hi all
can please some one translate this song

Au bistro comme toujours
Il y a les beaux discours.
Au poteau les pourris
Les corrompus aussi.
Dents blanches et carnassiers.
Mais a la premier occasion
Chacun deviendrait le larron
De la foire au pognon qui se trame ici.
Allez dance avec Johnny.
Se rappellent de la France
Ont des reminiscences
De l'ordre, des jeux, le l'essence
Quand on vivait mieux.
Il y avait Paul et Mickey
On pouvait discuter.
Mais c'est Mickey qui a gagne.
Allez d'accord, n'en parlons plus.
Un autre jour en France,
Des prieres pour l'audience.
Et quelques fachisants
autour de 15 pourcents.
Charlie, defend moi!
C'est le temps des menaces
On a pas le choix pile en face.
Et aujourd'hui je jure que
rien ne se passe.
Toujours un peu plus.
FN, souffrances,
Qu'on est bien en France!
C'est l'heure de changer la monnaie.
On devra encore imprimer le
reve de l'egalite,
On devra jamais supprimer
celui de la fraternite.
Restent des pointilles!

i like how the song sounds but i dont understand french >_<
thanks

fgsvsd

Switzerland348 Posts

June 05 2008 22:47 GMT

Sounds like a "do my homework for me" thread.

zurg

1923 Posts

June 05 2008 22:58 GMT

my school is over and thats the prob >_<
10 years out of school and 10years no french

d4d

Switzerland1066 Posts

June 05 2008 22:59 GMT

A simple translation wouldn't do.
This song is full of cultural references and play on words, to appreciate it (the lyrics), you gotta learn the language, sorry mate!
It is about french people being more and more fascist and selfish...

Nitro68

France470 Posts

June 05 2008 23:08 GMT

yeah it will be really hard to translate, especially if you want to understand what it really means.

OctoPuSs

Canada5279 Posts

June 05 2008 23:17 GMT

Very hard to translate -.-

Bill307

Canada9103 Posts

June 06 2008 00:24 GMT

I can't translate a lot of those words but I'm going to translate the song anyhow, just for laughs and to keep my French skills from completely wasting away.

Maybe someone who has better vocab than me, or who actually speaks French, can fill in the gaps.

+ Show Spoiler [incomplete translation] +

Au bistro comme toujours -- At the bistro like always

Il y a les beaux discours. -- There are beautiful discours ("discourses"?)

Au poteau les pourris -- At the potpourri (I don't even know what a potpourri is in English.

)

Les corrompus aussi. -- And at the corrompus as well.

Dents blanches et carnassiers. -- White teeth and carnassiers.

Mais a la premier occasion -- But at the first occasion

Chacun deviendrait le larron -- Each becomes the larron

De la foire au pognon qui se trame ici. -- Of the foire au pognon which trame itself here.

Allez dance avec Johnny. -- Go dance with Johnny.

Se rappellent de la France -- Se rappellent of France ("Call yourself French again"?)

Ont des reminiscences -- Have memories

De l'ordre, des jeux, le l'essence -- Of order, of games, the essence

Quand on vivait mieux. -- When one lives better. (I can't remember how to translate imperfect tense correctly, but I think this is correct.)

Il y avait Paul et Mickey -- There were Paul and Mickey (Not sure about this one, though.)

On pouvait discuter. -- One could discuss. (Ditto.)

Mais c'est Mickey qui a gagne. -- But it's Mickey who won.

Allez d'accord, n'en parlons plus. -- Go okay ("Nevermind"?), speak of it no more.

Un autre jour en France, -- Another day in France,

Des prieres pour l'audience. -- Des prieres for the audience.

Et quelques fachisants -- And some fachisants

autour de 15 pourcents. -- Around 15 percent.

Charlie, defend moi! -- Charlie, defend me!

C'est le temps des menaces -- It's the time of menaces (?)

On a pas le choix pile en face. -- One does not have the choice pile en face.

Et aujourd'hui je jure que -- And today I jure that

rien ne se passe. -- Nothing se passe. (I should know this one. >_< )

Toujours un peu plus. -- Always a little more.

FN, souffrances, -- FN, souffrances,

Qu'on est bien en France! -- That one is well in France!

C'est l'heure de changer la monnaie. -- It's time to change the monnaie. ("money"?)

On devra encore imprimer le -- One must still imprimer the

reve de l'egalite, -- dream of equality,

On devra jamais supprimer -- One must never supprimer

celui de la fraternite. -- the dream of fraternity.

Restent des pointilles! -- Des pointilles rest!

Edit: Okay, I'm done editing this. Tried to make a few parts sound more natural and less directly-translated.

KarlSberg~

731 Posts

June 06 2008 00:32 GMT

I'll give it a try. I'm french so that should help, but some parts are not very clear and don't make much sense in french.

In the bar as always
Nice words are spoken.
Get rid of the rotten
And the corrupt.
White teethed flesh eaters.
But when the chance comes
Anyone would be part
Of the money bedlam that's taking place.
Come on, dance with Johnny. (very popular and mainstream singer in France)
They remember France,
Have recollections
Of order, games, oil,
When life was better.
There was Paul and Mickey (Mickey is US culture, don't know who "Paul" is supposed to be)
And one could discuss
But Mickey won
So ok... let's forget it.
An other day in France
Pray for viewing figures.
Some fascistic
Around 15% (refering to 1995 presidential elections)
Charlie, protect me! (Charlie Hebdo is a very liberal, independent newspaper)
Its a time of menace
No choice, heads or tails
Today I swear
Nothing happens
Always a little more. (this part doesn't make much sense in french)
FN, suffering (FN:Front National is the party that was refered to as fascistic)
We are so well in France
It's time to change money (change of currency from Franc to Euro)
We still must print
The dream for Equality
Never remove that for Fraternity
Still suspension points remain ("Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité" is France's motto so the suspension points are obviously refering to freedom)

Bill307

Canada9103 Posts

June 06 2008 00:49 GMT

Thanks Karlsberg.

It was nice to brush-up on my French.

God I made some stupid mistakes, like mixing up "rien" and "personne" (which I actually went back and fixed) and then getting stuck on "se passe" even though I know what "Qu'est-ce qui se passe?" means. -_-;; Oh well, making embarassing mistakes is a good way to learn. (Please nobody read my translation, lol.)

"Always a little more. (this part doesn't make much sense in french)" - lol, that was the part that made the most sense to me.

Edit: Karlsberg didn't translate the title! Don't worry, I got this one covered!

Black Desire - A Day in France

Groslouser

France337 Posts

June 06 2008 00:59 GMT

#10

ok, you were faster than me, i'll try to explain some puns/meaning here.
First This song was written in the middle of the 90's, not a really good decade for France, it is very ironic and sour.

Au bistro comme toujours
Il y a les beaux discours.
Au poteau les pourris
Les corrompus aussi.

Like in every country, in french pubs, every one remake the world at every single glass

Mais a la premier occasion
Chacun deviendrait le larron
De la foire au pognon qui se trame ici.

But hey, despite these nice words at the first opening, most would be part of the money fair happening in France

Se rappellent de la France
Ont des reminiscences
De l'ordre, des jeux, le l'essence

Ok, this refers to the roman empire "Order, games (gladiators) and bread" was the moto of the roman politicians to control the population, the single difference for france is oil in place of bread, but nothing has changed this last 2000 years.

Il y avait Paul et Mickey
On pouvait discuter.
Mais c'est Mickey qui a gagne.
Allez d'accord, n'en parlons plus.

Mickey is US, paul USSR, most french were looking for a third way between communism and capitalism:socialism , but US won, now everything linked to communism is taboo and in fact socialist are now the same as capitalist (a quite common feeling among the french population)

Un autre jour en France,
Des prieres pour l'audience.
Et quelques fachisants
autour de 15 pourcents.

Back to the 90's when the song was written, Jean-Marie LePen, ruler of the FN, a facist group used populism and an high presence on tv to get 15% at several elections, including presidentials.

Correct me if i am wrong. Ho i gave up with the translation of the puns, its too hard for me and my shitty english

.kaz

1963 Posts

June 06 2008 01:04 GMT

#11

A little bit off topic~
Bill307 Potpourri is the woodchip like scented stuff that you put in bowls or as decoration to make your house smell better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potpourri

Wikipedia link if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Capulet

Canada686 Posts

June 06 2008 01:13 GMT

#12

On June 06 2008 09:24 Bill307 wrote:
I can't translate a lot of those words but I'm going to translate the song anyhow, just for laughs and to keep my French skills from completely wasting away.

Maybe someone who has better vocab than me, or who actually speaks French, can fill in the gaps.

+ Show Spoiler [incomplete translation] +