was much bigger than a thimble
Mais pour l'amour on ne demande pas
But for making love you don’t require
Aux filles d'avoir inventé la poudre (3)
The girls to be int’llectually gifted.

Un' jolie fleur dans une peau d'vache
A pretty flower in the skin of a cow
Un' jolie vach' déguisée en fleur
A pretty cow disguised as a flower
Qui fait la belle et qui vous attache
Who struts her stuff and catches you easy
Puis, qui vous mèn' par le bout du cœur
Then tugs you along on your heartstrings

Puis un jour elle a pris la clef des champs (4)
Then one day she took her hook and was gone
En me laissant à l'âme un mal funeste
While leaving in my soul a grievous hurt
Et toutes les herbes de la Saint-Jean (5)
And no amount of St-John’s-wort
N'ont pas pu me guérir de cette peste (6)
Worked as a cure for that which plagued me.

Un' jolie fleur dans une peau d'vache
A pretty flower in the skin of a cow
Un' jolie vach' déguisée en fleur
A pretty cow disguised as a flower
Qui fait la belle et qui vous attache
Who struts her stuff and catches you easy
Puis, qui vous mèn' par le bout du cœur
Then tugs you along on your heartstrings

J' lui en ai bien voulu, mais à présent
I have been so angry with her, and yet right now
J'ai plus d'rancune et mon cœur lui pardonne
I’ve no rancour left and my heart forgives her
D'avoir mis mon cœur à feu et à sang (7)
For leaving my heart bleeding and aflame
Pour qu'il ne puisse plus servir à personne
So it’s no use forever to anyone.

Un' jolie fleur dans une peau d'vache
A pretty flower in the skin of a cow
Un' jolie vach' déguisée en fleur
A pretty cow disguised as a flower
Qui fait la belle et qui vous attache
Who struts her stuff and catches you easy
Puis, qui vous mèn' par le bout du cœur
Then leads you along on your heartstrings

TRANSLATION NOTES
1) “une peau d'vache » French dictionaries say that this term is also used to describe someone who is bad –tempered and vindictive. In English it is difficult to convey this idea of the unattractive personality of the girl he is describing and keep the cow reference necessary for the next line. I have left the line literal, even though it does not make much sense in English
2) « mener par le bout du cœur » - Brassens is making a play on the expression : « mener quelqu’un par le bout du nez » - which means having a total and humiliating control over someone. An American blogger, called Marissa, sent me the idea of controlling by tugs on the heartstrings. Thanks for that!
3) “Il n’a pas inventé la poudre” means « he is a bit dim »
4) “Prendre la clef des champs” is used for a criminal for example – to make his getaway –to clear off
5) « les herbes de la Saint-Jean ». St-John’s-wort ( le millepertuis) is taken for depression.
6) “peste” – plague- a strong word. But it could refer to the woman as well as “peste” is used for a person who is a nuisance as in English -pest
7) « Mettre une ville à feu et à sang » This term is used when an army “sacks” a town.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
This song, written in 1955 describes an ex-girl-friend about whom Brassens had written an even more bitter song in 1953, with the uncompromising title of “Putain de toi” – whore that you are.

Other people suggest a different identity to the “jolie fleur” of this poem, but most of the evidence points to a girl called Josette, whom Brassens referred to as “Jo”. He had got to know her before he became famous. She came to live with him for a time. She was stunningly beautiful but was impossible to live with - see “Putain de toi” for more detail. When they split up she stole everything he had- which wasn’t much! Later in life, she became a prostitute – hence the title of the other poem may be something more than an insult. Like a lot of men, Brassens seemed to have kept an enduring love for the woman who most messed up his heart and caused him the greatest pain.

There is also a lot of similarity between this pretty flower and the beautiful young wife of Brassens' neighbour who sold lightning conductors in his song L'Orage.
With both these women lovemaking was a totally unique experience and both deserted him without a goodbye.

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INDEX WITH FULL LIST OF SONGS

Video to be found on:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkavb_georges-brassens-une-jolie-fleur