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  • Maxime Le Forestier

    Parachutiste → English translation

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Paratrooper

You were only eighteen years old
when they put a red beret on your head
and told you "give a good what for1
to anything that moves".
You weren't a fascist on purpose,
paratrooper.
 
And so, fight after fight,
your understanding matured.
Now you know there are only
two types on earth:
good people and terrorists,
paratrooper.
 
And then you earned your stripes,
a hero in every defeat2
for all the good deeds
you did.
Torture was your speciality,
paratrooper.
 
And then came the honours,
decorations and medals
for each bullet through a heart,
for each knife cut,
for each black cross on your list,
paratrooper.
 
But, unfortunately for you,
your war will be over soon:
no more killing, no more battles.
What are you going to do?
The craftsman's work is over,
paratrooper.
 
Nothing but a sissy's job left,
bossing around people who can read.
Especially since I was the one
who taught you the meaning
of the word "anti-militarist"3
paratrooper.
 
Your skills are still finely honed,
you'll snipe at me whenever you can,
but since we don't shoot for real,
you find that dull.
Maybe that's why your eyes are so sad,
paratrooper.
 
Now if you feel really awkward,
getting paid for doing nothing,
you still can go train
among your little brothers.
There must be career opportunities in the police,
paratrooper.
 
  • 1. "a good beating" in US English
  • 2. allusion to the decolonisation wars, mostly in Indochina and Algeria. The systematic use of torture against the Algerian FLN was heavily controversial at the time the song was written
  • 3. During the Algerian war, conscientious objectors had no specific legal status and were subjected to various military punishments, including disciplinary measures as depicted in this stanza
Original lyrics

Parachutiste

Click to see the original lyrics (French)

Translations of "Parachutiste"
English Guest
Maxime Le Forestier: Top 3
Idioms from "Parachutiste"
Comments
BratBrat    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 14:44

Nothing but a sissy's job lef->Nothing but a sissy's job left
;)

BratBrat    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 14:58

No, I'm neither of the specified. Since that the song seems to be a pretty good one. :) I have some idea but I'd prefer to wait until some Franglaise Guru gives tongue. ;)

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 15:03

"until some Franglaise Guru gives tongue"

You saucy devil! ;)

Can't fault the English there - nice job!

BratBrat    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 16:14

If I may... I noticed two neighbouring "overs" at line endings that you may want to smoothen. It could be done by moving "soon" to the end of the string like this: "your war will be over soon"

BratBrat    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 16:33

You tortured like a specialist
Having in mind the militaristic background, I'd prefer to see an "expert-like" torture. ;)

BratBrat    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 16:54

I think, drillmasters would say so... ;)

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 17:18

Reading it again I'd actually prefer "you specialised in torture". But "you tortured expertly/like a expert" is ok too.

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 17:32

Yep, "torture was your speciality is good" mind you it sounds pretty identical in meaning to "you specialised in torture" to me. Really whichever one you prefer the sound of. :)

BratBrat    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 17:38

Well, AFAIK, in the Army they usually use "expert" instead of "specialist" - that's why I mentioned this. As I suppose, he was a good soldier, an expert, as they say, and when he had to employ tortures, he did it almost professionally.

La Fille avec le VisageLa Fille avec le Visage    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 17:41

Ah, let's see :D The translation looks pretty good, there are just a few things that I would change

You were only just eighteen -> A bit too much repitition here. I would more likely say "You were only eighteen years old." Generic, but it sounds better with what comes after it

and told you "give a good what for to anything that moves" -> Not really sure what the French or English means here, but based on this : https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/rentrer-dedans.2572494/ it means something like, "show everything that moves what you're made of."

And then came the honours, decorations, medals -> I would say, "the decorations and medals" because it seems to be expanding on the honors ( my way of spelling it ;) ) and not just listing off three things

you won't fail a single ambush -> don't instead of won't

you still can retrain among your little brothers. -> 'You can still' and I'm not sure that retrain really works here... I would more so say 'keep training' or 'start training again' and then 'with your little brothers' instead of among... just doesn't sound right ;)

There must be career opportunities in the police -> I would use "some career opportunities with the police" here

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 17:57

Ah, you give a good what for was my favourite bit!
Maybe needs quotes to be clear though - you give a good 'what for'.
No familar with the expression? It's like " you come over here and I'll give you what for" (You're going to get a beating)
:)

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 18:15

Well, he could give them a "good hiding" I guess. To my mind it's a bit more vanilla though.

Can't see a problem with "retrain" apart from the word order as pointed out. You can train again of course works to but I don't see any issue with retrain?

BratBrat    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 18:31
Gavier wrote:

Well, he could give them a "good hiding

Looks good. I'd call it "to play hide-n-sick" ;)

La Fille avec le VisageLa Fille avec le Visage    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 18:21

Haha, I was not aware of that ! I just thought it was a bad translation, but I was mystified because it was your translation. Needless to say, I was a bit confused. Basically, to an American, 'give a what for' makes no sense and just sounds like broken English ;) . "Give a what for" makes no sense to me and I'm not sure any other American would understand it :D

I don't really know, it seemed like the verb tense skipped around a bit there, so it was a bit hard for me to follow. Basically, "won't" seems more like he's never fought, but he's good enough to never lose, whereas "don't" seems more like he hasn't and never will lose a fight. Depends on what you think fits better :)

Retrain, at least in America, is rarely used. I only hear it used for on the job training, for example, "she wasn't good enough at doing [a certain thing at her job], so we had to retrain her" or something like that.

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 18:37

That's a good point "retrain" does rather mean "go and train again to improve" or "train in someting different" so if that's not the intention then "train again" or "train once more" is better. :)

Actually it's similar to the problem I tried to explain elsewhere where revivre was translated as relive. Revivre can mean "live again" "come back to life" but relive can only mean "re-experience". Usually in the sense of a vivid recollection. Oh look, recollection - another one!

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 18:39

Mmm - in that case I have to stay with "retrain" or switch completely to "change career" or something.

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 18:56

I like "go train"...if there's something to follow - "go train in something else". Still seems like a roundabout way to say "retrain". Still, whatever's the most widely understandable.
:)

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 18:59

Go and retrain - sure
Go train - sounds more like a workout (at the gym)
;)

La Fille avec le VisageLa Fille avec le Visage    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 18:59

I feel like the 'something else' is implied in the phrase about the police, but what you think should follow is probably more valuable than that of an American teenager ;)

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 19:01

Ah no it's all good! No use if only middle-aged Brits get it! ;)

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 18:50

Switch career, change job/direction... I still prefer retrain.

BratBrat    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 19:21

Well, guys, your "retrain" is a rebus indeed. ;)

BratBrat    Sun, 22/10/2017 - 02:42

I'd better reship this so that it could reach the other side of the pond. :D

BratBrat    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 17:13

drillmaster=traîneur de rapière
:)

La Fille avec le VisageLa Fille avec le Visage    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 19:12

That makes a lot of sense... I didn't even think of that. It fits in pretty well, too :)

La Fille avec le VisageLa Fille avec le Visage    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 19:18

Maybe you could still use "give a good what for to anything that moves" but put single quotes around 'what for' like Gavin suggested, but put a footnote on it to explain it to those like me who have never heard it before ;)

La Fille avec le VisageLa Fille avec le Visage    Sat, 21/10/2017 - 19:22

"you'll snipe at me each time you get the chance" I really like that, but I would more so say "you'll snipe at me whenever you get the chance"

GavinGavin
   Sat, 21/10/2017 - 21:53

Yep, I like that. Or...
Give them a sound hiding, a good kicking, a beating, a spanking, kick their asses/arses, bloody their noses, kick their teeth in... the list is endless.
But I still like "what for" followed by "a sound hiding" :-)

BratBrat    Sun, 22/10/2017 - 13:25

That's what makes for horse racing! :)