Les Corons [English translation]

In the North were mining villages

Underground was coal

The sky was the horizon

Men were underground miners

Our windows overlooked similar windows

And rain wetted my schoolbag

But my father's eyes were so blue when he came back

That I could see the blue sky in them

I did my homework with one cheek resting on his arm

I think he was proud of me

He was bighearted as they are over there

And he made me what I am now

In the North were mining villages

Underground was coal

The sky was the horizon

Men were underground miners

Such was my childhood, it was a happy one

In the mist of washtubs

And my mountains were slag heaps

From their tops I watched the countryside

My father was a miner like his parents

My mother's hair was white

They belonged to the coal pit as you belong to a country

Thanks to them I know who I am

In the North were mining villages

Underground was coal

The sky was the horizon

Men were underground miners

On carnival day you could see in the townhall

A photograph of Jean Jaurès

And each glass of wine was like a pink diamond

On a background of dust disease

They talked about nineteen thirty six and firedamp

And accidents deep down the pit

They loved their job as you like a country

With them I have understood

In the North were mining villages

Underground was coal

The sky was the horizon

Men were underground miners

The sky was the horizon

Men were underground miners

• Artist:Pierre Bachelet
• Album:Les Corons