La complainte de Mandrin [English translation]

There were twenty or thirty

of us bandits in our group

all dressed in white

in the fashion of, you know,

all dressed in white

in the fashion of merchants.

The first theft I ever

committed in my life

it was when I lifted

the purse of a, you know,

it was when I lifted

the purse of a priest.

I went into his bedroom,

My God, it was so big,

I found a thousand écus,

I swiped them, you know,

I found a thousand écus,

I swiped them for myself.

I went into another,

my God, how high the ceilings!

With gowns and coats,

I filled up three, you know,

with gowns and coats

I filled up three whole carts.

I took them off to sell

at the fair in Holland

I sold them very cheaply

They had cost me, you know,

I sold them very cheaply,

They had cost me nothing.

Those judges from Grenoble,

with their long gowns

and their square hats,

soon had me, you know,

and their square hats,

soon had me convicted.

They condemned me to hang

It was hard to hear

To hang and to strangle,

in the square, you know,

To hang and to strangle,

in the square of the market.

I climbed to the scaffold,

I looked at France,

I saw my companions,

in the shade, you know,

I saw my companions

in the shade of a bush.

Companions in misery

go tell my mother

that she'll see me no more

I'm a child, you know,

that she'll see me no more

I'm a child who is lost.

• Artist:Yves Montand