Le petit monsieur triste [English translation]

This little sad man,

he's never out before dark

and has serious troubles,

but he is so selfish,

he keeps them to himself.

And all the serious troubles

of the little sad man

are trailing after him,

running in the night,

galloping in pursuit

of the little sad man

who's got a lot of troubles.

The little sad man

is very sad indeed,

his wife liked Chopin,

but he was no pianist,

that was too bad for her.

Now one day his wife

went after a great pianist

who played Chopin,

to cause some grief

to the little sad man

who was no pianist

that was too bad for him.

So, drowned in melancholia

to nurse his broken heart

he brought home

a piano organ

to soothe his troubles.1

And then he sold back

this music box that was

definitely too noisy

and played in the night

like a mechanical device

melancholic tunes

doubling his troubles.

The little sad man

who's never out before dark

since sleep eludes him

drinks alone, selfishly,

to drown his troubles.

He drinks all night long,

the little sad man,

then he goes home and,

alone in his great bed,

the little sad man

dreams of being a pianist

with no more troubles.

He dreams of a nice piano

on which to play scales,

nice scales for his wife:

C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C

sleep tight2.

1. the French is a bit strange too2. dodo: baby talk for "sleep"

• Artist:Édith Piaf