Vecchio frac [French translation]

At night while everybody is sleeping, there's just a man walking the streets. He's a tailcoat man.

Midnight has come

noises fade

the neon sign of the latest (open) café

fades out.

Streets are empty

empty and silent

a last carriage

leaves squeaking

The river slowly streams

swooshing under bridges

the moon is shining in the sky

all the city is sleeping

there's only a tailcoat man going round

He's wearing a top hat

two diamonds in the place of cufflinks

a crystal walking cane

a gardenia in his buttonhole (gardenia=flower)

and on his spotless vest he wears a bowtie

a blue silken bowtie.

He approaches silently

with an elegant pace

he looks moony

melancholic and absent

you don't know where he's from

neither where he's going

But who is he

the tailcoat man?

Bonne nuit, bonne nuit, goodnight

he keeps saying to everything

to the flashing car lights

to a cat in love

that is wandering around

Dawn has come yet

lights fade out

little by little the city

wakes up

the moon stands still

surprised, faded,

eventually it will disappear

blending in the sky

A window yawns

on the river in the white light

a flower, a hat and a tailcoat

are drifting away

quietly floating

letting the stream rock him

he slowly descends

under the bridges towards the sea

But who it is this tailcoat man?

Adieu adieu, farewell to the world

to memories coming from the past

to a dream which has never been dreamt

to a moment of love

that will return no more.

la la la la la

• Artist:Domenico Modugno