Une chauve-souris [English translation]

There once was a bat

who loved an umbrella

a big, black umbrella

cut out of the night.

She loved him with a tinge of despair

for everything slid right off him

There once was a bat

who loved an umbrella

The bat wandered as if on autopilot

unable to sleep

she wanted to drink herself to death

or to throw herself down a well

there once was a bat

who love an umbrella

a big black umbrella

cut out of the night.

Without a second glance

for that little bat

the big black umbrella

emerged from his case

and took under his wing

a lady of the night

who, on the boulevard Saint Marcel,

nourished him with rain

Next, the great big accessory

commenced his travels

in his fine black clothes,

his jet-black outfit.

After some intense negotiations,

in order to make some cash,

a sword-swallower

stuck him down his gullet

For an acrobat

He served as a balancing rod,

And a tie salesman

Took him on as an associate.

Next he opened up to protect a perm,

And then he open up because it was raining in Nantes.

There was once a bat

A young lady of the night

There was once a bat

Who loved an umbrella

She tried to forget about him

In the basement of an old mansion

Where she languished in misery.

Meanwhile the umbrella

enjoyed the high life

at Pere-Lachaise cemetery*

One miserable day

One miserable day

A strong gust of wind

Brought the umbrella to its end

He was left for dead

In a gutter somewhere

He was left for dead

face-down in a puddle

Spying his rusty frame

bathing in the gutter

amidst the filth

and the tossed-out refuse,

The bat shrieked

"Luck has smiled upon me!

I thought I'd lost him,

but the fool has come back!"

Laughing like a loon,

Crying like a Magdalene,

There once was a bat

who loved an umbrella

They went to say "I do"

In the attic of the church**

There once was a bat

who loved an umbrella

• Artist:Thomas Fersen
• Album:Qu4tre