More songs by Benjamin Biolay
Description
The world seemed to have frozen in place - the sea was still, the sky was pensive, even the seagulls seemed to have lost their flight instructions. He stands, looks at this stillness, and remembers how everything was once more alive: the summer, the cities, his family, even the dog. Now, there's only the port with its tired cranes and the metallic taste of iron in the air. And in this silence, a strange calm sounds: it seems everything is over, but inside it's still warm. Yes, the decline was obvious; humanity had long forgotten how to be human. But as long as there are bistros in the world that serve without question and play old chansons, life hasn't completely lost the game. And if there's nothing up there - well, that's fine. The main thing is that I can pick up the boat. And friends. At least those two. Author, composer, arranger, and performer: Benjamin Biolay. Producers: Benjamin Biolay and Pierre Jaconelli. Recorded in Paris (Studio de la Seine), Brussels (ICP), Buenos Aires (Estudios Panda), and Rio de Janeiro (Studio Salve Salve chez Georges). Mixing: Pierrick Devin and Thomas Bonnen at Studio de La Seine, Paris. Mastering: Alex Gopher at Translab, Paris.
Lyrics and translation
Original
Il regarde le ciel immobile
Et se demande où sont les villes
Et l'été naguère invincible
Qui n'est pas revenu de l'ouest
Il regarde la mer impavide
Qui d'un coup d'un seul se débride
Puis boit la gourde à moitié vide
Le ciel et l'eau se font des tresses
Il s'empare d'une lame visible
Puis solennellement désigne
Le port où s'alignent les grues
Là où jadis il a vécu
Une forme de bonheur indicible
Avec sa femme son chien ses filles
Il se dit je suis encore chaud
J'aime bien mourir ma non troppo
Et puis au cas où
Je dis bien au cas où
Il y aurait rien là-haut
Pourrais-je emmener mon bateau?
Et puis au cas où
Je dis bien au cas où
Il y aurait rien là-haut
Pourrais-je emmener les potos?
Il regarde la route de l'exil
Et se demande où vont les îles
Et les grands oiseaux indociles
En forme de signaux de détresse
Il rêve des berges du Tibre ou du Nil
Humant la fumée d'une Dunhill
Il reste au loin quelques collines
Allongées dans la brume épaisse
Avant ici il y avait des chenils
Des grands bourgeois d'une grande ville
Le confluent le pauvre est nu
Et le jardin montre son cul
Le déclin était prévisible
L'humanité si peu sensible
Mais tant qu'il y aura des bistrots
Je veux bien mourir ma non troppo
Et puis au cas où
Je dis bien au cas où
Il y aurait rien là-haut
Pourrais-je emmener mon bateau?
Et puis au cas où
Je dis bien au cas où
Il y aurait rien là-haut
Pourrais-je emmener les potos?
Et puis au cas où
Je dis bien au cas où
Il y aurait rien là-haut
Pourrais-je emmener mon bateau?
English translation
He looks at the still sky
And wonder where the cities are
And the once invincible summer
Who didn't come back from the west
He looks at the impassioned sea
Who suddenly breaks free
Then drinks the half-empty bottle
The sky and the water braid each other
He grabs a visible blade
Then solemnly designates
The port where the cranes line up
Where he once lived
A form of unspeakable happiness
With his wife, his dog, his daughters
He says to himself I'm still hot
I like to die my non troppo
And then just in case
I say well in case
There would be nothing up there
Could I bring my boat?
And then just in case
I say well in case
There would be nothing up there
Could I bring the friends?
He looks down the road to exile
And wonder where the islands are going
And the big unruly birds
In the form of distress signals
He dreams of the banks of the Tiber or the Nile
Breathing the smoke of a Dunhill
There are still a few hills in the distance
Lying in the thick mist
Before here there were kennels
Big bourgeois from a big city
The confluence the poor man is naked
And the garden shows its ass
The decline was predictable
Humanity so insensitive
But as long as there are bistros
I want to die my non troppo
And then just in case
I say well in case
There would be nothing up there
Could I bring my boat?
And then just in case
I say well in case
There would be nothing up there
Could I bring the friends?
And then just in case
I say well in case
There would be nothing up there
Could I bring my boat?