Autrefois pour faire sa cour --- Yesteryear to court someone
On parlait d'amour --- One would speak of love
Pour mieux prouver son ardeur --- To prove one's flame
On offrait son coeur --- One would give one's heart
Aujourd'hui, c'est plus pareil. --- Nowadays it ain't the same
Ça change, ça change --- How things change
Pour séduire le cher ange. --- To seduce the dear angel
On lui glisse à l'oreille: --- One whispers in her ear:
Ah? Gudule! --- Ah? Gudule!
Viens m'embrasser. --- Kiss me at once.
Et je te donnerai --- I will give you
Un frigidaire --- A fridge
Un joli scooter --- A nice scooter
Un atomixer --- An atomixer
Et du Dunlopillo --- And Dunlopilo
Une cuisinière --- A stove
Avec un four en verre --- With a glass oven
Des tas de couverts --- All manners of flatware
Et des pelles à gâteaux --- And cake slices
Une tourniquette --- A roto-whip' it
Pour fair' la vinaigrette --- To do the vinaigrette
Un bel aérateur --- A nice aerator
Pour bouffer les odeurs --- To snuff up the odors
Des draps qui chauffent --- Self-warming bedsheets
Un pistolet à gaufres --- A waffle gun
Un avion pour deux --- A plane for two
Et nous serons heureux! --- And we will be happy!
Autrefois s'il arrivait --- Yesteyear if it turned out
Que l'on se querelle --- That there'd be some quarrel
L'air lugubre on s'en allait --- One would leave, bleak faced
En laissant la vaisselle --- Without cleaning the dishes
Aujourd'hui, que voulez-vous? --- Today, what can I say?
La vie est si chère --- The cost of living is so high
On dit: rentre chez ta mère --- One says: you go back to your mother
Et l'on se garde tout! --- And one keeps it all
Ah! Gudule! --- Ah! Gudule!
Excuse-toi --- Apologize
Ou je reprends tout ça! --- Or I take it all back!
Mon frigidaire --- My fridge
Mon armoire à cuillères --- My spoon cabinet
Mon évier en fer --- My iron sink
Et mon poêl' à mazout --- And my fuel stove
Mon cire-godasses --- My shoe-shiner
Mon repasse-limaces --- My slug-iron
Mon tabouret à glace --- My icecream chair
Et mon chasse-filous --- My crook-bugger
La tourniquette --- The roto-whip'it
A faire la vinaigrette --- To do the vinaigrette
Le ratatine-ordures --- The garbage press
Et le coupe-friture --- And the fried-food muncher
0 Replies
Olivier5
2
Reply
Sat 5 Apr, 2014 04:34 pm
Boris Vian - La complainte du progrès (1956):
[Youtube]http://youtu.be/9PTqTjHs5c0[/youtube]
Autrefois pour faire sa cour --- Yesteryear to court someone
On parlait d'amour --- One would speak of love
Pour mieux prouver son ardeur --- To prove one's flame
On offrait son coeur --- One would give one's heart
Aujourd'hui, c'est plus pareil. --- Nowadays it ain't the same
Ça change, ça change --- How things change
Pour séduire le cher ange. --- To seduce the dear angel
On lui glisse à l'oreille: --- One whispers in her ear:
Ah? Gudule! --- Ah? Gudule!
Viens m'embrasser. --- Kiss me at once.
Et je te donnerai --- I will give you
Un frigidaire --- A fridge
Un joli scooter --- A nice scooter
Un atomixer --- An atomixer
Et du Dunlopillo --- And Dunlopilo
Une cuisinière --- A stove
Avec un four en verre --- With a glass oven
Des tas de couverts --- All manners of flatware
Et des pelles à gâteaux --- And cake slices
Une tourniquette --- A roto-whip' it
Pour fair' la vinaigrette --- To do the vinaigrette
Un bel aérateur --- A nice aerator
Pour bouffer les odeurs --- To snuff up the odors
Des draps qui chauffent --- Self-warming bedsheets
Un pistolet à gaufres --- A waffle gun
Un avion pour deux --- A plane for two
Et nous serons heureux! --- And we will be happy!
Autrefois s'il arrivait --- Yesteyear if it turned out
Que l'on se querelle --- That there'd be some quarrel
L'air lugubre on s'en allait --- One would leave, bleak faced
En laissant la vaisselle --- Without cleaning the dishes
Aujourd'hui, que voulez-vous? --- Today, what can I say?
La vie est si chère --- The cost of living is so high
On dit: rentre chez ta mère --- One says: you go back to your mother
Et l'on se garde tout! --- And one keeps it all
Ah! Gudule! --- Ah! Gudule!
Excuse-toi --- Apologize
Ou je reprends tout ça! --- Or I take it all back!
Mon frigidaire --- My fridge
Mon armoire à cuillères --- My spoon cabinet
Mon évier en fer --- My iron sink
Et mon poêl' à mazout --- And my fuel stove
Mon cire-godasses --- My shoe-shiner
Mon repasse-limaces --- My slug-iron
Mon tabouret à glace --- My icecream chair
Et mon chasse-filous --- My crook-bugger
La tourniquette --- The roto-whip'it
A faire la vinaigrette --- To do the vinaigrette
Le ratatine-ordures --- The garbage press
Et le coupe-friture --- And the fried-food muncher
Et si la belle --- And if the belle
Se montre encore rebelles --- Likes to rebel
On la fiche dehors --- One kicks her out
Pour confier son sort --- To entrust one's fate
Au frigidaire --- To the frige
À l'efface-poussière --- The dust-eraser
À la cuisinière --- The stove
Au lit qu'est toujours fait --- The ever-made bed
Au chauffe-savates --- The slipper-warmer
Au canon à patates --- The potato cannon
À l'éventre-tomates --- The tomato ripper
À l'écorche-poulet --- And the chicken skinner
Mais très très vite --- But very soon
On reçoit la visite --- One will meet
D'une tendre petite --- With a tender petite
Qui vous offre son coeur --- Who offers one her love
Alors on cède --- And one gives in
Car il faut bien qu'on s'entraide --- One must help each other
Et l'on vit comme ça --- And one lives like that
Jusqu'à la prochaine fois --- Untill the next time
0 Replies
Letty
2
Reply
Sat 5 Apr, 2014 05:53 pm
edgar, I'm assuming that ak ak ak meant awful.
Going to say goodnight with two song. First Allan Clarke whose birthday is today and he was a member of the Hollies.
One of the good things about the punk/reggae explosion of the late 70s was the amount of political music that got into the charts. This is one of the best. As relevant today as it was then.
Izz with a y. Welcome back. Offshore Banking Business was great. I was wondering if the banks are in trouble here.
edgar, missed In the Still of the night. Great one
Thank you, some more Mat Johnson, written years before war in Iraq war, but it could just have well have been written about either war. I've highlighted my favourite lines.
Flight leader, this is "Combat" your forward end controller
I have three targets for you
Your first target is a blockhouse, target number 11 at the north-east corner of the combat zone, request: Napalm
Rodger, flight leader, the identity of your request is, eh, batch of Napalm on the blockhouse in the north-east corner of the target area
Flight leader, understand, 30 seconds
White flag, this is "Combat", we have you in sight
Roll on to the west, call to confirm you have target area, a'ight
Six o'clock in the morning and I'm the last person in this plane still awake
Y'know I can almost smell the blood washing against the shores of this land that can't forget it's past Oh the wind that carries this plane is the wind of change, heaven sent and hell bent Over the mountain tops we go, just like all the other GI Joe's, adios
This is your captain calling (With an urgent warning), we're above the gulf of Arabia (Our altitude is falling)
And I can't hold her up (There's no time for thinking), all hands on deck (This bird is sinking)
Across the beaches and cranes, rivers and trains, all the money I've made, bodies I've maimed
Time was when I seemed to know, just like any other GI Joe Should I cry like a baby, or die like a man while all the planets little wars start joining hands? Oh what a heaven, what a hell, y'know there's nothing could be done in this whole wide world
Arabia
I don't know what's wrong or right, I'm just a regular guy with bottled up insides
I ain't ever been to church or believed in Jesus Christ but I'm praying that God's with you when you die
This is your captain calling (With an urgent warning), we're above the gulf of Arabia (Our altitude is falling)
And I can't hold her up (There's no time for thinking), all hands on deck (This bird is sinking)
Arabia, Arabia, Arabia, Arabia, Arabia, Arabia, Arabia, Arabia, Arabia, Arabia, Arabia, Arabia, Arabia, Arabia
