Je rejoindrai ma belle [English translation]

At nightfall1,

regardless of danger,

I’ll take the footbridge

to get back to my sweetheart,

at nightfall,

regardless of danger,

and nothing can change any of that.

Very surprisingly2,

a gale came

to blow on the footbridge,

very surprisingly

a gale came,

there are no footbridges any more.

As the winds have chosen3

to burn the bridges for me

I’ll take the lateener4

to get back to my sweetheart,

as the winds have chosen

to burn the bridges for me,

I’ll embark in steerage class5.

Very surprisingly,

the mariners came

to weigh the anchor of the lateener,

Very surprisingly,

the mariners came,

there are no lateeners any more.

If the nautical hoodlums

have stolen my vessels,

then I’ll grow wings

to get back to my sweetheart,

if the nautical hoodlums

have stolen my vessels,

I’ll take the path of the birds.

If hunters lying in wait

fire on you,

goodbye feathers! Goodbye wings!

Hunters lying in wait

fire on you,

you’ll have no love affair any more.

If it’s my sad lot

to make a hole in the water,

tell my sweetheart

that I was faithful to the end,

and may she, in return, deign

to wait for a couple of days

before starting any new affairs.

1. lit: at the time of the shepherd.(A reference to the classical Endymion myth)2. lit: falling from the top of the clouds3. lit: thought it good4. I understand "balancelle" as a mediterranean small coastal fishing boat with no bridge, pointed both ends (so prow and stern not distinguiseble) and a single Lateen sail, no motor. Lateener (a word I've heard once or twice but never before used myself) is the nearest British English word I know to this and means (I think) any vessel with a single Lateen sail. But the Merriam Webster unabridged dictionary gives "balancelle" as an American English word, and the definition is just "a Mediterranean coasting and fishing boat with a single lateen sail" which could be rather bigger than my idea of a balancelle.5. as well as no bridge, no passenger cabins

• Artist:Georges Brassens
• Album:Les trompettes de la renommée