Tout est calme [English translation]

another night where everything is calm, not a sound, nothing

besides your regular breathing, beside me

another night without sleep, without reason, just

a mass of slightly vague objects scattered everywhere

so, we keenly feel the ends of the bed and the walls

folding in, closing in on what, exactly, we don’t know

so, we keenly feel our hands tensing and relaxing

heading towards, closing in on who, exactly, we don’t know

then the next day without history, like all the others 1

we look out the bay windows surrounding us

no surprise the sea is calm

we were wrong to hope to see a gust of wind rise up

so we keenly feel the ends of things breaking apart2

then disintegrating, then crashing down on something 3

so we keenly feel our bodies tensing and relaxing

approaching and then collapsing on who, exactly, we don’t know

the afternoon passes without strife, without incident

no risk of seeing the storm erupt

so, we keenly feel the end of everything approaching

unfolding and then erasing what, exactly, we don’t know

so, we keenly feel our bodies tensing and relaxing

detaching, heading towards where, exactly, we don’t know

1. French “histoire” can mean either “history” or “story.” So “a day without history” could be just “an uneventful day.”2. “Se fendre” is be cut or broken into pieces or strips.3. “S’effriter” is to turn into dust. “S’écrouler” seems to mean both “to fall hard” and “to be completely destroyed or meet a brutal end.” So, the sense of this and the last line is of something breaking up into smaller and smaller pieces, finally being obliterated as it crashes on something.

• Artist:Yann Tiersen
• Album:(Tout est calme)