Pour qu'elle soit jolie ma chanson [English translation]

{Pills :}

There are songs that are a great success.

It's because their style of music is very popular...

{Piaf :}

"When he takes me in his arms..."1

Something in that genre...

{Pills :}

Yes, that's it. That's not too bad...

There are songs that are a great success

It's because their lyrics are not ordinary...

{Piaf :}

"And how she carries on, Madame..." 2

{Pills :}

Oh! I heard that somewhere...

There are songs that are a great success.

It's because the interpret is extraordinary.

{ Piaf :}

"It's almost always that..."

{Pills :}

But mine is not all that.

I'm going to explain to you why:

So that it will be pretty, my song,

First of all, there must be two.

There is of course a boy

And a girl to make him happy.

If you will lend me your voice

To sing with me

This love song.

But it is nothing original

It's completely normal

It rhymes with "toujours". 3

{Piaf :}

I am sorry for the song

But it is missing a special something.

And you can tell the boy

That this song is not for me!

{Pills :}

I can see what you need:

A port and a sailor,

Bar fights,

Nothing but sinister things...

A poor guy whom they hang,

People who speak softly,

A distinguished gentleman,

An accordionist...

I even heard it said

That it's far too fanciful!

That you sang about a clown...

Ah fine! Bravo for the clown!4

{Piaf :}

No! No, now come on!

You're roasting me!

{Pills :}

Oh! Excuse me!

I let myself get carried away a little bit...

{Piaf :}

So, in your opinion, this song will be for me?

{Pills :}

But yes!

{Piaf :}

Eh fine! Sing it for me again.

{Pills :}

So that it will be pretty, my song,

First of all, there must be two.

There is of course a boy

And a girl to make him happy.

If you will lend me your voice

To sing with me

This love song.

But it is nothing original

All in all, it's not too bad

It rhymes with "toujours".

{Piaf and Pills :}

And a girl to make him happy.

There! I am lending you my voice

To sing with you

This love song.

But it is nothing original

All in all, it's not too bad

It rhymes with "toujours".

So it is pretty then, my song

Because I'm singing it in spite of myself.

And you can tell the boy

That this song is good for me!

1. Lines to Piaf's famous song "La Vie En Rose".2. "Ça gueule Ça Madame" is a song by Jacques Pills, about Edith Piaf. Gueule is one of those hard to translate words. I almost went with the translate of" Ça a de la gueule", which can mean to have character or style. But that doesn't quite go with the Pills song where it is used as a verb and the focus is on her being loud. It's one of those really hard to translate words. 3. Toujours (always) rhymes with amour (love).4. "Bravo Pour Le Clown" is another Piaf song.

• Artist:Édith Piaf