Jacques Dutronc

L'aventurier → English translation

Translation

French (Original)

The Explorer

Click to see the original lyrics (French)

I'm an explorer

And I've made my way around

I've made a life in Warsaw

I've played dead in Baltimore

I've been stuck in Canberra 1

I've played dice in Yaoundé

I've played checkers in Amsterdam 2

I've practiced my [musical] scales in Birmingham

I'm an explorer

You'll want to keep an eye on me 3

I'm an adventurer

You'll want to keep an eye on me

I've been to Borneo

I've been tipsy in Pape'ete

I've drunk the water in Bordeaux

I've said never mind in Tampico

I've been a soldier in Bogota *

And have done calculus in Calcutta

Don't show off to me

Because, really, I've been through hell

Don't show off to me

Because, really, I've seen it all

I've wandered through Tehran

And into the saunas in Saana

I've been hunting in Kinshasa

And been a nanny in Cotonou

I've folded sheets in Dole (Jura)

I've been bored in Lourdes *

I'm an explorer

I've really been through hell

I've an adventurer

I've really seen it all

I've been an idiot in Créteil

I've seen things in Berlin

I've been kind in Port-Gentil

And rude in Tripoli

I've made a life in Warsaw

And played dead in Baltimore

I was an explorer

Now, it's over

I was an adventurer

(But) now it's done

1. Is this a correct translation? Est-ce une traduction correcte?
2. In French "to play checkers" is literally "to play with women." So Jacques is making a double entendre here in the context of the previous line.
3. Any better way of translating this?

Thanks! ❤
thanked 3 times

Submitted by

PanZheXun on 2015-02-08

Author's comments:

A lot of the lines rhyme in French. However, this is difficult to carry over into English. I tried my best to make the translation sound as natural as possible while still keeping the original meaning. Let me know if it can be improved at all!

Original lyrics

L'aventurier

Click to see the original lyrics (French)

Jacques Dutronc: Top 3

1.	Il est cinq heures, Paris s'éveille
2.	Les cactus
3.	J'aime les filles

Idioms from "L'aventurier"

1.	Keep an eye on
2.	to keep an eye on

Comments

Jacques Dutronc

L'aventurier → English translation

The Explorer

L'aventurier

Click to see the original lyrics (French)