Lyrics and translation Edith Piaf - Mon amant de la coloniale

Mon amant de la coloniale

Il était fort et puis si tendre
Que, dès notre première nuit,
Je sentais que je ne pourrais plus me reprendre,
Et pour toujours, j'étais à lui.
J'voyais toutes les femmes lui sourire.
Moi, je m'cramponnais à son bras
Et j'les regardais comme pour leur dire:
"Il est à moi, et je l'lâche pas!"
C'était un gars de la Coloniale.
Il avait là, partant du front
Et descendant jusqu'au menton,
Une cicatrice en diagonale,
Des cheveux noirs, des yeux tout pâles,
La peau brûlée par le soleil.
J'en ai plus jamais vu d'pareil
A mon amant de la Coloniale.
Des fois, quand il avait la fièvre,
Il parlait trop et j'avais peur.
Je mettais la main sur ses lèvres
Pour pas connaître le fond de son coeur
Car je sentais que, dans son âme,
Y avait des larmes et du cafard.
Et j'm'disais: "C'est pour un' femme".
Quand j'ai compris, c'était trop tard...

Lorsque j'ai connu ma rivale,
Alors j'ai serré fort mes bras
Pour qu'cette grande garce "La Coloniale"
Lui fich' la paix et n' me l' vol' pas
Et lui, il m'avait dit: "Je reste"
Mais un beau jour, il est r'parti
Vers ces pays que je déteste
Dont il rêvait souvent la nuit.
C'était un gars de la Coloniale.
Il avait là, partant du front
Et descendant jusqu'au menton,
Une cicatrice en diagonale.
Je r'verrai plus ses beaux yeux pâles,
Ses yeux qui n'ont pas leur pareils.
Il est r'tourné vers son soleil,
Mon bel amant de la Coloniale...

My Lover from the Colonies

He was strong and yet so tender
That from our first night together
I felt that I could never get over him
And that I would belong to him forever.
I saw all the women smile at him.
I would cling to his arm
And glare at them as if to say:
"He's mine, and I'm not letting him go!"
He was a man from the Colonies.
On his face, starting from his forehead
And down to his chin,
There was a diagonal scar,
Black hair, very pale eyes,
Sun-burned skin.
I have never found any like him
My lover from the Colonies.
Sometimes, when he had a fever,
He would talk too much and I was afraid.
I would put my hand over his lips
So as not to learn the depths of his heart.
Because I felt that in his soul,
There were tears and sorrow.
And I would say to myself: "It's because of some woman."
When I understood, it was too late...

When I met my rival,
I clenched my fists,
So that this great whore "The Colonial"
Would leave him alone and not steal him from me.
And he had told me: "I will stay."
But one fine day, he left again,
For those lands that I despise
Of which he so often dreamed at night.
He was a man from the Colonies.
On his face, starting from his forehead
And down to his chin,
There was a diagonal scar.
I will never see his beautiful, pale eyes again,
His eyes that have no equal.
He has returned to his sunshine,
My handsome lover from the Colonies...