A keresés eredménye

Ready-To-Wear

Being the plaything of a handful of rich
is embracing the fate of a poodle.
Sewing dresses for ambassador wives
what is it, except interior decoration?
 
It's not under the posh roofs
that conventions are challenged,
not under the lounge chandeliers
that revolutions are made.
 
Fashion is a woman in a Jaguar
whom I want to put on the street.
 
Dressing a few fashionable models
only causes a stir in Vogue.
Now that queens ask for me
I feel like a fashion designer for old ladies.
 
It's not in editorial boards
that conventions are challenged,
not during opening night screenings
that revolutions are made.
 
Fashion is a woman in a Bentley
whom I want to make shameless.
 
Being the plaything of a handful of rich
is embracing the fate of a poodle.
Sewing dresses for ambassador wives
what is it, except interior decoration?
 
It's not under the posh roofs
that groundswells are initiated,
not under the lounge chandeliers
that the world is changed for good.
 
Fashion designers have to be willing
to think of ready-to-wear.
 
Dressing a few fashionable models
only causes a stir in Vogue.
Now that queens ask for me
I feel like a fashion designer for old ladies.
 

Dancing is Natural

What gave you the idea of dancing?
Don't think about it, she says to me.
The idea never came to me
Dancing is natural
 
Then how do you manage to dance so well?
It just happens, she says to me
It starts when I wake up in the morning
Dancing is natural
 
Driving, slowly
Let your fingers play tambourine on the steering wheel
Forget everything, throw everything away
Your nightmares, your memories, as you get up
 
The less you think, the more you dance
It's a shame, she says to me
You don't know that you have wings
That's all
 
Don't you do anything else with all your time?
You aren't there, she says to me
Everything we do, we can do it while dancing
Dancing is natural
 
Come and dance, we have our whole life ahead of us
Don't think about it, she says to me
As soon as we dance together it complicates everything
Dancing is natural
 
Driving, slowly,
Thrown around in an old car,
Forget everything, throw everything away
You will see how good the journey seems
 
The less you think, the more you dance
It's a shame, she says to me
You don't know that you have wings
That's all
 
Don't you ever need anyone, then?
Need who? she says to me
To dance, you need nothing
Dancing is natural
 
What gave you the idea of dancing?
Don't think about it, she says to me.
The idea never came to me
Dancing is natural
 

Ivory Hunter

Escaping from here
And seeing other countries
Running away far from here
Towards other paradises
One day saying 'Go'
Away to the Congo
Go, ready, steady, go
Tam-tams and bongos
I see myself as an ivory hunter
Just the story to see there
Clearer in my thoughts
Colour of ebony
Chasing my troubles, chasing my worries,
Hunter, Ivory hunter
Just the story to see there
Instead of ferocious girls
The elephant and the rhinoceros
 
Escaping from here
And seeing other countries
Running away far from here
Towards other paradises
Merchant of dreams, running away
Like an arms trafficker
Seeing my dugout capsize
On the torrents of tears
I see myself as an ivory hunter
Just the story to see there
Clearer in my thoughts
Colour of ebony
Chasing my troubles, chasing my worries,
Hunter, Ivory hunter
Just the story to see there
Instead of ferocious girls
The elephant and the rhinoceros
In the place of the one who lies
The snake, the caiman
In the place of girls in cages
The black panther and the wildcat
 
~3oudicca

Manuréva

Manu,
Where are you, Manu Manuréva?
A ghost ship, you dreamed
of islands and never made it there.
 
Where are you, Manu Manuréva?
Reported missing Manuréva
You drifted for days on end
but never ever made it
over there.
 
Did you run agrond the Jamaican coast?
Oh, heroic Manuréva...
Do you rest on Santiago's or Cuba's reefs?
Where are you, Manuréva?
Among the Alaskan ices, ah-ah?
 
Where are you, Manu Manuréva?
Reported missing Manuréva
A ghost ship, you dreamed
of islands and never made it there.
 
You drifted, oh, Manuréva
away, Manuréva,
over there.
 
Did you glimse the lights of Nouméa?
Oh, heroic Manuréva.
Would you have sunk off Bora-Bora?
Where are you, Manuréva, ah-ah?
Among the Alaskan ices, ah-ah?
 
Where are you, Manu Manuréva?
Reported missing Manuréva
You drifted for days on end
but never ever made it
over there.
 
Over there
Over there
 
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Bamboo

Bamboo
in your silences I can make out
Bamboo
African grils from Abyssinia
Bamboo
in your mutism, your delirium
Bamboo
spans from Angola to Zaire
 
Bamboo travels through her mind
she stands next to me and yet already left me
All of Bamboo's silences
scream inside my head and drive me mad
 
Bamboo
in you vagrant stare I can make out1
Bamboo
fever with tropical moistness
Bamboo
as your pupils dilate
Bamboo
murky pond water gets reflected in them
 
The rainy season is over
Bamboo is done crying
she was quick to console herself
All of Bamboo's silences
scream inside my head and drive me mad
 
You are desert, Bamboo
and jungle, Bamboo
a bamboo forest
and a sunstroke2
 
Bamboo
in your silences I can make out
Bamboo
African grils from Abyssinia
Bamboo
in your concussions
Bamboo
I see Equatoril Africa
 
You are desert, Bamboo
and jungle, Bamboo
a bamboo forest
and a sunstroke
 

• 1. 'se dessiner' and 'se dévoiler' basically mean 'can be glimpsed' or 'can be made out' as I translated it
• 2. lit. 'a bamboo stroke'. another of Mr. Chamfort's little puns

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A fever in my blood

Soon as I saw her I knew
the girl meant trouble
and indeed I got into some
 
I just had to get her
even if I had to get swallowed
by heaven or hell.
 
She's as beautiful as
a royal blood princess,
the kind that make a man
weak and languid
 
I got a fever in my blood
this girl makes my blood boil
like a teenager
I'm losing it, damnit
 
I've got a fever in my blood
I feel this story
won't end without
a bloodbath.
 
Had I seen the golden ring
around her finger, I might have fled,
but probably not.
 
What is this demon up to,
as she says to me 'let's get rid
of all obstacles between us'?
 
She speaks like
a royal blood princess,
the kind that make men
more than obedient
 
I got a fever in my blood
this girl makes my blood boil
like a teenager
I'm losing it, damnit
 
I've got a fever in my blood
I feel this story
won't end without
a bloodbath.
 
As it weakens us, doesn't love
eventually become
a potent poison?
 
I got a fever in my blood
this girl makes my blood boil
like a teenager
I'm losing it, damnit
 
I've got a fever in my blood
I feel this story
won't end without
a bloodbath.
 
I got a fever in my blood
this girl makes my blood boil
like a teenager
I'm losing it, damnit
 
I've got a fever in my blood
I feel this story
won't end without
a bloodbath.
 
I got a fever in my blood
this girl makes my blood boil
like a teenager
I'm losing it, damnit
 
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Smudges of you

You surrender to me without a confession
when I want to love you.
You let fall a tear of emotion
in your cleavage
 
and I'd like to find the right words
but I no longer really know
whether I should trust your God or your breasts1,
and then on my skin you leave
smudges of you2
 
All that I see there in your eyes
is my private business.
And love is the only kind of conversation
I want to have3
And even if I often
envy your youth
and stick to it like a slave
would to his mistress,
it's on my skin I want to keep
smudges of you.
 
All the tears of heaven can wash me away for all I care
when your heart goes
bang bang bang
All the African tom-toms, me, I make them dance
when your heart goes
bang bang bang
Love is not rocket science, you know,
but still you sent me into orbit4
 
Tonight I want us to dance
the apocalypso5
as if it was the end of the world
(the apocalypso)
and even if life eventually drives all lovers apart6,
efen if the guardians of Eden are causing us trouble,
in my soul I want to keep
smudges of you
 
All the tears of heaven can wash me away for all I care
when your heart goes
bang bang bang
 
All the African tom-toms, me, I make them dance
when your heart goes
bang bang bang
love is not rocket science, you know,
but still you sent me into orbit
 

• 1. 'saint'(saint) and 'sein'(breast) sound exactly the same
• 2. pun on 'traces de doigt' (smudges of finger marks)
• 3. 'faire' is used in 'faire l'amour'(make love) but 'refaire' alludes to 'refaire le monde'(set the world to rights)
• 4. the original idiomatic pun says 'love is not wizardry but you bewitched me alright'
• 5. A calypso with an apocalyptic twist, why not?
• 6. a wink to

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It's serious, so smile

Hey little Miss Blue
I see your mascara
on your cheeks.
It's streaming down
 
I agree with you:
bastards, the lot of 'em.
Still, drop your
water painting act.
 
There are better things to do
when fate dogs you.
Breaking into tears
is just too common.
 
It's serious, so smile.
Only jokes require
the utmost seriousness.
It's serious, so smile.
If you're disappointed in gods,
give them a radiant face.
Since it's so serious,
have a little smile.
 
Dear Miss Blue, the world
is not all rosy.
There is red everywhere,
and for a reason.
 
It's not ketchup [you see]
on the evening news.
Lots of blues
on this old turntable.
 
The more reason
to keep your cool
as everything
collapses around you.
 
It's serious, so smile.
Only jokes require
the utmost seriousness.
It's serious, so smile.
If you're disappointed in gods,
give them a radiant face.
Since it's so serious,
have a little smile...
 
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Love in France

Your eyes in my eyes
And your hand in my hand:
That is love in France.
A bike on the edge of the road:
That is love in France.
All the mandolins on Earth
Play our melody,
We close our eyes
To be in Italy.
 
The shining Sun,
The singing birds:
That is love in France.
And you, who love me
As much as I love you,
You know that as long as there are
Hearts pulsing
For a song
With daily words
That will always be love in France.
 
The spring, summer, autumn
And then winter all pass by,
I am always with you
By the sea,
You are the most beautiful woman,
You will always be the one with
Which it will never be over.
 
The aeroplane that brings you midday:
That is love in France.
The waves that rock our flowery dreams:
That is love in France.
When, sometimes, it happens
To have a fight out of jealousy,
We know that we will
Make peace anyway.
 
A crying baby,
A hand that's reaching out:
That is love in France.
And you, who love me
As much as I love you,
You know that as long as there are
Hearts pulsing
For songs
With daily words
That will always be love in France.
 
An accordion
Playing at a ball:
That is love in France.
A girl is leaving you and that hurts you:
That is love in France.
All the mandolins on Earth
Play our melody,
We close our eyes
To be in Italy.
 
That is love in France...
 

Giant

She is three years old, I am crazy about her
She totally lights up my life
I wake up to see her at night
The good, the bad, she doesn't know
She smells of soap, I find her beautiful
All she asks is to be loved
 
She opens her very big eyes
She is so sure of me
That I feel a bit like how she sees me
 
Refrain
Like a giant
Like a giant
Now I have someone
Who truly believes in me
Like a giant
Like a giant
When one is loved
One can do anything, I believe
 
Some mornings, I don't feel well
But she has nothing to do with nothing
She wants to tell me about her life
There are forests, lost lakes
Phantom trains, hunchbacked kings
There are yellow dwarves under the rain
 
And then the hour arrives
We leave our kingdom
I carry her all happy on my shoulders
 
Refrain x2
 
She is ten years old, I am crazy about her