Ma Jolie [English translation]

A flood of razor sharp tears

Broke my heart when you went away 1

Remaining eternally hopeful,

I refuse to let go

[Chorus]

Don’t turn away my lovely2

Come into my arms my lovely

Oh don’t turn away my lovely3

Oh don’t do that to me my lovely

I’ll buy you a Gucci handbag

And your friends will be jealous

Especially the ones who told you

Be careful, that guy’s not got a dime

[Chorus]

We’ll talk for hours

I’ll risk forgetting about my friends

They’ll say mockingly

That girl’s got you in chains

[Chorus]

I’ll sing you some Céline Dion

All that so that you’ll love me more

I’ll lift weights at the gym

And make other efforts too

[Chorus]

His love is sitting in her sister’s house, her suitcases in the living room and she’s crying

Her eyes are hidden behind big black glasses, she’s wearing a white t-shirt and her arms, like the sky, are scattered with traces of blue 4

If she doesn’t press charges against him, her sister tells her that she will this time

One of them is angry, the other is scared, one is stern whilst the other is crying

Oh honey, why are you like this

I love you, I don’t know why anymore, my lovely 5

1. literally: ‘it rained razor blades on my heart when you left/went away’2. a more accurate translation for 'ma jolie' is ‘my pretty girl’ but I have shortened this to one word - ‘lovely’ - to mirror the one word title in French. 3. literally: ‘look at me my lovely’4. this suggests bruises on her arms inflicted by her boyfriend5. in these last two lines, it is the girl addressing her boyfriend

• Artist:Abd al Malik