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Translation
Damocles
You ask me what I really want
Vague question, but as I have some time
Let’s try and make an inventory
A rudimentary list
I’ll just throw down what comes to me
While trying not to forget anything
I’d like one day to dance the tango
To traverse the Atlantic on a cargo ship
And the Nile on a felucca
And fashions without changing my look
And life without too much trouble
Before death casts its shadow
It’ll come much too soon to grab hold of me
Damocles, you just put your sword away 1
You’re going to hurt yourself or lose a finger
I don’t even have a plaster
Put your blade back in it's sheath
There’s no shortage of executioners
I’d like to observe from the moon
That the earth is blue like a citrus fruit 2
To have a real bar-room brawl
A piano in a backroom
Come over here and say that to my face!
And finish up in a trough
I’d really like to get to know a holding cell
Apologies to those that have for real
And then hey, as long as I’m there
To run a minting machine
To pay for a happy life for me
To hold back the reaper
Who’ll come much too soon to grab hold of me
Damocles, you just put your sword away
You’re going to hurt yourself or lose a finger
If you cry don’t count on me
There’s no shortage of worries
Put your blade back in its case
I’d like to be while holding a half inch spanner 3
Someone who’s good enough to marry
That a little guy under my pencil
Be more that a circle and five sticks
According to the length of hair
He becomes a woman if I want
Most of all I’d like to make you happy
I believe me I try, I think about it, I delve
I want most of all to forget nothing
Each grain of sand from the hourglass
As when near you they pour out
Before the reaper appears
It’ll come much too soon to grab hold of me
Damocles, you just put your sword away
You’re going to hurt yourself or lose a hand
If you want come back tomorrow
There’s no shortage of sycamores 4
For now put away your blade
- 1. Reference to The Sword of Damocles, a metaphor for a looming fate
- 2. A reference to 'Tintin et les oranges bleues' or indeed the Paul Éluard quote that inspired the title https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_and_the_Blue_Oranges
- 3. or a 12 mm one if you prefer
- 4. The sycamores that line many of France's road are notorious for sending careless drivers to the happy carpark in the sky
Gavin✕
Renan Luce: Top 3
| 1. | La lettre |
| 2. | Les voisines |
| 3. | Appelle quand tu te réveilles |
Idioms from "Damoclès"
| 1. | Compte sur moi |
| 2. | sword of Damocles |
Comments
Russia is waging a disgraceful war on Ukraine. Stand With Ukraine!
About translator
Thanks, made a few changes there. I think they're solid improvements :-)
I've changed prison cell to holding cell. Where the police throw people until they decide what to do with them.
You know I'm so used to the sycamores as a symbol of lurking death that I forget it's not an obvious thought to all other English speakers - footnote added.