It never occurred to me before to share French lyrics and translations before…. usually, I only do this for japanese songs, but i really want to blog this particular French variety song.
Not many French compositions are to my liking but, there is one singer that I quite like : Pascal Obispo. His songs are composed and written by him, and his voice is of quality. I like his texts, as mush as his singing.
Here goes :
Je suis tombé pour Elle (l’île aux oiseaux)
I’ve fallen for Her (the Island of Birds)
Tu es tombée du ciel
Moi qui voyais le mal partout
Si l’amour est encore sur terre
Rien n’efface les douleurs d’hier
Sans toi je n’aurais
Jamais pleuré autant de joie pour personne
Le canon qui résonne
You fell from the sky
I could only see evil from this world then
Love may still be on this Earth but
Nothing erases yesterday’s pains
Without you I would never
Have shed that many tears of Happiness for anyone
A canon is resonating
Ici sur pilotis
Refuge de mes amours englouties
Mon cœur d’éponge à la dérive
Les marées ne me feront revenir
Je reste avec
Les étoiles de mer
Les oiseaux des terres amères
Et mon cœur qui se perd
On top a stilt
My lost loves’ hide-out
My soaked heart drifting away
Even tides won’t drive me back
I’ll stay with
The sea stars and
Birds from those bitter lands
And my heart laid astray
Je suis tombé pour elle
Je n’ai d’yeux que pour elle
Ma maison, ma Tour Eiffel
Quand mes amours prennent l’eau
L’île aux oiseaux
I’ve fallen for Her
I’m no one’s but Hers
My home, My Eiffel Tower
When my love sinks
The birds’ Island
Au-dessus des marées
J’ai de l’amour à perpétuité
Pour Pyla sur mer, Arguin, Ferret
La pointe aux chevaux de mer, l’été
Arcachon, Piquey et Frédéliand
Les glaces sur la jetée
Pourraient bien me manquer
Above the ocean tide
I offer perpetual Love
For Pyla sur mer, Arguin, Ferret
La pointe aux chevaux de mer, in summer
Arcachon, Piquey & Frédéliand
I could well come to miss
Our popsicles on the pier
C’est ma tour de Babel
Mon phare, ma citadelle
Mon cinéma, mon repère
Mon oasis et mes amours à la poubelle
Et quitte à perdre pied
She’s my Tower of Babel
My lighthouse, my citadel
Mon cinéma, mon repère My cinema, my landmark
My oasis and my loves are thrown away
Even if it makes me lose sanity
If you want to hear what it sounds like, here’s a link to the song at a free online web-radio : http://www.deezer.com/track/176688
** Meaning **
Some parts can sound a bit obscure… they sure did sound so to me for a while, but I think I finally got the meaning of it all.
First verse : this one is quite obvious, providing my translation isn’t lacking something, it should sound obvious in English too ^^;
Second verse : hum…so in the end, things ended up rather sadly for him huh? He’s alone and his heart feels like it’s drifting away for eternity in the ocean, disappearing even from his sight. Yet, he doesn’t want to let go of his sorrow and seems to cling to it : instead of fighting the pain to come back ashore to the world and its living people, he’d rather stay astranged and alone, as if sleeping in the bottom of the ocean
Chorus : Well, pretty clear too. Note that the man is talented enough to put a cliche-like comparison between his love and the Eiffel Tower in his chorus and still make it sound good…. -___- I’m sure it doesn’t in English though, but I stuck to the literal meaning anyway. when his heart is broken, he takes refuge to his wild island, mentioned previously in verse 2, the Island of Birds
Fourth Verse : okay, so all these mystical sounding words are only names of places in France : i think he merely mentionning places they went to together, and remembering them, he thinks he might miss them, and the memories linked to them…. even the most little ones, like the Popsicles they shared y the beach…
Fifth verse : again, he’s referring to all she stands for in his eyes, emphasizing her importance, her necessity in his existence. She’s so vital, she’s worth losing sanity for.
