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The Bohemian Life
I'm telling you about a time
That those under twenty
Cannot know
Montmartre in those days
Hung its lilacs
Up to our windows
And if the humble furnished unit
That served as our nest
Was nothing special
It's where we met
Me, who was starving
And you, who posed naked
The bohemian life, the bohemian life
It meant we are happy
The bohemian life, the bohemian life
We only ate every other day
In the neighboring cafes
We were a few
Who waited for glory
And although we were poor
With empty bellies
We never stopped believing in it
And when some bistros
In exchange for a hot meal
Would take a painting, we recited poetry
Gathered around the stove, forgetting about winter
The bohemian life, the bohemian life
It meant you are pretty
The bohemian life, the bohemian life
And we were all talented
Often, it happened to me
Before my easel
To spend sleepless nights
Touching up the drawing
Of the line of a breast
Of the curve of a hip
And it was only in the morning
That we finally sat down
In front of a café crème
Exhausted but delighted
Did we love each other and did we ever love life!
The bohemian life, the bohemian life
It meant we are twenty years old
The bohemian life, the bohemian life
And we lived off of time
When in the randomness of days
I go for a walk
To my old address
I don't recognize anymore
Neither the walls nor the streets
That saw my youth
Atop a staircase
I look for the studio
Of which nothing remains
In its new decor
Montmartre seems sad
And the lilacs are dead
The bohemian life, the bohemian life
We were young, we were wild
The bohemian life, the bohemian life
It doesn't mean anything at all anymore
Elian E.
David Ephraim✕
Translations of "La Bohème"
Translations of covers
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