Les Mômes de la cloche [English translation]

From one week's end to another,

Onthe boulevards, in the suburbs,

We see hundreds of them hanging out,

Their dirty leg warmers and their loves

In ten day-old shirts,

Under the street lights' halo,

Behaving like Pompadour,

They're our beautiful ferronières (jewelry)

They're our dolls, our puppets.

Listen into the night,

They're singing this tune:

"We're the kids, the bell's kids,

Homeless going without a dime in their pocket.

We're the lost ones, the mashed lost ones

Who are loved one night anywhere

Even though we don't

Have a demanding heart

But no one wants it.

Well then, too bad for them.

What does it do,

We don't care!

No one hangs on it

There is no love

And we'll always be

The bell's kids!

But since they don't have the garments,

For the wealthy's quarter,

It's not at the Galeries Lafayette (famous French shopping mall)

Where they go work every night.

Along the canal Saint- Martin,

At the Sebasto, in the chapel,

We're still fit,

For the sir calling you.

Populous goods, it's not a pretty toy.

There is no silk doll

In the cheap bazars.

We're the kids, the bell's kids,

Homeless going without a dime in their pocket.

We're the lost ones, the mashed lost ones

Who are loved one night anywhere

Just like our shoes,

We're not polished.

We'll never go

On the Riviera.

What does it do,

We don't care!

When money screws us,

We go around four times,

Over there in the tower.

The bell's kids

The sold all their caresses.

They were paid when possible,

Then one day, nothing left in the register,

Go drown n the canal

And without like a horse

The street people's pity,

We bring them to the hospital.

The crowd says "it's just a whore"

And there is how our dolls, our puppets,

When they're broke

Leave all for Pantin.

We're the kids, the bell's kids,

Homeless who leave without friends, without relatives.

We're the lost ones, the mashed lost ones

Who leave to sleep in awful holes.

Behind our carriage

Never do we see

Neither flowers nor crowns,

Not even a person

What does it do,

We don't care!

When death takes us,

It's the most beautiful day of our lives.

Bells, ring for

The bell's kids!...

• Artist:Édith Piaf