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  • Georges Brassens

    Grand-père → traduzione in Inglese

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Grandfather

Grandfather, singing, followed
the road which leads to a hundred years.
Death caught him in the corner of the woods
and killed him cruelly 1.
He had, during his life, given
so much happiness to his children
that in order to show him our gratitude for this
we did all we could for his funeral.
And off we ran as quick as we could
to get a coffin, but...
as we were short of cash,
the coffin dealer wouldn’t deal with us2.
 
“At the grocer’s, no cash, no spices,
at fair Suzie’s house, no cash, no philandering...3
dead inferior class people
are no part of my business4.”
 
Well now, from Grandad I’d inherited
a pair of pointed boots.
If anyone needs a kick in the ass
this pair hit its spot.
 
It’s since that time then that the fine fellow5, (X2)
Oh ! it’s not nice...
Oh ! it’s not polite...
has been cross-buttocked6.
 
Grandad,
don’t get upset,
we’ll get to overcome
all these people who impede happy burials.
 
The best thing to do, and the quickest,
so that the funeral could carry on,
was to limit our requirements
to a second-hand coffin7.
In exchange for a pot of honey we acquired
the four planks from a dead man who
was dreaming of offering some sweet things
to a soul-mate.
And off we ran as quick as we could
to get a hearse, but...
As we were short of cash,
the hearse agent wouldn’t deal with us.
 
“At the grocer’s, no cash, no spices,
at fair Suzie’s huse, no cash, no philandering...
dead inferior class people
are no part of my business.”
 
My boot set out, but I refuse
to say towards where,
that would embarrass the ladies
and I’ve no right to do that.
 
It’s since that time then that the fine fellow, (X2)
Oh ! it’s not nice...
Oh ! it’s not polite...
has been cross-buttocked.
 
Grandad,
don’t get upset,
we’ll get to overcome
all these people who impede happy burials.
 
The best thing to do, and the quickest,
so that the funeral could carry on,
was to carry the funereal burden
on our backs.
If he could have revived for a moment
Grandfather would have been happy
to go to his last resting place
like an emperor.
And off we ran as quick as we could
to get a holy water sprinkler, but...
As we were short of cash,
the clergyman wouldn’t deal with us8.
 
“At the grocer’s, no cash, no spices,
at fair Suzie’s house, no cash, no philandering...
dead inferior class people
are no part of my benediction.”
 
Even before the curate9
could let out a cry
I booted his arse in the name of the Father,
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
 
It’s since that time then that the fine fellow, (X2)
Oh ! it’s not nice...
Oh ! it’s not polite...
has been cross-buttocked.
 
Grandad,
don’t get upset,
we’ll get to overcome
all these people who impede happy burials. (X2)
 
  • 1. Le coup du père François was (in the 19th century) a method of robbery in which one bandit put a belt round the neck of the victim and used it to lift him (back to back) while a second bandit searched him for valuables - the victim being too occupied in not choking to death to use his hands to defend his possesions. It wasn't always fatal, but apparently the bandits didn't much care if it was or not. TLF describes it as "robbers' slang" in this entry:- Arg. des voleurs. Type d'agression où l'un des attaquants serre une courroie autour du cou de la victime et la maintient sur son dos tandis que son complice la fouille. Faire le coup du père François, p. ell., la faire au père François. D'étranges jeunes garçons, mal venus, aux gestes imprévus et rapides, simulaient entre eux des attaques de savate, des gestes d'étrangleurs et le coup du père François (BARRÈS, Sang, 1893, p. 113)
  • 2. literally: “the merchant received us with closed arms” – think “with open arms” and then substitute “closed” for “open”
  • 3. literally "no thighs"
  • 4. lit: are not within my jurisdiction
  • 5. lit: good apostle, it’s ironical use, means the opposite of what it says
  • 6. Brassens has changed a French phrase (literally "has one eye that swears at the other") that means “cross-eyed” and substituted “buttock” for “eye”; the idea seems to be that the kick has performed permanent and painful damage to the receiver’s behind
  • 7. I've been told that second hand coffins were available in Paris in the 1950s. Don't know whether to believe it, though
  • 8. this time the “merchant” is a low-grade clergyman, a curate not a vicar
  • 9. vicaire means curate, lower grade than vicar which in French would be the “curé”
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Grand-père

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Commenti
michealtmichealt
   Gio, 01/02/2018 - 21:02

Thanks again, Pierre.
The comma was probably finger-trouble.

coups de pied qui se perdent - I must remember that, a very useful idiom. Think of the people who put utterly incorrect lyrics on this site (wrong words, missing words and lines, misspelt, no punctuation except incorrect misleading punctuation, wrong split into lines and stanzas, clearly no attempt to listen to the song and check that the lyrics are somewhere near) and don't even bother to provide a video reference.

I wondered about "bière d'occasion" decades ago and asked about it. Someone told me that in the 1950s there were some mass burial sites (for paupers?) and sometimes the bodies were tipped into the pit and covered rather than having their coffin go with them. I didn't know whether to believe that then and still don't now. I suspect you are right, but maybe...