Betty [English translation]

You can't stay asleep, you smoke, you're awake,

you're all bruised and grazed.

You're like a sad cat, left there, on the list

of things lost and found.

The prison's night-light's falling on the ground..

on that icy bed...

Coming and going, the sun and the smiles

ar' on the other side.

Those walls, those fences,

those doors, those cages

Corridors, those keys...

And this solitude, so harsh and so rough

that you can touch it.

The long moonlight beam

designs on the ground,

the forgotten face,

of the one you love, pulling on his chain,

like a wounded wolf.

Betty, do not break down.

Betty, do not sink down.

I know, they have stuck you, there,

and then, they have shut down

all their iron bars.

Betty, don't go crying

Betty, and don't shiver.

I know, you gonna stay there.

You'd like never to wake

up or dream again.

I say ''I love you'', in this short poem

in this so long kiss.

You are my sister, just a feminine

I've managed to rhyme.

I give you my strength, my words and my notes

Just to warm you up.

I loathe all morals,

penitentiaries

all the county gaols.

I can't stay asleep, I'm smoking, awake

and I have written

a simple love-song, just a rescue-song

for the other side.

For those who get dumped

down in the dungeon

and in the darkness

while common people

sleeping on their norms

remain fast asleep..

Betty, do not break down.

Betty, do not sink down.

I know, they have stuck you, there,

and then, they have shut down

all their iron bars.

Betty, don't go crying

Betty, and don't shiver.

You know, one day, we'll be there,

Elsewhere, in broad daylight.

• Artist:Bernard Lavilliers
• Album:Nuit d'Amour (1981)