Ninety of the best-known songs of Georges Brassens with videos of Brassens performing the songs and English translations - also textual and biographical comments
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. Because of this he was well aware that in polite society, he had a bad reputation
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, that goes without saying.
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 jewellery 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......)
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."
Another comment from Juliette, printed below tells me that French speakers see this as a much lighter song than appears in my translation
Je Me Suis Fait Tout Petit Pour une Poupée.
COMMENT ON THE APPEARANCE OF
BRASSENS IN THE LATER VIDEO THAT I HAVE CHOSEN.
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
Je n'avais jamais ôté mon
chapeau
Devant personne
Maintenant je rampe et je
fais le beau(1)
Quand elle me sonne
J'étais chien méchant,
elle me fait manger
Dans sa menotte
J'avais des dents d'loup,
je les ai changées
Pour des quenottes(2)
Je m'suis fait tout p'tit
devant une poupée
Qui ferme les yeux quand
on la couche(3)
Je m'suis fait tout p'tit
devant une poupée
Qui fait Maman quand on la
touche(3)
J'étais dur à cuire(4),
elle m'a converti
La fine mouche(5)
Et je suis tombé tout
chaud, tout rôti
Contre sa bouche (6)
Qui a des dents de lait
quand elle sourit
Quand elle chante
Et des dents de loup quand
elle est furie
Qu'elle est méchante
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(7)
Sous son empire
Bien qu'elle soit jalouse
au-delà de tout
Et même pire.
Une jolie pervenche(8) qui
m'avait paru
Plus jolie qu'elle
Une jolie pervenche un
jour en mourut
A coup d'ombrelle
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(9),
tous les mages m'ont
Dit sans malice
Qu'en ses bras en croix,
je subirais mon
Dernier supplice.
Il en est de pires il en est
d'meilleurs
Mais à tout prendre
Qu'on se pende ici, qu'on
se pende ailleurs
S'il faut se pendre.(10)
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
I had never taken off my hat
To anyone
Now I grovel and I sit up and beg
When she calls me.
I was a fierce dog, but she has me eating
From her teeny hand
The wolf teeth I had, I’ve changed them instead
For baby’s peggies
I’ve made myself real small, up against a doll
Who shuts her eyes when you put her to bed
I’ve made myself real small up'against a doll
Who goes « Mamma » when you touch her.
I was a tough cookie, she’s changed me round
The cunning thing
And I fell all hot, and ready roasted
Against her mouth
Which has nice milk teeth when she smiles
When she sings
And wolf’s teeth when she plays the shrew
How wicked is she.
I’ve made myself real small up'against a doll
Who shuts her eyes when you put her to bed
I’ve made myself real small up'against a doll
Who goes « Mamma » when you touch her.
I submit to her law, I watch my step
Neath her control
Although she is jealous to the limit
And even beyond.
A flower of a girl ,who had seemed to me
Prettier than her,
A flower of a girl paid for it one day
Felled by a sun brolly.
I’ve made myself real small up'against a doll
Who shuts her eyes when you put her to bed
I’ve made myself real small up'against a doll
Who goes « Mamma » when you touch her.
All psychics and mediums in their trances,
Have kindly said
That folded in her arms, I'd undergo
Life's final moments
There are worse ends, and there are better
But, all ‘n all, what gives?
Whether one gets hanged here or somewhere else
If hanged one must be be.
I’ve made myself real small up'against a doll
Who shuts her eyes when you put her to bed
I’ve made myself real small up'against a doll
Who goes « Mamma » when you touch her.
TRANSLATION
NOTES
1)je fais le beau
- faire le beau- for a dog this means to sit up on its hind legs.
2)Pour des quenottes - quenottes is child talk for teeth. In my part of England, we talked of “peggies”
to children
3)Poupée
- qui ferme les yeux quand on la couche and Qui fait Maman quand on la touche. Jn the 1950s, the novelty of the dolls
that you bought for litle girls was that their eyes closed when you lay them
flat and that there was place on their back, which you squeezed to get a sound
like Maa ! In the adult world, we
assume that a living doll acting like this is not sexually responsive.
4)dur à cuire describes some-one’s
character : positively it means physically strong/ courageous. Negativelt, it means obstinate/ uncooperative.
Suggested translations are: hard-boiled/
hard-bitten/ pugnacious.
5) fine
mouche – This is used to describe a person who is cunning and discreet .e. they
have the characteristics of a fly which can flit around and not be seen.
6)tombé tout chaud, tout rôti contre sa
bouche -the cliché used to reprimand
some-one who is not helping in the preparation of the cooking would
be : « Alors, tu attends que
ton repas te tombe tout rôti dans la bouche!
7)je file tout doux - fier doux is to behave nicely/ keep a low
profile.
8)Une jolie pervenche – Brassens is talking of a
pretty girl who had come into his life. By talking of her as a flower, he is softening
the drama of what must have been a romantic and domestic crisis. This is reduced even more by English
translation, as “periwinkle” has a very odd ring about it- eccentric rather
than romantic. On the other hand, the name
“pervenche” had vivid connotations in French literature. This was the name given to a peasant girl in
a short story written by the poet Maurice Bouchor (1858- 1929), who tells us that she had been
given this name because of her simple trusting eyes, whose soft blue had the freshness and purity of the flower of the
same name. One reason why Brassens would
be familiar with Bouchor’s works was that they were both fervent admirers of
François Villon – both have poems that pay tribute to the great medieval French
poet. The obscurity of this reference to
a Boucher poem prevents most listeners from understanding the vindictiveness of
the attack which the doll made on an innocent girl. However Brassens’ mention of la Pervenche seems
to tell us that he was acutely aware of a cruel act of injustice.
9)les somnambules – Literally sleepwalkers but Le Petit
Robert tells us that it is a term to describe people who speak and, in this
case, make predictions, while in a
hypnotic state.
10)S'il faut se pendre – In dark moments in his
songs, Brassens sometimes talks of hanging himself. If Brassens is joking about the problems of
his relationship with Joha, he is pushing the joke a bit far by talking of
suicide.
(I think that Juliette puts me right on this- her comment posted below. She tells me that "to go and get hanged" is a humorous expression in French for "to go and get married" and so this makes it much more light-hearted. I still think the context suggests a marriage that is a fatal mistake. Thanks for your help Juliette.
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”.) .
Joha 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.
INTERPRETATIONS OF "JE ME SUIS FAIT TOUT PETIT"
The song, “Je me suis fait tout petit” is generally taken to be a personal account of the relationship of Georges and Joha. 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.
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 noted 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.
During his youth, Brassens had a traumatic experience, when he brought disgrace on himself and his family after being convicted of petty theft. There are references in this poem that seem to reflect these events.However the most immense debt of gratitude of Brassens life was due to a couple whom he met later, Marcel Planche and his wife, Jeanne. At great risk to themselves, they hid him and looked after him after Brassens had absconded from a forced labour camp in Germany in 1944. Marcel Planche came originally from the Auvergne.
Elle est à toi cette chanson
Toi l'Auvergnat qui, sans façon,
M'a donné quatre bouts de bois
Quand dans ma vie il faisait froid.
Toi qui m'a donné du feu quand
Les croquantes et les croquants
Tous les gens bien intentionnés
M'avaient fermés la porte au nez.
Ce n'était rien qu'un feu de bois
Mais il m'avait chauffé le corps
Et dans mon âme, il brûle encore
À la manière d'un feu de joie...
Toi, l'Auvergnat quand tu mourras
Quand le croc-mort t'emportera
Qu'il te conduise à travers ciel
Au père éternel.
Elle est à toi cette chanson
Toi l'hôtesse qui, sans façon,
M'a donné quatre bouts de pain
Quand dans ma vie il faisait faim.
Toi qui m'ouvrit ta huche quand
Les croquantes et les croquants
Tous les gens bien intentionnés
S'amusaient à me voir jeuner.
Ce n'était rien qu'un peu de pain
Mais il m'avait chauffé le corps
Et dans mon âme, il brûle encore
À la manière d'un grand festin... Toi,
l'hôtesse quand tu mourras
Quand le
croc-mort t'emportera
Qu'il te conduise à travers ciel
Au père éternel.
Elle est à toi cette chanson
Toi l'étranger qui, sans façon,
D'un air malheureux m'a sourit
Lorsque les gendarmes m'ont pris.
Toi qui n'a pas applaudi quand
Les croquantes et les croquants
Tous les gens bien intentionnés
Riaient de me voir rammené.
Ce n'était rien qu'un peu de miel
Mais il m'avait chauffé le corps
Et dans mon âme, il brûle encore
À la manière d'un grand soleil... Toi,
l'étranger quand tu mourras
Quand le croc-mort t'emportera
Qu'il te conduise à travers ciel
To God eternal.
Song
for the man from the Auvergne
It is for you this little song
Man of Auvergne who without fuss,
Once gave to me four bits of wood
When in my life there was real cold.
You who gave fire to warm me when
Staid members of the upper crust
All the people with good intent
Had slammed their doors shut in my
face.
It was merely a fire of sticks
But it had warmed my body through
And in my soul it burns on still
In the way a bonfire would do.
You man from Auvergne, when you die
When the mortician bears you off
May he take you across heaven,
To the God
everlasting.
It is for you this little song
You the hostess who, without fuss,
Once gave to me four bits of bread
When in my life there was hunger .
You who opened your larder when
Staid members of the upper crust
All the people with good intent
Enjoyed seeing me go without.
It was merely a bit of bread
But it had warmed my body through
And in my soul, it burns on still
In the way a great feast would do.
You, the hostess, when you will die
When the mortician bears you off,
May he take you across heaven,
To God everlasting.
It is for you this little song
You, the stranger, who, without fuss,
Looking dejected, smiled at me,
When the policemen took me off.
You who didn’t join the applause when
Staid members of the upper crust
All the people with good intent
Laughed to see me be led away.
T'was merely a touch of honey
But it had warmed my body through
And in my soul it burns on still
In the way bright sunshine would do
...
You, the stranger, when you will die
When the mortician bears you off
May he take you across heaven,
To God
everlasting.
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.
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
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 Brassens 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 Planche and the hostess who served him his food is Jeanne. He wrote other songs for Jeanne, the most famous are "Jeanne" and “La cane de Jeanne”. I suspect too that Jeanne was the real heroine of his song "La femme d'Hector"
She was an inveterate animal lover.
Jeanne was Brassens’ mother and companion. But there was 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.
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.
This song meant a lot to Brassens.It was the one song that he included in every performance he gave.It conveys the novelty and the excitement but also the anxiety and the pain of their furtive experiment.The memories of these first loves were very precious to Brassens and he writes about them in numerous other songs.
Il suffit de passer le pont(1)
C'est tout de suite l'aventure(2)
Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon
J't'emmèn' visiter la nature (2)
L'herbe est douce à Pâques fleuries (3)
Jetons mes sabots, tes galoches (4)
Et, légers comme des cabris
Courons après les sons de cloches
Ding din don ! les matines sonnent (5)
En l'honneur de notre bonheur
Ding din dong !(6) faut l'dire à personne
J'ai graissé la patte au sonneur
Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon
Courons, guilleret, guillerette (7)
Il suffit de passer le pont
Et c'est le royaum' des fleurettes(8)
Entre tout's les bell's que voici
Je devin' cell' que tu préfères
C'est pas l'coqu'licot (8), Dieu merci
Ni l'coucou (8), mais la primevère (8)
J'en vois un' blottie sous les feuilles
Elle est en velours comm' tes joues (9)
Fais le guet pendant qu'je la cueille (10)
" Je n'ai jamais aimé que vous "(11)
Il suffit de trois petits bonds
C'est tout de suit' la tarantelle (10)
Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon
J'saurai ménager tes dentelles (11)
J'ai graissé la patte au berger
Pour lui fair' jouer une aubade (12)
Lors, ma mie, sans croire au danger
Faisons mille et une gambades
Ton pied frappe et frappe la mousse
Si l'chardon s'y pique dedans
Ne pleure pas, ma mie qui souffre (13)
Je te l'enlève avec les dents
On n'a plus rien à se cacher
On peut s'aimer comm' bon nous semble
Et tant mieux si c'est un péché (14)
Nous irons en enfer ensemble
Il suffit de passer le pont
Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon
Georges Brassens 1953
All it takes is to cross the bridge
It’s straightaway a love affair
Just let me take hold of your skirt
I’m taking you to view nature
The grass is soft at Easter in bloom
Off with my clogs, your galoshes
And light of foot as baby goats
Let’s run after the sounds of bells
Ding, ding dong ! the morning bells ring
To honour the joy that we feel
Ding, ding dong ! Must not tell a soul
I have greased the bell ringer’s palm.
Just let me take hold of your skirt
Let’s run, lad, lass without a care.
All it takes is t'cross the bridge
And it’s the kingdom of spring flowers
Among all the pretty ones here
I guess the one that you prefer
It’s not the red poppy, thank God
Nor cowslip, but the spring primrose
I see one snug beneath the leaves
It is velvety like your cheeks
Keep a close watch whilst I pluck it
I’ve never loved any’one but you.
All it takes is three little jumps
It’s straight off the wild Tarantell'
Just let me take hold of your skirt
I’ll treat your lace with tender care
I have greased the shepherd boy’s palm
To get him to play a serenade
So, my love, with no thought of risk
Let’s romp a thousand and one times
Your foot keeps pummelling the moss
If a thistle barb gets lodged with
Don’t weep with the pain my love, I’ll pull it out f'you with my teeth.
We’ve naught more to hide from each other
We can share love just as we think fit
All the better, if it’s a sin
We’ll go down to Hell together
All it takes is t'cross the bridge
Just let me take hold of your skirt
TRANSLATION NOTES
1)Il
suffit de passer le pont. There could have been a bridge over a river or
stream for the two young lovers to cross, but the phrase has the same
figurative meaning as in English of negotiating an important juncture in life
eg “We will cross that bridge when we come to it”. With the theme of the poem
in mind there is a further suggestion concerning a part of the anatomy that
forms a bridge. Similarly “jupon” means underskirt but could have an anatomical
interpretation.
2)l'aventure means the adventure but « une
aventure amoureuse » means a love affair.
Une aventure d’un soir is what we call in English slang a
one-night stand.
3)Visiter
la nature –On one plane the boy is inviting his girlfriend to admire the sights
of nature on their country walk but the subtext is that he is to show her the
roles that nature requires a male and a female to play.
4)Pâques
fleuries The easter flowers are a metaphor in this poem and other Brassens’
poems for the arrival of maturity. See note 7.
5)Mes
sabots- the wearing of clogs puts this tale in the 1940s. In my working class
primary school in England at the same period some of my fellow pupils wore
clogs. The clogs of the girl were more ladylike. She wore “galoches” called by
the same name in English “ galoshes” – which are waterproof boots worn over
shoes.
6)Ding din don ! les matines sonnent. Reference
to the children’s song « Frère Jacques ». The poem is about the entry into the
adult world. Perhaps this is a glance back to the world of childhood.
7)Guilleret,
means perky, cheerful and lively – the Collins dictionary says that « être
guilleret » means to be full of beans.
8)c'est le royaum' des fleurettes- coqu'licot
- coucou - primevère. Once again
the young flowers symbolise the arrival of maturity. Each of the flowers quoted
is symbolic. La primevère, tells us in its French name that it is the early
flower. It is the flower of first love. Larousse tells me that a “coucou” is
another primrose that supposedly has medicinal qualities. The line about le coquelicot
would not make sense if it was not explained that "les coquelicots" means menstruation.
9)Elle
est en velours comm' tes joues- another intimate anatomical image.
10)Pendant
qu'je la cueille –Cueillir la fleur has
also a second meaning, which is the theme of this poem.
11)Je
n'ai jamais aimé que vous – It is the first time for the boy as well as for the
girl.
12)La
tarantelle –A very lively and energetic dance from Southern Italy.
13)Dentelles
– Lace, which Larousse defines as something very transparent and light –
another suggestive image in the loss of virginity
.
14)Pour lui fair' jouer une aubade. An
aubade was a serenade traditionally sung under some-one’s window in the
morning. This links with the boy’s request to the girl to keep careful watch so
that they are not caught in the act of love. He had paid the shepherd to sing
his tune if some-one was coming near.
15)Ne
pleure pas, ma mie qui souffre –A moment of pain and a link to what was said in
the image of note 11.
16)C'est un péché – Sex outside marriage is a
mortal sin for which the Roman Catholic church tells its faithful that they
will suffer the punishment of eternal damnation in the fires of Hell. Brassens
was not of the faithful and had no such worries but his partner may not have
been encouraged by the remark.
Some personal thoughts
I have always found this a very happy song with a good tune. It appeared at a time when I was a student, serving one year as an assistant in a French school. I used to enjoy singing it using as many words as I bothered to learn. To me it was the story of two French teenagers going into the country to make love amid the Spring flowers and to get there they had first to cross a bridge.
This is indeed the theme but as I deal with it as a translator, I see it as a more serious poem. It is the story of a boy persuading his girlfriend to yield to him, making love for the first time. Their experience is described graphically in the imagery. I find as translator that the song loses its poetry if each image is analysed too explicitly into the physical. I feel that my translation should leave the imagery on the level of suggestion alone. I shall therefore point out the sexual connotations but avoid going into detail.
The memories of his first loves were very precious to Brassens and recur in many songs. Another is "La premiere fille" . In this song , Brassens says the last girl a man forgets is the first girl he made love to. This may be true but most husbands have to be careful not to agree too openly, when they didn't happen to marry their first love.
This song is ranked among the best-loved songs of Georges Brassens
He has put to music a melancholic poem of Antoine Pol. The poet reviews the attractive women who have passed briefly in and out of his life, because he did know how to take the opportunity for romance. In his later lonely years, he is left with no other consolation than these fleeting pictures in his memory.
Les Passantes
Je veux dédier ce poème
A toutes les femmes qu'on
aime
Pendant quelques instants
secrets
A celles qu'on connait à
peine
Qu'un destin différent
entraîne
Et qu'on ne retrouve
jamais
A celle qu'on voit
apparaître
Une seconde à sa fenêtre
Et qui, preste, s'évanouit
Mais dont la svelte
silhouette
Est si gracieuse et
fluette
Qu'on en demeure épanoui
.
A la fine et souple
valseuse
Qui vous sembla triste et
nerveuse
Par une nuit de carnaval
Qui voulut rester inconnue
Et qui n'est jamais
revenue
Tournoyer dans un autre
bal
A la compagne de voyage
Dont les yeux, charmant
paysage
Font paraître court le
chemin
Qu'on est seul, peut-être,
à comprendre
Et qu'on laisse pourtant
descendre
Sans avoir effleuré sa
main
A celles qui sont déjà
prises
Et qui, vivant des heures
grises
Près d'un être trop
différent (1)
Vous ont, inutile folie,
Laissé voir la mélancolie
D'un avenir désespérant
Chères images aperçues
Espérances d'un jour
déçues
Vous serez dans l'oubli
demain
Pour peu que le bonheur
survienne
Il est rare qu'on se
souvienne
Des épisodes du chemin
Mais si l'on a manqué sa
vie
On songe avec un peu
d'envie
A tous ces bonheurs
entrevus
Aux baisers qu'on n'osa
pas prendre
Aux cœurs qui doivent vous
attendre
Aux yeux qu'on n'a jamais
revus
Alors, aux soirs de
lassitude
Tout en peuplant sa
solitude
Des fantômes du souvenir
On pleure les lèvres
absentes
De toutes ces belles
passantes
Que l'on n'a pas su
retenir
I wish to dedicate this poem
To all of the women that one loves
For just a few secret moments
To those whom you scarcely know
Whom a different fate bears away
And whom you see never again.
To the one whom you saw appear
For a brief second at her window
And who, straightway, is lost from sight
And yet whose slender silhouette
Is so graceful and alluring
You stay there tingling with her glow.
The lithe girl of a stylish waltz
Who to you seemed nervous and sad
On that one night of Carnival.
Who wished to remain a stranger
And who never came back to join
In the whirl of another ball.
To the girl who shared your journey,
Whose eyes, charm to the spectator,
Make the route travelled seem short
Whom just you p'rhaps could understand
And yet whom you allow to go off
Without the mere touch of her hand.
To those women already taken
Who, living long and dull hours
With a person too different
Have let you see, pointless folly.
The depth of the melancholy
Of a future deprived of hope.
Dear images only half seen
Disappointed hopes of just one day
You’ll be quite forgotten the next
If the good times should come along.
It is rare that one remembers
Trivial events on life’s way.
But if you have missed out on life
You ponder with tinges of envy,
All those moments of bliss you glimpsed
The kisses you did not dare take
The hearts which must be left waiting
The eyes that were not seen again.
And so, on wearisome evenings,
While peopling your loneliness
With the phantoms of memory
One weeps for lips, sadly absent,
Of all those beaut’ful passers-by
Whom you knew not how to keep hold.
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.
I've been looking for a good translation of "Les Passantes" for years, so many thanks for this, David. Very well laid out and displayed. Particularly liked the way you incorporated the excellent video. Have you seen the version sung by Francis Cabrel?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C27QQXWle6c
It has some nice bluesy guitar work and a fantastic blues harmonica solo in the middle. 5 minutes of real bliss.
Not surprising that a fellow Libran should have such a love of this beautiful piece of work, and of Brassens generally.
