Le mal de vivre [English translation]

There’s no warning when it comes

It comes from very far

It’s ambled from shore to shore

Like a vagrant

So one morning, when you awake

It’s almost nothing

But it's there, you feel a dull ache

In the hollow of your back

Le mal de vivre

The pain of life

That you must endure

'cause life is worth living

You could wear it across the shoulder

Or as a ring on your finger

As a flower in your buttonhole

Or pinned to your bosom

It's not always misery

It's not Gettysburg or trench warfare

But your eyes fill up with tears

When darkness comes, and at dawn

Le mal de vivre

The pain of life

That you must endure

'cause life is worth living

Whether one’s from Rome or America

From London or from Peking

Or from Egypt or even Africa

Or Saint-Martin’s gate in Paris

We all pray the same prayer

We all take the same path

Which feels so long when you have to walk it

With an aching back

Even when they try to understand us

Those who come to us with empty hands

We no longer want to listen

We can’t take it, we have no more strength

And alone in the silence

Of a night that won’t end

All of a sudden we think about

Those who did not make it out

Of their sorrowful life

The life of pain

That they had to endure

'cause life is worth living

And with no warning, it comes

Likes a stranger

Who’s ambled from shore to shore

With a sly smile

So one morning, when you awake

It's almost nothing

But it's there, It feels marvelous

In the hollow of your back

La joie de vivre

The joy of life

Oh, come live it

Your joyous life

• Artist:Barbara