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  • Édith Piaf

    Édith Piaf

    La Goualante du Pauvre Jean → English translation

  • 5 translations
    English
    +4 more
    , Breton, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese
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La Goualante du Pauvre Jean

Esgourdez rien qu’un instant
La goualante du pauvre Jean,
Que les femmes n’aimaient pas,
Mais n’oubliez pas,
Dans la vie y a qu’une morale
Qu’on soit riche ou sans un sou,
Sans amour on n’est rien de tout,
Sans amour on n’est rien de tout.
 
Il vivait au jour le jour
Dans la soie et le velours.
Il piaussait dans de beaux draps,
Mais n’oubliez pas,
Dans la vie on est peau d’balle
Quand notre cœur est a clou.
Sans amour on n’est rien de tout.
Sans amour on n’est rien de tout.
 
Il bectait chez les barons.
Il guinchait dans les salons
Et lichait tous les tafias,
Mais n’oubliez pas,
Rien ne vaut une belle fille
Qui partage notre ragoût.
Sans amour on n’est rien de tout.
Sans amour on n’est rien de tout.
 
Pour gagner des picaillons,
Il fut un méchant larron.
On le saluait bien bas,
Mais n’oubliez pas.
Un jour on fait la pirouette,
Et derrière les verrous,
Sans amour on n’est rien de tout.
Sans amour on n’est rien de tout.
 
Esgourdez bien, jeune gens.
Profitez de vos vingt ans.
On ne les a qu’une fois,
Mais n’oubliez pas,
Plutôt qu’une cordelette
Mieux vaut une femme a son cou.
Sans amour on n’est rien de tout.
Sans amour on n’est rien de tout.
 
Et voilà, mes brave gens
La goualante de pauvre Jean,
Qui vous dit en vous quittant,
« Aimez vous ! »
 
Translation

The Tale of Poor Jean

Just listen for a moment
To the tale of poor Jean
Whom women didn't love
But don't forget
In life there is just one moral
Whether you're rich or without a penny,
Without love one is nothing at all
Without love one is nothing at all
 
He lived day by day
In silk and velvet
He slept in beautiful sheets
But don't forget
In life one is of little worth
When our heart is to pawn
Without love one is nothing at all
Without love one is nothing at all
 
He ate with the barons
He danced in the parlours
And drank any kind of alcohol
But don't forget
Nothing is worth more than a beautiful girl
Who eats out of the same dish
Without love one is nothing at all
Without love one is nothing at all
 
To win some money
He was a mean thief
He was greeted quite low,
But don't forget
One day we'll mess up and get caught
And behind the locks,
Without love one is nothing at all
Without love one is nothing at all
 
Listen well, young ones
Take advantage of your twenty years
You won't have them more than once
But don't forget
Better to have a woman around one's neck
than a rope
Without love one is nothing at all
Without love one is nothing at all
 
And there you have it, my brave ones
The tale of poor Jean,
Who tells you while leaving
"Love!"
 
✕
Related
Luiz Cláudio - Os pobres de Paris  
Bibi Ferreira - La goualante du pauvre Jean  
Édith Piaf: Top 3
1.La vie en rose (English)Subtitles
2.La vie en roseSubtitles
3.Padam padamSubtitles
Comments
TCt83067695 .TCt83067695 .    Sun, 26/08/2018 - 19:50

I wonder what goualante means.
Thanks btw for the translation.
So fun

PreslynnPreslynn    Sat, 24/11/2018 - 20:02

It means a song that is kind of sad. I don't know if this word is used much anymore now.

PaotrLaouenPaotrLaouen    Tue, 29/09/2020 - 10:40

A difficult text, indeed, because of slang words - very obsolete and artificial in reality.
Some misunderstandings, however:
"tous les tafias" is rather 'any kind of alcohol'
"qui partage notre ragoût" means 'who eats out of the same dish' ("ragoût" is a stew)
"cordelette" means here a hangman's rope, the general meaning being: better to have a woman around one's neck than a rope.
"faire la pirouette" is being caught by the cops.
By the way: "goualante" is still vivid but seldom used, mostly as a joke.

ikemenyyyikemenyyy
   Thu, 10/06/2021 - 19:23

Thank you for the corrections! I apologise for not noticing your comment when you originally made it, but it was very much appreciated.

psqpsq    Tue, 29/09/2020 - 10:53

typos dans le texte original :
2e strophe, 3e ligne : "il piauçait" —> il pionçait
6e ligne : "est a clou" —> est au clou ( mettre au clou = to pawn)
😃

PaotrLaouenPaotrLaouen    Tue, 29/09/2020 - 11:46

Désolé: "piausser" est bien attesté en argot, comme synonyme de "pioncer".
Voir: http://www.russki-mat.net/argot/Argoji.php

Autres coquilles ("typo" désigne en français un ouvrier typographe):
dans le titre: "goualante"
et: "à son cou" (accent)

PaotrLaouenPaotrLaouen    Tue, 29/09/2020 - 11:51

J'ajouterais: l'utilisation de "piausser" (argot obsolète) à la place de "pioncer", quasiment entré dans la langue usuelle, trahit à elle seule toute l'artificialité de ce texte.

CharlesVCharlesV    Fri, 21/05/2021 - 18:32

I am not a native English speaker, so I just wonder on "who the women didn't love" (3rd line). Which women are those? In French, "les femmes" means any woman, all women. So perhaps "whom women didn't love" better reflects that. Also, just curious: why "who" and not "whom" here?

Something else. Here "on fait la pirouette" means (in a comic way) to fall hard, to fail, to capsize, to hit a wall, something like that. Nore sure this is rendered in English with the same word pirouette?

ikemenyyyikemenyyy
   Thu, 10/06/2021 - 19:26

This song was translated years ago when my French wasn't as up to par, but looking back you are correct that it is just women in general. As for the whom vs who, it's rare that native English speakers pay close attention to that. But, in this case, it should be whom. I've edited to correct it. Thank you!

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