Manu [English translation]

Hey Manu get yourself home

Your beer’s awash with tears

The pub’s about to close

and you’re pissing off the landlord

I never believed a guy in leather

could cry like that

I didn’t even think

you capable of suffering

I was forgetting that your tattoos

and your knife

are really just a way to protect

your big soft heart 1

Don’t go and do anything stupid Manu

Don’t go slashing your wrists

You lose a woman

You get ten mates back

We were all shacked up

while you were single

You used to say “I’m bored shitless

and I’d like to save my skin”

You met this bird

who was good for no one

You said “she’s the one for me

or something ain’t right”

You were a bit hasty

getting her name tattooed

in the place where

your big stupid heart beats

Don’t go and do anything stupid Manu

You’re killing me mate

You lose a woman

You get ten mates back

I tell you we’re wolves;

we’re meant to live in a pack,

never in a couple

Or at least not for very long

Us lot, we sent our chicks packing

donkey's years ago 2

You, you’re still in the lurch

with your one and it’s driving you nuts

Hey Manu, living free

often means living alone

That can be a bellyache

but it’s good for the soul

Don’t go and do anything stupid Manu

Hatred’s no good for anything

You lose a woman

You get ten mates back

She’s not in love anymore

Time to sling your hook Manu

She can’t be happy

in the arms of a hooligan

If when you tell her “I love you”

she asks for a light

If she has a migraine

as soon as you’re in the sack

Tell her that you’re sorry

That you must have been walking on the wrong side of the road

the day you met her

That you must’ve got your wires crossed

Don’t go and do anything stupid Manu

Don’t go slashing your wrists

You lose a woman

You get ten mates back

Don’t go and do anything stupid Manu

You’re killing me mate

You lose a woman

You get ten mates back

Don’t go and do anything stupid Manu

Hatred’s no good for anything

You lose a woman

You get ten mates back

1. someone with an artichoke heart is someone who falls in love easily. They give away ‘a leaf’ to each person who becomes the object of their affection. As sings Georges Brassens "Coeur d'artichaut, tu donnes une feuille à tout le monde" (Embrasse-les tous).2. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/donkey%27s_years

• Artist:Renaud