Le paradisier [English translation]

From Malaysia

From Malaysia

Whatever you may say

It came to me

The paradise bird

Whatever you may think

He came to dance

In the dim light at dusk

That was in a forest of Asia

In Borneo, Malaysia

Smokes in the trees

And then monkey shrieks

As if Nature

Was spreading a sheet

During twilight hours

I put down my bag

That was on a lakeshore

The lake was as big as a piece of Scotland

Then I took a bath

I drank rainwater

I ate tree bark

That was in a forest of Asia

In Borneo, Malaysia

Just like the cherry tree

Bears cherries

The paradise bird

Danced on the grey earth

An exquisite courtship

With blue and golden

Mesmerizing feathers

Winter aloha

Or else to alaho (up there)

Children pushing

Dugouts on the water

Whatever you may say

It came to me

The paradise bird

In my hand I had

The picture of a village

With ferns as foliage

The ash of the night

That was in a forest of Asia

In Borneo, Malaysia

(spoken) Then I decided to go and watch this kind of passerine birds, with highly shining feathers, head often adorned with lateral tufts, sides with the great plume made of interrupted feathers, tail bearing two more or less extended strands, with white or yellow wraps sharply contrasting with the upper part. I shall mention but a few of them: the lesser bird of Paradise, also called 'Petite émeraude', the red paradise bird, the manucode, the diphyllode or the king of flycatchers, or the epimac...

• Artist:Gérard Manset
• Album:A bord du Blossom (2018)