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Translation
Suburban
We aren't doomed to fail, there comes the fighters' song
Suburban and proud to be, I've written the spirited ones anthem
Those who don't always do what they are expected to
Who don't always say what they are listened to
Because Life is a fight
For the uplings as for the downlings
If you don't accept that, you're but a coward
Rise and walk !
The first is for my kin, arabic and black for the most
And for my whities, proletarian and suburban
The second shall be for those who dream of a united France
Because to this day, there are two Frances, who denies it ?
And I am from the second France, the insecure one
The one of potential terrorists and profiteers
That's what they wait from us, still I got other plans, let them remember that
I ain't a victim but a soldier
Look at me, I'm black and proud of it
I use the language of Molière, I master its letters
French because France colonized my ancestors
But my mind is free and my Africa debtless
I started from scratch, my feet in chains
System gave me nothing, I had to defy it
From the starting line, they trapped my run
While cops runned at me, they invested at market places
I was supposed to fail, ending up in jail, holes in my skin
And if I'm talking with a lump in my throat,
That's because I swimmed in deep waters without a rubber ring
I got the ghetto tattoed in my skin, i'm a rebel like Ekoué (1 )
Yet Hope never left me
Waiting for better days, I endured
And still doing
I'm the captain in the boat of my efforts
I wait nothing from System, I'm an indie
I long for being a given loser winner
Because we come from suburbs, truely we didn't grow up with
Eyes in blue but with eyes with bruises (2 )
Why we in ghettos, them in ENA (3 )
Us behind the bars, them in Senate
They defend their interests, elude our problems
A point is left unanswered: what did we do for ourselves ?
What did we do to protect our own
Of making our own mistakes again ?
Look at what our lil'brothers become
First school failure, expulsion thus anger
Violence, stretcher, jail, graveyard
We aren't doomed to fail
It's hard for us, mustn't be an excuse
If knowledge is a weapon, let's be armed, because without it we are unarmed
Despite disappointments and depressions
Following the pressure each one of us feels
Despite repression and oppressions
Discriminations and arrests
Despite provocations, detentions
The lack of comprehension, fears and urges
Their wish to keep our heads under water
Transcends my motivation
Feeds my ambition
It's time for Second France to wake up
To be more direct, it's time to make some cash
What France doesn't give, we gonna take
I don't wanna burn cars, I want to build and sell them !
If we're left to our own devices, the fight must be fought by ourselves
Not enough to sing "look at them bullies"
You gotta learn, understand, undertake
Before screaming "useless, whatever happens, System holds us back ! "
Your call: you a coward or a soldier ?
Undertake and fight !
Suburban and proud to be
We aren't doomed to fail. With a degree, enlightened or lost
In a truck or in a train, kind or mean
Suburbs were too idle, I know what France swears
But what France does is a felony against our future
This one is for discriminated ones, often incriminated
Innocents treated as convicted felons
We are seen as predators, yet we are but preys
Able but guilty and excluded from work
If I roar like a lion that's because I won't keep quiet
I ain't no beggar, I've come to take what they've promised yesterday !
Even if I need twice the courage, twice the rage
Because of the doubled obstacles and the halfed advantages
SO WHAT ?! My victory shall be twice tasty
Before enjoying it, I shall take twice more hits
Many traps, gotta be twice more careful
Twice more skilled and twice more motivated
If you like to feel sorry for yourself, you're but a coward. Rise and walk !
Suburban and proud to be
We aren't doomed to fail.
We're doomed to succeed,
To cross fences, to build careers
Look at what our parents accomplished
What they endured to give us access to education
Where would we be without their sacrifices ?
Like Mahmoud for Thays (4 )
Ofcourse their work is deserving
Oh do I admire our fathers
Maybe handlers BUT PROUD !
If we waste all of it, what's the respect ?
If we fail, what's the progression ?
Each immigrate son is on a mission
Each son of a poor must have ambition
You can't let your dreams leave in smoke
In a smokey hall
Smoking substances which break your will,
Anesthesize your wishes and drawn your abilities
We're worth more than that !
Nothing stops a suburban fighter
We're YOUNG, STRONG and our sisters are beautiful
Huge is the talent they carry within
Do you see weak ones here ?
I see but men who carry the sword here !
Suburban and proud to be
We aren't doomed to fail.
I owed you this text
Even if I'm writing it from a sad heart
AND IF YOU CRY, DO CRY DETERMINATION TEARS
BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT, THIS IS A REVOLUTION !
Learning, understanding, undertaking, even if we hurt
Rising, progressing, fighting, even if we hurt
Learning, understanding, undertaking, even if we hurt
Rising, progressing, fighting, even if we hurt
Learning, understanding, undertaking, even if we hurt
Rising, progressing, fighting, even if we hurt
Suburban and proud to be
We aren't doomed to fail.
cyr22✕
Please help to translate "Banlieusards"
Kery James: Top 3
| 1. | Banlieusards |
| 2. | Sans moi |
| 3. | Je peux |
Comments
About translator
(1 ) : Ekoué is a member of the french anti-establishment rap band La Rumeur
(2 ) : Pun referencing a fan-favourite documentary "Les yeux dans les bleus' (lit. : The eyes in the blues ( = french national football team) ) which followed the victorious path of 1998 world cup french national team. Because this sport feat was branded by politicians a living proof of succeeded minorities integration (famous media slogan "black, blanc, beur" ( = black, white, arabic) ), it kept in the years after a bitter aura of "non-kept promises".
(3 ) ENA = Ecole Nationale d'Administration (lit. National administration school), basically the most selective higher education establishment in France, often dubbed "the School of Power" )
(4 ) Mahmoud is the first name of a childhood friend of Kery James. Thays being his daughter.