Je suis [English translation]

[Bigflo]

I am

Locked up tight in my cell

The same coffee everyday but it's time itself that is soluble

Those good deeds you regret

Those mistakes you make again

In the parlor I speak just as much to my son than to my reflection

[Oli]

I am

Frozen, the winters and drinks pass by

To feel better the passerbys must think we hibernate

Rocked by the sound of footsteps and coins in pockets

Between this guy and my dog, I wonder whom I'm closer to

[Bigflo]

I am

Rich, they want to make me think it's a shame

As if I were responsible of all the misery in the world

I don't owe anything to anyone, even if money comes to lack

They all wanna taste the fruit of the tree I planted

[Oli]

I am

Sick, but I'd rather say "to be healed"

My eyes stare at the hands of the shining watch on my wrist

Cramped inside my body, I watch the world through the hole of the lock

People will say all I've done is widening social security's

[Bigflo]

I am

A believer, often criticized for being so

They criticize my beard while it's the same as Jean Jaurès'

I'm being compared to barbarians I've never believed

Mosques are too small so sometimes I pray on the street

[Oli]

I am

A little lost, my little lungs fill with air

Newcomer on Earth

My first tears trigger my father's

A chance, with my family I feel at home

But I don't forget I could've been born in the next room

[Bigflo]

I am

Alone, at the end of a corridor, nobody asks for my opinion

I've taken some age so I've got more wrinkles than friends

I'd like to share my mistakes, my doubts

Sometimes I talk to myself to be sure someone's listening

[Oli]

I am

Exhausted, but not for much longer I guess

Phones ringing and pressure have widened my wounds

I don't remember when was my last laughter

I'm a man, soon I'll be only a memory

[Bigflo]

I am

Finally here, this land is no longer a mirage

I came by boat but mainly by miracle

A new life awaits me here, much calmer and more stable

This morning I wrote "all is well" on the back of the postcard

[Oli]

I am

Proud, but how can I describe what I feel

When I walk downtown, less and less people look like me

In the elevator, I don't even speak my neighbor's language

By dint of planting trees, there won't be any more room for our roots

[Bigflo]

I am

Tired, my back and waist hurt

The wrinkles on my face remind me of the mountains where I'm from

I've been lied to, and I understood that too late

They say this country isn't mine while I'm the one who built it

[Oli]

I am

Sitting, and fate made it so I won't get up again

In this ocean I feel like I've always been rowing

Getting on a bus is a headache

Going to work, going through doors

Often people look at me and say it's not their fault

[Bigflo]

I am

Happy, newly graduated

Strong-minded, I've surprised those who dreamed of seeing me give up

My family is far from here, I hope they're proud over there

I just won the fight my mother had started

[Oli]

I am

Confident, I look at my classroom which is a little too full for me

And I'll hold their hand until success opens their arms

I understood that sometimes, adults are lost

Because they are the ones who gave me the biggest lessons

[Bigflo]

I am

Pissed off, in my neighborhood we're bored, far from the city

We write, we pray, we scream and I've got friends dealing

My older brother is unemployed, my friend cashes in 5K a month

At school it's mayhem, soon I'll have to make a choice

[Oli]

I am

Far away, what goes on here doesn't interest many people

For other people we're living a dream but often we're going in circles

Everything is expensive, there's like a latency with the mainland

The beach, the palm trees, but I'm not on vacation

[Bigflo]

I am

Discreet, my father told me not to make waves

My religion, a lighthouse guiding my steps ever since I set the sails*

It's funny he's watching over me but doing everything

To give me a lesson by preventing me from going to school

[Oli]

I am

Worried, many haughty looks towards my faith

I get lectured by guys who do nothing for their neighbour

Humanity has no more heart, I see the world spinning and changing

And I'm sad to see there's less and less people on sundays

[Bigflo]

I am

In love, and I don't see whom it concerns

Besides me and the one sharing my bed

I love him, we slalom between insults and jokes

And to say not so long ago I wasn't allowed to gift him a ring

[Oli]

I am

Forgotten, the ends of months are tight

It's become rare to go eat out or see a movie

I'm only a number, a vote, a statistic, another dot in the crowd

I was just born here and I feel like nobody cares

[Bigflo & Oli]

I am

An appointment, an accident, a football game, a wedding

A demonstration, a birthday, a hug, a fight

A crime scene, a judgement, a laughing kid, a mistake

A snowy mountain, I'm the end of an author's pen

I'm the tears of a departure, I'm the warmth of bars

I'm a five-star flavor or the grease of a kebab

Slackers, late-nighters, earlybirds

Complainers, gazes on the subway

A racist uncle, an empty concert, a crisis, a tightening depression

I'm excellence, elegance or a birth's hope

The countryside in silence, those huge and dense cities

I'm a bit of myself and a lot of others when I think about it

I am France

• Artist:Bigflo et Oli
• Album:La cour des grands