Une chauve-souris [English translation]

A bat

loved an umbrella

a big black umbrella

cut out at night

by a taste of despair

since everything slid on him.

A bat

loved an umbrella (x2)

She was on auto-pilot (lit. "walking by RADAR")

Sleep had fled from her.

She wanted to drink,

to throw herself down a well

A bat

loved an umbrella

a big black umbrella

cut out at night (x2)

Without giving a care

for this bat

the big black umbrella

left its sleeve.

Under its wings

it took care of a lady of the night*

which Saint Marcel Boulevard

had watered with rain.

Then the great accessory (the umbrella)

set out on a journey

in its pretty, black outfit,

its black outfit of jet**

After bargaining

to make some wicker (?),

A sword-swallower

put it down his throat.

To an acrobat

it served as a balance pole.

A tie salesman

took it to be an associate.

Then he (or it) unfolded

on a perm.

Then he (or it) unfolded

because it was raining in Nantes.

A bat,

lady (unmarried) of the night,

a bat,

loved an umbrella.

She came looking for something forgotten

in an old manor

where she died of boredom

while the umbrella

led, to the Père Lachaise cemetary,

an old chair leg***.

A day of bad weather

A day of bad weather

A strong gust of wind

made it slip and fall (lit. "put its feet in front of it")

It was left for dead

in some gutter.

It was left for dead

face-down in the water (lit. "with its beak in the water")

While seeing its skeleton,

which was extruding bodily waste

in the garbage

and the trashed wares,

"Fate is smiling down upon me!"

exclaimed the bat.

"I thought it was lost --

The sleeve**** has returned!"

Laighing like a whale,

crying like a medeleine,

a bat

loved an umbrella.

They will say "I do"

In the city hall tower

A bat

loved an umbrella.

* Besides being a euphemism for a prostitute, "lady of the night" is a species of flower, scientific name Mirabilis jalapa.

** A particularly dark type of coal sometimes used in jewelery, whence the phrase "jet black."

*** A pun on the name "Lachaise," which means "the chair." Possibly a metaphor for old bad habits.

**** I have no clue how to translate this word. It has a ridiculous number of meanings (sleeve, wind sock, well, fishing net, the English Channel, period/half/quarter (as in sports), loot, handle, clutz).

• Artist:Thomas Fersen
• Album:Qu4tre