Once again Brassens sings about the excitement of first love and its eternal charm. When older people reminisce about their youth, so many of them, sometimes unconsciously, reveal that the first boy/ girl with whom one falls in love somehow gets into a compartment of memory that is indestructible.
The videos of this song that I have posted in the past have constantly failed. I hope the select language subtitles on this one will protect me this time!
J'ai tout
oublié des campagnes
D'Austerlitz
et de Waterloo
D'Italie,
de Prusse et d'Espagne,
De
Pontoise et de Landerneau
Jamais de
la vie
On ne
l'oubliera,
La
première fill'
Qu'on a
pris' dans ses bras,
La
première étrangère
À qui
l'on a dit "tu" (2)
Mon
coeur, t'en souviens-tu ?)
Comme
ell' nous était chère...
Qu'ell'
soit fille honnête(3)
Ou fille
de rien,(4)
Qu'elle
soit pucelle (5)
Ou
qu'elle soit putain, (5)
On se
souvient d'elle,
On s'en
souviendra,
D'la
première fill'
Qu'on a
pris' dans ses bras
Ils sont
partis à tire-d'aile
Mes
souvenirs de la Suzon,
Et ma
mémoire est infidèle
À Julie,
Rosette ou Lison
Jamais de
la vie
On ne
l'oubliera,
La
première fill'
Qu'on a
pris' dans ses bras,
C'était
un' bonne affaire
(Mon coeur, t'en souviens-tu ?)
J'ai
changé ma vertu
Contre
une primevère...
Qu' ce
soit en grand' pompe
Comme les
gens "bien",
Ou bien
dans la ru',
Comm' les
pauvre' et les chiens,
On se
souvient d'elle,
On s'en souviendra,
D'la
première fill'
Qu'on a
pris' dans ses bras
Toi, qui
m'as donné le baptême
D'amour
et de septième ciel,
Moi, je
te garde et, moi, je t'aime,
Dernier
cadeau du Pèr' Noël !
Jamais de
la vie
On ne
l'oubliera,
La
première fill'
Qu'on a
pris' dans ses bras
On a beau
fair' le brave,
Quand
ell' s'est mise nue
(Mon coeur, t'en souviens-tu ?)
On n'en
menait pas large(8)...
Bien
d'autres, sans doute,
Depuis,
sont venues,
Oui,
mais, entre toutes
Celles
qu'on a connues,
Elle est
la dernière
Que l'on
oubliera,
La
première fill'
Qu'on a
pris' dans ses bras,
Georges Brassens
(1954 - Les amoureux des bancs publics.) |
I’ve forgot’ all about campaigns
Of Austerlitz and Waterloo
Of Italy, Prussia and Spain
Of Pontoise and of Landerneau.(1)
Never all life long
Will there be forgotten
The very first girl
Whom you took in your arms
The first, new acquaintance,
Whom you addressed as “tu”
My heart do you remember?
How dear she was to us
Whether she be a nice girl
Or not up to much
Whether you’re her first
Or she’s had a lot
You still remember her
You will still remember
The very first girl
Whom you took in your arms
They have flown off at great speed
My recollections of Susan
And my memory’s been unfaithful
To Julie, Rosetta or Liza.
Never all life long
Will there be forgotten
The very first girl
Whom you took in your arms
It was a very good deal
My heart do you remember?
I traded my virtue
For a primrose flower (6)
Whether it be with great show
As the « proper » folk do
Or down in the back street
Like the poor people and the dogs
You still remember her
You will still remember
The very first girl
Whom you took in your arms
You who gave me the baptism
Of love and of the seventh heaven
I keep you still, I love you still
Last gift from Father Christmas (7)
Never all life long
Will there be forgotten
The very first girl
Whom you took in your arms
So much for my brave front
When she stripped off her clothes
(My heart do you remember?)
You fell right down in my boots
Many others, no doubt
Have come along since
Yes, but, among all of
Those that you have known-
She is the very last one
Who will be forgotten
The very first girl
Whom you took in your arms
|
NOTES
(1) Brassens
says that he has forgotten all the military history he learnt at school and to
illustrate the point (perhaps unconsciously) he includes in the last line two
places that do not seem to have any record of an important battle.
(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 moment of asking a girl to go out with you
luckily does not also involve a question of speech etiquette.
(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". Other translations given in
the dictionary are: to be frightened, to be uneasy, to be in a terrible
situation
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