Sunday, July 24, 2011

Y'a un yéti


Words: Boris Bergman
Music: Alain Bashung

30-second sample: http://www.ultratop.be/fr/showitem.asp?interpret=Alain+Bashung&titel=Y%27a+un+Yeti&cat=s

A brilliant song about xenophobia and racism... please see my notes below.

Marcel dépêche-toi
Marcel hurry up
Branche-moi la sirène
Plug me in the sirene
Je vois un type qui gaule
A see a guy who's harvesting
Une cassette d'Eric Charden
A cassette by Eric Charden
Heureusement qu'on est là
Happily somebody's there
Pour faire respecter la loi
To make (him) respect the law*

Il a des plumes partout
There are feathers everywhere
Et le teint basané
And the tanned complexion
Je te parie ma paye
I bet you my pay
Que c'est un étranger
That he's a foreigner
Heureusement qu'on est là
Happily someone is there
Pour faire respecter la loi
To make (him) respect the law

Y'a un yéti dans le Monoprix
There's a yeti in the Monoprix**
Y'a un yéti
There's a yeti

Tiens ça me fait penser
Listen this makes me think
Faut que j'aille à la police
That I'll have to go to the police
Faire renouveler ma vieille carte de milice
Renew my old militia card***
Ensuite on se retrouve chez moi
Soon after someone's found at my house
J'ai reçu un kilo de foie gras
I received a kilo of chopped liver

Tu crois qu'on va l'avoir la guerre avec les frisés
You think we're going to have a war with the curly-headed
La dernière fois j'ai pas pu résister
The last time I couldn't resist
Mais c'est pas tout ça mon gars
But it's not all it's cracked up to be sonny
Comment tu trouves mon calva
What do you think of my calvados****

Y'a un yéti dans le Monoprix
There's a yeti in the Monopris
Y'a un yéti
There's a yeti

Marcel vise le vidéo
Marcel aimes the video
Nos gars lui mettent sur la gueule
Our boys get up in his face
Faudrait y aller
Have to go there
Vont pas y arriver seuls
Aren't going to arrive alone
Remarque pour un étranger
Remark that for a foreigner
Je dois dire qu'il sait encaisser
I must say he knows how to take it

Si c'est pas malheureux notre monde qui part en brioche
If it's not sad our world that crumbles into brioche*****
Marcel regarde-moi je vais pleurer c'est moche
Marcel look at me I'm going to cry it's ugly
Heureusement qu'on est là
Happily someone is there
Pour faire respecter la loi
To make (him) respect the law

Y'a un yéti dans le Monoprix
There's a yeti in the Monoprix
Y'a un yéti dans le Monoprix
There's a yeti in the Monoprix


*The object-pronoun is actually left out of the last line of every verse. Perhaps this is just idiomatic, but perhaps the listener is being asked who it is who needs to be made to respect the law ...

**Yes, yeti is an English word! It's the "abdominable snowman", "bigfoot"... and it's running around the supermarket! Monoprix is one of the major chains of grocery/clothing/variety stores in France, a "one-stop-shopping" market.

***milice: referring to a local vigilante group or perhaps even "Milice" with a capital "m", the French wartime paramilitary group that collaborated with the Nazis against the Resistance.

****Cavados is an apple brandy from Basse-Normandy.

*****part en brioche": fall apart into moral decay, move towards failure



2 comments:

Oliver said...

Hello Laura,

French variety singer Eric Charden is dead today, he was 69 years old.



La "milice française", stinking time of France... Such idees survive in our country through Le Pen's party. It's a shame !

Laura Tattoo said...

hey, oliver, thanks. i tried to reply yesterday but it wouldn't take, so i'm trying again.

it's a damn shame... seems that when money is bad, xenophobia becomes worse. blame the immigrant. i love this bashung song. he was pretty enlightened about racism.

and thank you for the information about eric. i remember running into him previously.

much love and thank you so much for your comment. xoxoxoxooxoxoxox