Bonjour tristesse [English translation]
Bonjour tristesse [English translation]
As
I am the elegant man
I put on the gloves to drive
In Françoise Sagan's1 extravagant racing cars
In her novels, in her short stories
This lady miss2 mixes
Some pretty frail melancholies
And I sing my ritornello to her glory
Hello
Sadness3
That mad ache4, The leash5
Engagements
of the Heart6
Do you like Brahms7?
See the happiness as it passes
Let's go see what replaces it
At the Bristol Palace8
At the Black Jack, at the Chemin de Fer9, at the passing tricks
Young girls, a little naughty
That older gentlemen tease
At the edge of very pretty swimming pools
In gorgeous Jaguars and Aston Martins10
Hello
Sadness
That mad ache, The leash
The weather is nice
Day and night
The horse had passed out11
Love, it's Chinese12
The ladies and their pretty faces
The gentlemen are also drowning
In the whiskey, the dream, and the walnut alcohol
You have to see what they're going through
How hard love is
Oh it leaves deep wounds
Of which we speak casually
Hello
Sadness
That mad ache, The leash
The eyes
of silk13
Happiness, odd and passing14
As I am the elegant man
I put on the gloves to drive
Hello
Sadness
1. Françoise Sagan (1935-2004), French writer.2. Madame Mademoiselle are the full words3. Hello Sadness is Françoise Sagan's first novel (1954)4. F.Sagan's novel (1965)5. Novel of F.Sagan (1989)6. F.Sagan's novel (1985), also known as A Reluctant Hero in other translations7. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), German : composer, pianist, conductor. It's mainly here the title of F.Sagan's novel (1959)8. Bristol Palace is a 4-star luxury hotel in Italy9. Literally the "Railroad": it's a card game coming from the card game Baccarat, it was exclusively played by aristocratics and became illegal in mid 18th century10. They are luxury racing cars11. F.Sagan's play: Le cheval évanoui (1966)12. French popular saying that means: "a language so different from mine that I can't understand it"13. F.Sagan's short story (1977)14. F.Sagan's play: Bonheur, impair et passe (1964)
- Artist:Alain Souchon
- Album:La vie Théodore