Orelsan - Manifeste (Übersetzung auf Englisch)

Manifeste

Orelsan

Französisch → Englisch

Englisch

Übersetzung

Protest

When my friend Mickey gave asked to meet in Paris

He forgot to say it was in a fucking protest

What the hell am I doing in a fucking protest?

I'm not in touch with society, I'm a fucking artist

I haven't protested against anything since high school

Skipping school, the only idea that made me a militant

And if you want the truth, I find protests sucky

I think about it as I pace, in the middle of a flash mob of nurses

Surrounded by somewhat politicized rednecks

Who take out megaphones to shout platitudes

I tell myself that if hanging out with your crew and singing was enough

It would have been a long time since I would have changed the world

I can't find Mickey who just texted me

He wrote "I'm at République 1, I'm not far from the metro"

Between brackets, I'm with France 2, Fredo's sister

Between brackets, say nothing, I'm trying to fuck her

After a long game of "Where's Wally?" 3

I find Mickey in a Spider-Man costume from Wish

He's got pocketsful of big Heinekens

Offers me one, I refuse since it's barely eleven o'clock

He winks discreetly, shows me a smoke bomb

I feel him intoxicated by the protest and the ambiance that reigns

The CRSs 4, the barricades, the wide Parisian streets

It agitates him, he feels like he's on BFM 5

I tell him that I don't understand why he watches this fucking channel

'Cause he tells me all the time that they lie and make him hateful

He tells me that he just puts it in the background, it gives him a presence

He's always doing something else at the same time anyway

Like sharing low-end conspiracy theories shit

To which I answered "haha" when in truth, I don't look at them

I convinced myself that deep down, he doesn't believe it

It's just that his life is less bland with a bit of drama

Anyhow, the procession will leave soon, and I, I will soon leave the procession

But France introduces us to her good friend Mathilde

Mickey doesn't believe in Covid so he leans in for a bise

A few seconds after she dodged it, we walk to the sound of drums

Samba do Brasil ambiance, put on by revellers with no sense of rhythm

There are employees, teachers, just like one of my family gatherings

They shout stupid slogans about ministers or fuck knows who

I'm in the protest

I take advantage of the walk to get closer to Mathilde

Who says she knows France 'cause she comes from Caen 6 and she fled

Half fashion blogger, half journalist

Basically just the kind of girl that pisses me off yet attract me

Who manages to give herself swagger, protester with a little whorey twist

If I had to describe it "2021"

She tells me that if her career is going well, she would see herself in Quotidien 7

For now though, it is Pure People 8 who rules her quotidian

I don't know if it's the protest atmosphere that does that, but Mathilde and I end up starting

Very quickly a great debate that mixes gender fluid, Uyghurs and vegans

So basically a lot of topics that I really don't know

Which she knows inside and out

Not only do I not have any argument, but she's smarter than me

I feel attacked, I put ill will into it

I say two or three quite conservative shit, she ignores me and takes snaps

I'm taken anyway, and I don't fucking belong here

I go to Mickey, tell him that I'm leaving

He tells me that I'm a cunt, because we can never see each other

Offers me a beer, 1 pm, I agree to drink

Fifteen minutes later, I'm starting to enjoy it

What's cool with Mickey is that he will always be Mickey

I feel like I'm eighteen, that we never left each other

We make shitty jokes, the kind you'd better not tweet

We pass in front of the Olympia 9 when I think of something silly

I ask Mickey "by the way, why are we protesting?"

He replies "ask France, I'm mainly here to hook up with her"

I go to France, whom I barely know, she's Fredo's sister

Out of politeness, I ask her what's the 411

She tells me that she is doing very well

And right away I understand that she's not doing very well

I haven't seen her for ten years and she looks like twenty more

She tells me that she stays in Caen, because her parents are not very far

That she would like to move out, but it's easier there for her son

Her husband left with a girl from another department

But that it's a good thing because he was ultra possessive

And she works all the time anyway, she doesn't have time to be sad

It's crazy that she opens up so quickly

She tells me that she sees few new people so she takes advantage of it

She tells me about the days she spends feeding, making beds

That she is both a nurse, a maid and a shrink

That in the end washing old people, it's not so strenuous

Because it pleases her to be able to please

That in the beginning, it's weird to be surrounded by senile people

That you get used to death being part of our life

She says she doesn't take night shifts anymore, because it wears her out

That one of the problems of a provisional job is being able to borrow money

She explains to me that juggling between a kid and a minimum wage

Is an art, you've got to know how to get into survival mode

That it takes time and energy to be broke, having to manage a budget to the penny

To be like a prisoner of stress, the threat of bailiffs at every corner

Overdrafts, debts, fear of the mailbox

She tells me that her life was already far from perfect

But now she has to start worrying about her pension

And that's what we're here for

That we protest against the sons of bitches of the State

I am in the protest

Wow, oh, hey

I think that Mickey is hella high since he attacks a scooter

Mathilde snaps a story "congrats France, your new boyfriend"

In the blue squares of Monopoly 10, we protest

4pm, noise of brats who refused to sleep

Feet dragging, people running around aimlessly

I don't know if it's the smoke or if the atmosphere got thick

Nothing advances, people lose patience, insults replace chants

Unrelated to France's retirement

Obviously there is no respect of social distancing

Just some randos gesturing and throwing barriers

One landed in a Franprix 11 just behind

Guys in balaclavas rush to the window to rip it to shreds

Mickey rushes into the breach

Comes out a minute later like he was in Fort Boyard 12, arms full of big cans

I barely have time to tell him "cops are there" that he gets tackled by a plainclothes

Mickey dodges amazingly

The cop crashes like shit against a power pole

Gets his feet caught in his truncheon, it goes tragicomic, the cop ends up in a ball

Mickey throws a big beer in his mouth, we take refuge in the crowd

Mathilde is ecstatic because she filmed the whole thing, furthermore, they're already retweeting

It was quick, I tell myself that it's time to slip away

Except that we lost France, who must regret having taken a day of RTT 13

An hour later everything got worse, cars overturned, the tear gas starts to sting

I still don't know where France has gone

I have to take care of Mickey, wasted, who does everything to be on the news

When I see Mathilde in tears freaking out

I take her to a quiet corner so that she can explain to me

She fumbles stuff about her image and her career

Her tweet went viral, but not in the right way

Scavenged by shits like Valeurs Actuelles 14

So the opposite of Mathilde and her own values

In fact, as Mickey is a little mixed-race

They use the tweet like "the misdeeds of the guys from the poorer suburbs"

Where he has never set foot, if I must precise

They say that's what the journalist wanted to denounce

It's at the end of the video where she had no luck

Because we see two little white women there, one of which says "thank you France"

It became a racist hashtag, #MerciFrance

And in truth I find it a bit funny when, eh

I get a hit on the hip, and – a hit on the leg

I'm facing two cops, including the one from the video earlier

Mickey grabs my arm and yells "get the fuck out now"

I run limping, five meters, fall flat on my stomach

I turn around panting, see Mickey, his smoke bomb

Facing the cop from the video earlier that pulls out his flashball

It makes me a space-time hole

I see the cop's face distorted by hate

I think he thinks of the meme where Spider-Man sweeps him away like shit

He must tell himself that he works for France, not to be humiliated by her

I tell myself that the can in the head, it was perhaps not worth it

I see Mickey with his smoke bomb who grows wings, who must imagine himself on repeat on BFM

Or perhaps, he imagines nothing, seeing that he drank fifteen Heinekens

I hear a gunshot going off

Mickey staggers at the right time, the shot misses by a meter

His shitty smoke bomb extinguishes before he even throws it

A body hits the ground near me, blood comes out of its head

I recognize France, I tell myself that she will not have her retirement

1. République is a big square in Paris, where protest marches usually begin or end
2. France can also be a name, it's used as a pun between the name and the country in the song
3. 'Où est Charlie?' is the French version of 'Where's Wally?' or 'Where's Waldo?'
4. Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité/Republican Security Corps - a rito control police
5. BFM is a heavily politicised channel, famous for supporting Macron and right-wing conservative ideas
6. Caen is Orelsan's hometown
7. Quotidien is a very popular talk show, Quotidien means 'daily' / 'quotidian'
8. Pure People is a lesser website sharing gossips
9. Olympia is a mythic concert hall in Paris
10. Avenue des Champs Elysées and Rue de la paix, very chic neighbourhoods
11. Franprix is a very famous convenience store chain, basically like 7/11
12. Fort Boyard is a TV gameshow in which contenders have to pass somewhat adventurous tasks to gain money
13. RTTs are basically day(s) off work for which you're paid, you get them if you do extra hours
14. Valeurs Actuelles is a far-right news magazine