Le coq et la pendule [English translation]

In a farm somewhere in Poitou

A cock was in love with a clock

There's no accounting for taste

But the rooster had good taste, for that matter

For the clock was magnificent

And had such a sweet, sweet ticking

That Time was obsessed

With spending time with her

In a farm somewhere in Poitou

A cock was in love with a clock

From dusk till dawn,

And even at nighttime, like an owl

Love making him a night bird,

With cock-a-doodles in his throat

The cock would dream of his clock

In Poitou

In a farm somewhere in Poitou

A cock was in love with a clock

He would have them outraged chicken

Come home to roost and cackle

What of this rooster, this roaster,

This strange bird, this old bat,

That looks down upon us and never

Fowls around?

In a farm somewhere in Poitou

A cock was in love with a clock

Ladies, talk about a man,

There he is singing on his knees:

"Fair clock, I adore you

Ah! Let me woo you

You are my golden-hour chicken

My love."

In a farm somewhere in Poitou

A cock was in love with a clock

It is time we came to the end

Of this ridiculous cock tale

Of this cocky cock

Singing dusk at midnight,

"Is he running fast - or am I running late?"

The clock would wonder

Giving him the glad hand

With her pretty face,

Listening to her Don Juan

Eating out her hand

To imagine how he died

There's no need to be a seer

The clock rings for dinner time

Coq au vin

In a farm somewhere in Poitou

A cock was in love with a clock

• Artist:Claude Nougaro