Mon apéro [English translation]

You can give lessons in morality

When you have tasty soup and a nice fire,

But when you have nothing,

You take pleasure where you can get it.

In the neighbourhood, they wind me up

I prop up the bar.

It's true that I ramble with the drunks

Whenever I have a heavy heart.

Others are searching for complicated things,

But since I hate fakeness,

It's at the edge of the counter

That every night I have

My aperitif...

I talk to the landlord.

I call him by his nickname.

Well he's a nice fattie.

Like the males, I say to him:

"Arthur, go on!"

And I play a round of zanzi* with him.

The gramophone plays a java.

Boredom slowly fades away.

Everything seems fine

And I drown my profound boredom,

For an hour, at the bottom

Of an aperitif...

When I was sixteen, as I was a beautiful girl

All the guys gave me their sales pitch.

Then, I started living it up.

It started, I don't know how.

They paid for everything without a word.

I had a car and hotel

But I always had to smile,

My heart was queasy with bile

And I dreamed of a little mechanic

Who'd offer me nothing but kisses

So, to chase away the dark,

I drank in every bar

Aperitifs...

Climbed on a stool,

Steeped in my cup,

A straw

And in front of the tired dancers

I felt taken by the chazes^ of the shoemaker

Richer in love than me

He kissed a typist

Every day

And I had nothing to console

My sorry heart

Except my aperitifs...

But the cocktails turned my head,

So I soon quit the job

I'm back, God life is stupid,

Back in my old neighbourhood.

It's here, my little church,

And nothing has changed at home... nothing!

Nothing, except my heart, this grey prison,

Where everything remains unfamiliar.

Sadly, happiness doesn't last long.

Seeing that love buggered off,

I came back to the counter

Where in the evening they bought me

Aperitifs...

I no longer believe in anything at all

Landlord, another one

And make it strong!

It's annoying, yes, when I see the heavens again

And in my dream, I'm fishing for innocent dreams

Slumped from hard knocks

I haven't gotten hold of the right number

The number...

And my heart, empty of love

No longer has real help

The aperitifs...

• Artist:Édith Piaf