Notes pour trop tard [English translation]

[Intro]

Okay, I was your age about your age ago

The road to adulthood is full of slippery turns

Becoming a man: there's no internships, no remedial classes

Now you're in the deep end, figure out how to swim

You'll always have a sort of bitterness, a longing to leave everything behind

To punch those guys playing guitar on the beach

It's like every time you move out, your world falls apart

Listen, the story writes itself with every turn of the page

Listen

I took a few notes

[Verse]

If you feel like no one understands you, it's 'cause no one understands you

Life is easier once you get that into your head

How can you blame them? You don't even understand yourself

Often alone with your problems, often the problem is you

Most advice from adults are just shitty clichés

'Cause they don't understand the game but they follow the rules

So don't trust everything your parents say, pretend

They don't have all the answers, you're their first child

You'd waste so much time fighting

Some battles you just can't win, especially when you're not the one paying the rent

Get over it, there's not a lot of reasons to start shit

In your own home, even if you're in the right

If there's one thing you shouldn't question:

You're smarter than you used to be, but you're still a dumbass

You're too sensitive, you perceive everything as an attack

Ask a crazy person if he's crazy and see what he says

And another thing: you're not gonna fuck tonight

Once you understand that, it'll be like a weight off your shoulders

'Cause you're way too desperate and they can tell

'Cause you're way too self-conscious, you're gonna drink too much

Learn to shut up, you'll seem mysterious

Learn to sell yourself better and you'll fuck in a month or two

You always fall for the same kind of girls

You know, the kind that makes you unhappy

So don't act all sad when she breaks your heart

In the long run, you're saving yourself some tears

Next, you'll be scared of commitment, you'll tell yourself the grass is greener

Anywhere else, you'll miss out on what you already have

Basically, you sleep with your girl while thinking 'bout another

You didn't like it

Once she dumps you, you think of her when you sleep with the other

Okay

You'll never stop people from talking

And since you're a weirdo, some people might wanna beat you up

You can do push ups, you can learn to fight

But no matter how ripped you get, getting punched still hurts

Your brain and your ego work backwards

The more you try to prove something, the more it backfires

If you say you're not scared, it means you're scared

If you say you're not hurt, it means you're starting to feel the pain

Know your height, don't punch above your weight

You'll see sometimes you'll lose to guys you thought were weak as fuck

Of course, life is unfair

If you don't like the laws, don't be a fucking judge

Don't believe the insults, there's no race that makes a bastard

Your mom doesn't have to be a hooker for you to be a son of a bitch

There's no sexual orientation that makes an assfucker

The more you react, the more fazed you'll look, let it slide

The best jokes are the meanest or the dumbest

But the worst human beings are cruel losers

Never pick on those weaker than you, keep those jokes in your head

They'll fit better in a lyric, in a movie or a sketch

School is a drag, there's not much you can do about it

Dropping out means plunging early into another hell

Throw away your backpack, you'll have the weight of society on your shoulders

A boss, your mother and your father

75% of classes are useless

Pornstars know firsthand that doing jackshit only delays the end

You say we'll see, you act like a know-it-all but you're fragile

You regret the health screenings as much as the exams

School is a filter that makes everything boring as fuck

Like those black and white movies, it's harder to get into it

It's harder when you dread it, like you're first time

I've been making sexual metaphors the whole time 'cause that's all you think about

Listen in Spanish class, tell yourself Latinas are the hottest in the world

In chemistry, tell yourself you could make drugs

Stop memorizing things you don't understand

And in philosophy, you weren't supposed to tell your whole life story

Oh, and no one forces you to smoke weed

Actually, it works better on hyperactive people

Being high isn't even your favorite part

When you're stoned, all you do is fake being sober

Your favorite part is going to Jardiland with the squad

To steal bamboo and make a bong

You just need a passion

So listen to the guidance counselor and do the opposite of what they say

Basically, everything that they say is a waste of time

You have to put your all into and never give up

If you wanna make films, you just need something that films

Saying, "I don't got the equipment or the contacts," is for losers

They'll tell you to be number 1, never to be happy

First place is for those who need a grade, who lack self-confidence

You're at the moment of your life where you can be anything you want

The same moment where it's the hardest to know what you want

Apart from hanging with your squad

Especially not missing the latest rumor, the latest funny thing

Honestly, you wouldn't miss out much if you left for 4 years

Wait! Actually it's important to fuck around while you still can

So you don't wake up one day when you're 40, saying

"Fuck! I'm gonna die but I never enjoyed life

My family won't let me live, I'll have to leave them

To go snort coke in a club somewhere and find some girls to prey on"

I see these types of guys all the time so, little terrorist, go have a blast

Go hit up the club even if, I confess, you probably won't get in

You'll go back the next week or the year after

Need I remind you you weren't gonna fuck tonight anyway

If you go home, take a picture of the locker ticket

Realize that you can't hold your liquor, you black out too fast

If you find pride in downing shot after shot

It means you're more attached to a substance than anything of substance

Stop getting so worked up, if you wanna dance, go dance

The only rule on the dance floor is: don't try moves you've never done before

If you're ever the first one to fall asleep at a party

Looking in the mirror is the first thing you should do after waking

It might just

Save you from spending a family dinner with a dick drawn on your cheek

Those family dinners where you're bored, where they talk so loud

About nothing, but at least they're talking, that's a good start

Truths are complicated, clichés are constant

Sorry if not everyone at your table is an expert

You focus on others' flaws and that's your biggest flaw

Life is made of cycles, that's why I fall back on the same words

Don't be paranoid 'bout who your real friends are

There's only one way to know: let time sort them out

I've never regretted asking for advice or calling someone

Often, you think they're weird when it's just poor reception

The same story has many versions

The best way to solve a conflict is to ask questions

Stop spending your life running away, anxious about the future

'Cause there's nothing you can do to prepare for the worst

Like terrorist attacks, bad news hits when you least expect it

Some loved one, pressed for time, will leave before you

You'll see happy people answer a call

Their face will distort and nothing will ever be the same again

There's nothing to do except be present

To dress the wound, change the bandages; the only cure is time

• Artist:Orelsan
• Album:La fête est finie