Lyric discussion by epiwoosh 

Cover art for Orly lyrics by Jacques Brel

This English translation is from lyricstranslate.com.

There are more than two thousand of them Yet I can only see those two people It seems that the rain Has bound them together There are more than two thousand of them Yet I can only see those two people And I know they're speaking He must be telling her, "I love you!" She must be telling him, "I love you!" I guess they are Not promising anything to each other Those two people are too thin To be dishonest

There are more than two thousand of them Yet I can only see those two people And suddenly, he cries He cries in gushing spurts However surrounded they are By fatty men in sweat And hope-eaters Who are pointing their nose at them But those two broken hearts Proud in sorrow Leave the dogs The feat to judge them

* Life is merciless And that's bloody sad Orly, on sunday With or without Bécaud* ! *

And now they're crying I mean, the two of them Just before, it was him When I was saying "he" They're so embedded That they can't hear anything But each other's sobs And then And then, infinitely Like two praying bodies Infinitely, slowly Those two bodies separate And in separating Those two bodies are torn And I swear they yell And then, they take each other again Become together as one again Become fire again And then are torn again Holding each other's look And then, as they step backward As the tide goes out He consumes this goodbye He spits some words Vaguely waving a hand And suddenly, he flees Flees without turning back And then, he disappears Swallowed by the stairs

And then, he disappears Swallowed by the stairs And she stays there With her heart crossed, gawping Without a shout, without a word She knows her death She's just crossed its path She then turns back Once again Her arms are stretched to the ground Here she goes, she's a thousand years old! The door is closed again She's hence in the dark She spins around And she already knows Then she'll always spin She lost several men But thereupon she loses love Love told her Inanity comes back She'll be living from plans That will always be left unstarted She's fragile again Before she's for sale

I'm here, I follow her I don't dare anything for her Whom the crowd is nibling Like any old fruit

Translation