Ces gens-là Lyrics

Lyric discussion by garveym 

Cover art for Ces gens-là lyrics by Jacques Brel

I'll try a translation:

Those people

First, First, there’s the firstborn Who’s like a melon Who’s got a big nose Who no longer knows his name, Mister Because he drinks Or because he’s drunk Who doesn’t do anything But who can’t hold more Who is completely done for But who pretends to be the king Who gets drunk every night With some bad wine But who we find in the morning Sleeping in the church Stiff as a ledge White as an Easter candle And who mumbles And whose eye is divagating I must say, Mister That among those people We don’t think, Mister We don’t think, we pray

And here comes the other Carrots in his hair Who’s never seen a comb Who’s a nasty piece of work (?) (well, a nasty man) And who would give his shirt To some poor happy fellows Who married “the” Denise A girl from the city Well… from another city And that’s not over yet Who’s doin’ his small business With his small hat With his small coat With his small car Who’d love to look good But who’s not good at all Don’t play the rich men If you don’t have a penny I must say, Mister That among those people We don’t live, Mister We don’t live, we cheat

And then, come the others The mother, who never says a word Or who talks nonsense And from the evening to the morning Under his apostle face And into his wooden framework There’s the father’s moustache Who died from a slide And who watches his herd Gobbling up the cold soup And it’s doin’ slurrrrp And it’s doin’ slurrrrp And then comes the elderly Who never stops to thrill And they’re waiting for her to die Because she got the money And they don’t listen to What her poor hands tell I must say, Mister That among those people We don’t talk Mister We don’t talk, we count

And then, and then And then, there is Frida Who’s nice like a sun And who loves me the same That I love Frida And we often tell each other That we’ll have a house With lots of windows With hardly no walls And that we’ll live in here And that it’ll be fine And if it’s not sure At least, it’s “maybe” Because they don’t want Because they don’t want The others, they say something like She’s too good for me That I’m just good for Strangling cats I’ve never killed any cat Or maybe a long time ago Or I forgot

Or he smelt so bad Well, they don’t want Well… they don’t want Sometimes when we see each other Pretending it’s unintentional With her wet eyes She says she’ll go She says she’ll follow me So for a moment For a moment only So I believe her, Mister For a moment For a moment only Because among those people, Mister We don’t go Mister We don’t go

But it’s late, Mister I’ve gotta go home.

Great song.