Ça balance pas mal à Paris [English translation]

FG: I was born there

MB: not in Memphis

FG: I'm from Paris

MB: Not a higher-up1

FG: I never knew Cab Calloway

MB: I never produced anything on Broadway

FG: I know Passy2

MB: not Albany

FG: I'm no Yankee

MB: You're a true Parisian3

FG: I'm not the jingo type4

MB: Not all is good in Ohio

Both: The swing isn't bad5 in Paris

Both: The swing isn't bad

Both: The swing isn't bad in Paris

Both: There's swing [there] too

(x2)

FG: I wanna do a show

MB: I'd be happy to

FG: Put something new [in it]

MB: This is all I want

FG: But I don't want to mimic Ginger Rogers

MB: Why always America first6?

FG: West Side Story

MB: is dead and gone

FG: Les parapluies

MB: That was nice

FG: But I want to do something really personal

MB: We'll have to work, but why not?

Both: The swing isn't bad in Paris

Both: The swing isn't bad

Both: The swing isn't bad in Paris

Both: There's swing [there] too

(x2)

MB: tapdancing is a thing of the past

Both: The Metro Goldwin Mayer is no longer the best7

Both: The swing isn't bad in Paris

Both: The swing isn't bad

Both: The swing isn't bad in Paris

Both: There's swing [there] too

(x2)

The swing isn't bad

The swing isn't bad

The swing isn't bad in Paris

There's swing [there] too

The swing isn't bad

The swing isn't bad

The swing isn't bad

There's swing [there] too

1. that could be understood as "pas [fils/fille] de famille"(the son/daugher of a whealthy familiy) or simply "[je n'ai] pas de famille"(I've got no family)2. a wealthy near suburb of Paris3. "titi" is a kind of archetype for Paris inhabitants4. lit. "I'm not all for cock-a-doodle-doos". An allusion to the cockerel, France's national symbol, in a slightly derisive way5. could be read as "there's quite a bit of swing in Paris", but the other meaning is valid too, and easier to translate :)6. Not exactly the current meaning. Trump was a long way from becoming president at the time :)7. couldn't really mimic the assonance "Mayer / meilleure"

• Artist:France Gall
• Album:1976