Et moi je reste là [English translation]

The young people have left the village

Only some old men keep hanging

To an idea, an image

Dead memory of the past

And Jesus on the cross knows

After more than two thousand years

Even God himself has left the church

The bells of which no longer toll

And I stay here

Where I was born long ago

Working on the land

Which was rightfully mine

Inherited from my father

Who himself too

Got it from his father one day

And I stay here

In this stone house

Old age makes you sedentary

And there is nothing left to say

My wife in cemetery

And the children are gone

No longer having any business here

The grocer packed up

The baker is gone

No more births and marriages

No more parties decorated with ribbons

The post office lost the addresses

The streets are empty and deserted

Farewell to the songs of youth

Only the wind weeps in the meadows

And I stay here

Always doing the same

Without Christmas or Lent

In hot or freezing weather

Dwelling on my problems

I work full time

I harvest and I sow in the wind

And I stay here

Doing and doing again

The ancient gestures

That so many others before me

During their entire life

Since the dawn of time

Have learned and could do before

After these few old men who remain

But won't be here tomorrow

Who will take over the simple gestures

That the elders have passed down to us

Plough the pebbled fields

Sow the grain, wield the scythe

Feed the animals and give thanks

Every day to The Almighty

And I stay here

With my calloused hands

Knowing that the Grim Reaper

Won't miss me

She will come ,the wretched wench,

One morning to take me

In my old worn jacket

And I stay here

In this corner of misery

On this piece of land

My only property is down below

Where else would I go?

I know very well that for me

Growing old is solitary

Even at the end of the earth

Where would I go anyway

• Artist:Charles Aznavour