Melody [English translation]

Melody

The wings of my Rolls brushed the pylons;

Not knowing where I was, lost,

We arrived, my rolls and I, in a place,

Dangerous and isolated.

There, standing at the edge of the bonnet

Of the Silver Ghost from the nineteen hundreds,

Shines the radiator’s silver Venus

Whose light wings fly forth and forward.

While the bursting noise of the radio

Covers the muted sound of the motor,

Proud and arrogant, she stares at the horizon,

Aimlessly, ignoring the asphalt pavements,

Back alleys, dead-ends with no parking

Allowed; serenely indifferent,

She holds the reins of my twenty-six horse power,

Princess of darkness, cursed archangel,

Modern Amazon whose sculptor

Named you Spirit of Ecstasy;

And there I was, fooling around before losing

Control of the Rolls. Driving slowly as if

Drifting along when a sharp thud

Pulled me out of my hazy dreams. Damn!

I see lying there in front of the car

The wheel of a bicycle still spinning

And like a doll who’s lost its balance,

Her skirt is pulled up on her white pants:

‘What’s your name?’

‘Melody’

‘Melody what?’

‘Melody Nelson’

Melody Nelson has red hair

And it’s her natural colour.

• Artist:Serge Gainsbourg
• Album:l'Histoire de Melody Nelson