✕
Translation
Northern Irish ballad
I wanted to plant an orange tree
Right where the song stated we wouldn't see any,
Right where the trees have borne
But unpinned grenades.
Up to Derry, my beloved city,
I've sailed my boat,
There I told the men who were fighting
I've come to plant an orange tree...
Let's have a drink, let's go fishing,
No war can ever last
When beer and friendship
And music make us sing.
Kill your gods forever,
Love can't stand no cross.
It is men, not priests,
Who grow orange trees.
I wanted to plant an orange tree
Right where the song stated we wouldn't see any,
It has blossomed and borne
The sweet fruits of freedom.
Hmseek✕
Renaud: Top 3
| 1. | Mistral gagnant |
| 2. | Manhattan-Kaboul |
| 3. | Laisse béton |
Comments
About translator
This song's title and the second verse are direct references to French actor and singer Bourvil's "Ballade Irlandaise" (or Irish ballad). Bourvil's song goes "An orange tree in Ireland, this will never be seen / But somebody else than you in my arms, never this will be seen". Renaud turns the "Irish Ballad" into a more political "Nothern Irish Ballad", claiming the impossible can be made (growing orange trees in Northern Ireland and having men make up) when all men stop fighting over religious matters and start considering each other as equals and friends.