Thursday, February 11, 2010

L'Irréel



Thank you to padamox for this moving tribute ...


Words: Alain Bashung/Jean Fauque
Music: Alain Bashung/Mobile in Motion/Ludovic Bource/Jean Lamoot


Continents à la dérive
Continents adrift
Qui m'aime me suive
Who loves me follows me
Gouffres avides
Vacant caverns
Tendez-moi la main
Extend to me your hand

Rêves et ravins
Dreams and ravines
Règlent nos moulins
Tune our motors
Calent nos chagrins
Steady our sorrows 

Le temps écrit sa musique
Time writes its music
Sur des portées disparues
On the disappeared staves*
Et l'orchestre aura beau faire pénitence
And in vain the orchestra will do penance

Un jour j'irai vers l'irréel
One day I will go toward the unreal
Tester le matériel
To test the material
Voir à quoi s'adonne
To see what the Madonna
La madone
Is devoted to

Un jour j'irai vers une ombrelle
One day I will go toward a parasol
Y seras-tu
Will you be there
Y seras-tu
Will you be there
Y seras-tu
Will you be there

Continents à la dérive
Continents adrift
Une vague idée me guide
A vague idea guides me
C'est l'heure où je me glisse
It is the hour where I glide
Dans les interstices
Between the interstices
À l'article de l'amour
At the article of love
Je redeviendrai l'enfant terrible*
I will again become l'enfant terrible
Que tu aimais
That you loved

Un jour j'irai vers l'irréel
One day I will go toward the unreal
Un jour j'irai vers une ombrelle

One day I will go toward a parasol
Y seras-tu

Will you be there
Y seras-tu

Will you be there
Y seras-tu

Will you be there
Y seras-tu

Will you be there
Y seras-tu

Will you be there


*"L'enfant terrible" defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition: A child who embarrasses his elders by untimely remarks; transf. a person who compromises his associates or his party by unorthodox or ill-considered speech or behaviour; loosely, one who acts unconventionally.






*a staff or stave for writing musical notes

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello,

First, many thanks for this beautiful website, unique in its genre! It enables me to share my passion for Bashung with my non French speakers friends abroad.

I wanted to warn you also that for the line "sur des portées disparues" in the third verse, I think you missed something.
In French, "une portée" is a line in the musical score. The line where you write the notes. And not "the dead carried away".

Best regards,
And thankfully.

Ada, from Paris

Laura Tattoo said...

Ada, that is fabulous! just the kind of feedback i hope for from french speakers. thank you, darling! xoxoxoxooxox