Chat

In this clip from the French animal program, "30 million friends", Bashung speaks tenderly about his love for cats (and dogs), how important their presence is to him when he comes home, how they push him to share himself, and how happy he is when they are happy. "That's the basic thing," he says.

pour Olivier de Monsieur Bashung, la famille de qui vient de perdre leur ptit compagnon, Minouche... xoxoxoxo

Words: Boris Bergman

Music: Alain Bashung

   

J'enfile des perles à rebours

I thread the pearls backwards
Capitaine prend le nemo

Captain takes the nobody*
C'est pas uniquement un bruit qui court

It's not uniquely a noise that runs
Souris dansez, notez greffier

Dance, mice**, note it, scribe

Le chat veut en finir en beauté

The cat wants to finish in beauty***

Ballerina cache une ride

Ballerina hides a wrinkle
Lézard premier degré

Lizard first degree
Mona Lisa suit le guide

Mona Lisa follows the guide
Tu me fais croquer, fromage râpé

You make me crunch, grated cheese

Le chat veut en finir en beauté

The cat wants to The cat wants to finish in beauty

Le chat veut en finir en beauté

The cat wants to The cat wants to finish in beauty

*Nemo is latin for "nobody" or "no one", in a bit of reference to Jules Verne's Captain Nemo

**Souris is "mouse" or "mice", but used colloquially for girls, "birds" or "chicks", thus cats and birds :>>))

***Finir en beauté means to end on a high note or beautifully/admirably or even to suffer through something, such as pain or loss of a challenge, with dignity. Given Bashung's history, I suppose he means them all...

SOS Amor

BASHUNG - SOS AMOR - TV SHOW HQ

Words: Alain Bashung and Didier Golemanas

Music: Alain Bashung 

J'ai des faims de toi difficiles
I have difficult hungers for you
Des jours ça veut pas rentrer

Days I don't want to hold back

T'as fouillé mon baise-en-ville
You've rummaged through my bachelor pad
Ca je peux pas saquer
This I cannot stand
En voulant nettoyer mon fouet
In wanting to clean my whip
Bêtement le coup est parti

Stupidly the blow went out

Ton cri était presque parfait 

Your cry was almost perfect 

Ton cri était presque parfait 
Your cry was almost perfect

J'ai des faims de loop de loop 
I hunger for a 69

De shalala chaloupés
For shalala undulating
Quant à la pénicilline
As for the penicillin
Je m'arrête quand je veux
I stop when I want to
Tous ces hommes qui te turlupinent
All these guys that bug you
Et moi qui vis au milieu

And me living in the middle 

De quoi perdre son self-control

Enough to make one lose one's self-control

De quoi perdre son self-control

Enough to make one lose one's self-control

S.O.S. Amor
S.O.S  Amor (a mort "'til death" or spanish "Love")
S.O.S. Amor
S.O.S. Amor
S.O.S. Amor
S.O.S. Amor
Tu m'as conquis j't'adore
You've conquered me, I adore you
Tu m'as conquis j't'adore

You've conquered me, I adore you

J'ai des faims de lune de miel
I hunger for a honeymoon
A Los Angeles-sur-Yvette
In Los Angeles-on-Yvette (river)
T'as des faims de moi après l'after beat
You hunger for me after the afterbeat
Quatre et quatre ça fait coït
Four-four and this equals coitus
Je me retiens ça fait coyotte
I hold myself back this equals coyote
Ton cri était presque parfait

Your cry was almost perfect 

Ton cri était presque parfait
Your cry was almost perfect

S.O.S. Amor

S.O.S. Amor

S.O.S. Amor

S.O.S. Amor

S.O.S. Amor

S.O.S. Amor

Tu m'as conquis j't'adore
You've conquered me, I adore you
Tu m'as conquis j't'adore

You've conquered me, I adore you

J'ai des faims de toi difficiles
I have difficult hungers for you
Des jours ça veut pas rentrer
Days I don't want to hold back
Quant à ma prochaine victime
As for my next victim
Elle est sous ton nez
She's right under your nose
Toutes ces femmes qui se turlupinent
All these women hot and bothered
Et moi qui baragouinais
And me who's jabbering
De quoi perdre son self-control

Enough to make one lose one's self-control

De quoi perdre son self-control

Enough to make one lose one's self-control

S.O.S. Amor

S.O.S. Amor
S.O.S. Amor
S.O.S. Amor
S.O.S. Amor
S.O.S. Amor
Tu m'as conquis j't'adore
You've conquered me, I adore you
Tu m'as conquis j't'adore
You've conquered me, I adore you

Tu touches pas à mon pote

Words: Boris Bergman
Music: Alain Bashung

Song written for SOS Racisme. (Note their logo)

Quand t'as plus rien à fumer

When you have nothing left to smoke

Tu passes les blacks à tabac

You beat up on the blacks

Dans un moment d'égarement

In a moment of distraction

Il te vient les sanglots

Tears come to you

Séparer les blancs des jaunes

Separating the whites from the yolks

Fouetter généreusement

Beating generously

On n'est jamais à l'abri

You're never sheltered

D'une piqûre de meringue

From a sting of fragility (meringue)

Gay luron et guet-apens

Gay happy fellow and ambushes

Sont sur le même bateau

Are on the same boat

L'un des deux tombe à l'eau

One of the two falls in the water

Z'auront pas d'enfant

They won't have children

Quand ça roule trop mal à Barbès

When everything goes bad at Barbès*

D'enfer, étoile, nation

From hell, star, nation

Qu'est-ce qu'on joue

Whatever it is you're playing

Je tends l'autre fesse

I offer the other cheek

Nuit d'Amazonie

Amazon night

Via Cabourg, Bangkok

Via Cabourg, Bangkok

Tous les hommes sont gris

All the men are gray

Tu es tellement so

You are so, so

Arôme d'Arabica ...

Arabica aroma

Partout tu fais des trous partout

Everywhere you make holes everywhere

Tu touches pas à mon pote

Don't lay a hand on my friend

Qu'est-ce qui fais courir David

What made David run

Comment veux-tu qu'on l'attrappe

How do you want to catch him

Rappelle Gégène, je fais un bide

Recall Gegene**, I make a flop

Juste pour le plaisir

Just for fun

Qui a vendu la mèche

Who let the cat out of the bag

Et la petite moustache avec

And with the little mustache

À votre bunker messieurs dames

To your bunker gentlemen ladies

Salut les Kopecks

Hello the Kopecks

Nuit d'Amazonie

Amazon night

Via Cabourg, Bangkok

Via Cabourg, Bangkok

Tous les hommes sont gris

All the men are gray

Tu es tellement so

You are so, so

Arôme d'Arabica ...

Arabica aroma

Partout tu fais des trous partout

Everywhere you make holes everywhere

Tu touches pas à mon pote

Don't lay a hand on my friend

* Barbès, star (Etoile), Nation - "tough" neighborhoods in Paris

**Gégène - A character in the French animation series "Les Shadoks" (click for Wikipedia article in English); also "torture by electrocution"

Note: While translating this song, I visited the Cabourg website. There I found an announcement that TODAY, 10-10-10, a live English bomb from WWII was discovered and was being neutralized, evacuating the area and disrupting traffic. The irony of it all! A little more research and I found many more documents about Cabourg, one of the beaches of Normandy. Here is an interesting declassified report with pictures of Cabourg: http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cgi-b...ename=2694.PDF