✕
Lament of a prostitute
Although these middle class idiots
Call them filles de joie
Call them filles de joie
Their life’s not a big laugh each day.
Their life’s not a big laugh each day.
I swear it, I swear it
Their life’s not a big laugh each day.
For, even with feet right for the job,
Pacing the streets up and down
It is tiring for spindly pins.
I swear it, I swear it
It is tiring for spindly pins.
Not only the girls get hard corns,
Not only the girls get hard corns,
And soft corns but even more
And soft corns and even more
It’s crazy what shoes they get through.
I swear it, I swear it
It’s crazy what shoes they get through.
There are clients, who—dirty oafs
There are clients, who—dirty oafs
Never take dips in water
Never take dips in water
Still they got to be cuddlled,
I swear it, I swear it
Still they got to be cuddled.
Whether girls use the short cut
Whether girls use the short cut
To get them to the heights of love
To get them to the heights of love
Believe me the cash is hard-earned.
I swear it, I swear it
Believe me the cash is hard-earned.
They are despised by the public,
They are despised by the public,
They are pushed around by the cops
They are pushed around by the cops
And they’re under threat of the pox.
I swear it, I swear it
And they’re under threat of the pox.
Although they make love all their lives
Although they make love all their lives
And marry twenty times a day.
And marry twenty times a day.
Wedlock isn’t theirs for the taking.
I swear it, I swear it
Wedlock isn’t theirs for the taking.
You, son of silly and stupid,
You, son of silly and stupid,
Do not laugh at our poor Venus,
Do not laugh at our poor Venus,
Poor skeleton in the closet.
I swear it, I swear it
Poor skeleton in the closet.
It wouldn't've taken much, my li'l friend,
It wouldn't've taken much, my li'l friend,
For this whore to be your mother.
For this whore to be your mother.
This whore that you’re making fun of.
I swear it, I swear it
This whore that you’re making fun of.
Elian E.✕
Translations of "La complainte des ..."
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About translator
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fille%20de%20joie
vieille casserole - Une casserole is a saucepan, an everyday domestic item. However, perhaps because a standard practical joke is to secretly tie a pan to the back of a car, etc, to embarrass the occupants, it is used in French for a major scandal or embarrassment e.g - traîner une casserole = have something to hide.
In the French dictionary, I found the following example of the word's usage:
"s'il faut traîner des casseroles alors tous peuvent reprendre les anciennes casseroles et les faire traîner à nouveau,” which translates as:
"If we must be haunted by a scandal - then all of us can drag up past scandals all over again.”
This is the meaning that I have preferred but other translators stick more closely with the word "saucepan" and see it as an insult for a woman as a mere receptacle, perhaps more particularly apt for a prostitute.