Le cinéma [English translation]

On the pictureless screen of my sleepless nights1

I shoot my own fantasies2

with no money nor camera.

Bardot3 can take a break,

you are my only star.

No matter how hard I try, no way I can tell you I love you.

I've got plenty of heart but little guts,

that's why I take revenge

on the pictureless screen of my sleepless nights,

where I shoot my own fantasies.

First, a close-up on your hips,

then a travelling panorama

on your king size breasts,

that's how my movie starts.

A smile on my face, I step toward you.

Six feet tall,

my sleeves bulging with muscles,

I'm the peerless star4 of my sleepless nights

when I shoot my own fantasies.

You soon end up in my arms.

The bed comes like an avalanche

on the pictureless screen of my sleepless nights

where I shoot my own fantasises.

Once, twice, ten, twenty times

I shoot the same sequence

where you fall into my arms.

I shoot every night,

even on sundays.

Sometimes the doorbell rings. I open the door, it's you!

Will I grab you by the hips,

like on the screen of my sleepless nights?

I won't. I just say "how are you doing?"

and take you to the flicks.

1. a sleepless night is called a "white night" in French, making for a nice pun on "black screen". I could only try to match it by repeating "less". Not nearly as good as the original I'm afraid.2. "se faire du cinéma" ("make oneself some cinema") means "delude oneself", especially about a romantic relationship3. Brigitte Bardot, as famous a sex symbol in France as Marilyn Monroe in the US4. "punching through the screen" means having a great presence

• Artist:Claude Nougaro