Jean-Jacques Goldman - Né en 17 a Leidenstadt - Live Version 2002 - translation of the lyrics into English

Lyrics and translation Jean-Jacques Goldman - Né en 17 a Leidenstadt - Live Version 2002




Né en 17 a Leidenstadt - Live Version 2002
Born in 17 in Leidenstadt - Live Version 2002
Et si j′tais n en 17 Leidenstadt
And if I were born in 17 in Leidenstadt
Sur les ruines d'un champ de bataille
On the ruins of a battlefield
Aurais-je t meilleur ou pire que ces gens
Would I be better or worse than these people
Si j′avais t allemand?
If I had been German?
Berc d'humiliation, de haine et d'ignorance
A cradle of humiliation, hatred and ignorance
Nourri de rves de revanche
Nourished by dreams of revenge
Aurais-je t de ces improbables consciences
Would I have been one of those improbable consciences
Larmes au milieu d′un torrent
Tears in the midst of a flood?
Si j′avais grandi dans les docklands de Belfast
If I had grown up in the docklands of Belfast
Soldat d'une foi, d′une caste
A soldier of faith, of caste
Aurais-je eu la force envers et contre les miens
Would I have had the strength against my own people
De trahir: tendre une main
To betray: to lend a hand?
Si j'tais ne blanche et riche Johannesburg
If I were born white and rich in Johannesburg
Entre le pouvoir et la peur
Between power and fear
Aurais-je entendu ces cris ports par le vent
Would I have heard these cries carried by the wind
Rien ne sera comme avant
Nothing will be as before?
On saura jamais c′qu'on a vraiment dans nos ventres
We'll never know what we really have in our stomachs
Cach derrire nos apparences
Hidden behind our appearances
L′me d'un brave ou d'un complice ou d′un bourreau?
The soul of a brave man, an accomplice or an executioner?
Ou le pire ou plus beau?
Or the worst or the most beautiful?
Serions-nous de ceux qui rsistent ou bien les moutons d′un troupeau
Would we be those who resist or the sheep of a flock
S'il fallait plus que des mots?
If it took more than words?
Et si j′tais n en 17 Leidenstadt
And if I were born in 17 in Leidenstadt
Sur les ruines d'un champ de bataille
On the ruins of a battlefield
Aurais-je t meilleur ou pire que ces gens
Would I be better or worse than these people
Si j′avais t allemand?
If I had been German?
Et qu'on nous pargne toi et moi si possible trs longtemps
And may you and I be spared for a very long time
D′avoir choisir un camp
From having to choose a side





Writer(s): Jean-jacques Goldman


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