Wednesday, April 27, 2011

What's in a bird

 

Words: Alain Bashung & Pascal Jaquemin 
Music: Alain Bashung  


For my friend Donna L...

What's in a bird
What's in a bird
Woody, wood sur la tête
Woody, wood on the head
Reconnais que je suis volage
Recognize that I'm fickle
What's in a bird
What's in a bird
Ca me fait convoler éperdument
It makes me marry desperately
En justes noces
In wedded bliss
What's in a bird
What's in a bird
Demain j'arrête la flûte
Tomorrow I'm stopping the flute
J'aimais pourtant tous azimuts
Although I loved in every direction
What's in a bird
What's in a bird
A part les ecchymoses
Except for the bruises
C'est purement psychosomatique
It's purely psychosomatic

Mais vous savez sans doute tout ça mieux que moi
But without a doubt you know all of this better than I
Petit à petit l'oiseau fait son nid
Little by little the bird makes its nest
Les intempéries excitent sa frénésie
The bad weather excites his frenzy
Jus de fantaisie adoucit son gosier
Juice of fantasy soothes his throat
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 tourbillonnez, tourbillonnez, tourbillonnez
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 whirl around, whirl around, whirl around

What's in a bird
What's in a bird 
Votre cas m'intéresse
Your case interests me
Veuillez reposer la question
Would you like to rephrase the question
What's in a bird
What's in a bird
Déclin très net des stocks
Definite decline of the stocks
D'amour et de satisfaction
Of love and satisfaction
What's in a bird
What's in a bird
Trouvez-moi un sobriquet lippu
Find me a fat-lipped nickname
A tes parties charnues
For your thick parts
What's in a bird
What's in a bird
What's in a verb
What's in a verb
J'aimerais qu'on renouvelle mon abonnement à la berlue
I'd love it if someone renewed my subscription to delusion

Je me rappelle
I recall myself
Moi en dimanche et toi en sauterelle
Me on Sunday and you in grasshopper
Notre première concession
Our first concession
A l'abri des perfectos
In the shelter of perfecto

What's in a bird
What's in a bird
A vrai dire on en parle
To tell the truth, everybody's talking about it
Vous vouliez de l'information
You wanted some information
What's in a bird
What's in a bird
Et pourquoi les kiwis m'empêcheraient-ils d'être serin
And why would kiwis prevent me from being a canary
What's in a bird
What's in a bird
Nous remercions l'armée pour sa précieuse documentation
We thank the army for its precious documentation

C'est quoi que c'est
So what is it
L'ambulance de Monsieur est avancée
Monsieur's ambulance is underway
Bien avancée
Well underway
Mais vous savez sans doute tout ça mieux que moi
But without a doubt you know all this better than I

Petit à petit... Tourbillonnez
Little by little... whirl around


5 comments:

RockGlobally said...

I like the wordplay and the rythm of the phrases... they translate well into English. This is a wonderful example of his gift for writing poeticly explicit lyrics and sensual imagry; then he also throughs in a little bit of quirky humor from time to time, which I enjoy.

Also the video shows that Alain Bashung was timeless as a performer; he didn't oversing, he just let his presence speak for itself. Here he was backed by Cyril Atef on drums, Vincent Segal on electric cello, and M (nee Matthieu Chedid) on guitar and backing vocals - the resulting sound is at once fresh and classic, edgy and refined. I like it. :)

*Thank you for the dedication, Laura*

Donna L

Laura Tattoo said...

and thanks for the excellent review! you should be a rock journalist! bisous... xoxoxooxox

RockGlobally said...

Thank you - I'd love to do that; in fact, I've been thinking about starting a podcast or a blog about the international rock/pop scene since 2009. Maybe the time has come.

Stuart said...

Thanks for the great site! Big help to folk with little french like myself. Just listening to the new hommage CD - really good! cheers, Stuart

Laura Tattoo said...

Thank you, Stuart. It's a joy to get comments like yours! Bisous d'Oregon... ~Laura xoxoxoxo