Au-dessus des nuages [English translation]

Southwest wind, runway twenty three,

Loudly its motors come to life.

It starts to pull away in front of me

Assaulting my ears.

Shaking the damp pavement,

Dragging the rain like a sail,

That falls, torn

To shreds when it takes off.

[Chorus]

Above the clouds

Freedom seems infinite.

All our fears and worries, they say,

Are buried beyond the horizon,

And everything that weighs us down and confuses us,

Is lifted from our shoulders and explained, up there.

My eyes can long make out

The red light on the fuselage,

As it slowly disappears

Into the grey of the clouds.

I know its flight path well

And the route it traces,

From the distant whistling,

And the monotonous hum.

[Repeat Chorus]

Calm falls over the scene,

And the fine rain continues.

Someone makes coffee

At the back of the office on the runway.

Oil makes rainbows

In the puddles, and the clouds,

Passing overhead, are reflected in them...

I certainly would have made that trip!1

[Repeat Chorus]

1. J'ai traduit les mots directemenent mais je ne suis pas du tout satisfait de ça. Est-ce qu'il exprime qu'il voulait faire le voyage, pour des raisons non dites, mais pour des raisons aussi non dites il ne l'a pas fait? Est-ce qu'il dit qu'il a fait le voyage très souvent et il le connait bien? Est-ce que l'on confronte ici une de ces énigmes que les poètes adorent bien nous offrir, dont leur réponse est toujours, "Je l'ai laissé flou pour te forcer à trouver tes propres explications dans ton âme?"

• Artist:Reinhard Mey