Manteau rouge [English translation]

Because they told me to hold his arm

And look at the needle shoved in

You don't get always lucky

You bend down, you fall, you move on

You slip the red coat on, trees move and the sky is going to fall down

You never know, tomorrow, tonight, what day, what time it's gonna stop

You hide, you crawl, you swallow, you struggle to stay up

You look in front, the danger passes, just bend your neck

Behind the border

Where banana trees were felled

You'll find helmets and stretchers

And the jeeps of orderlies

We are all same, there's nothing else to do

Than writing on a piece of paper

The tough time we have on the other side of the earth

While looking at bombs falling down

But on the other bank of the river

You've got men eating dogs

Women afraid of daylight

Without milk left in their breast

You hurry, you get there and you walk past

Maybe there's something to see

You stop on the brim of the burning hole

There's a guy who sells drinks

You slip the red coat on, trees move and the sky is going to fall down

You never know, tomorrow, tonight, what day, what time it's gonna stop

You hide, you crawl, you swallow, you struggle to stay up

You look in front, the danger passes, just bend your neck

But behind the border

Where banana trees were felled

You don't always get beer

And you wonder what happened

Now close your eyes, switch the small light off

And forget everything

Women who fell in the rice fields

Children dead from starvation

Women who fell in the rice fields

Children dead from starvation

One day in an armchair, smoking a cigar

By the Mediterranean sea

You'll have lots of people coming to see me

And ask to be told

But nothing more rotten than my memory

I won't even remember how to count

But nothing more rotten than my memory

I won't even remember how to count

My life will be a big black hole

With dead bodies burried inside

As if someone had pushed me suddenly in the void

The big wet checkerboards in the delta

Magic of the night like a red anaconda killed in an acid bath

Magic of the night like a red anaconda killed in an acid bath

There's only one micron (?)

You never know, tomorrow, what day, what time

You hide, you swallow, you struggle

You look in front, the danger passes, just bend your neck

You slip... you slip the red coat on, and trees move, and the sky...

• Artist:Gérard Manset
• Album:Un oiseau s'est posé (2014)