Pauvre Martin - A touching song from Georges Brassens

Brassens paints a touching portrait of an impoverished agricultural labourer, whose life is hard but who accepts his fate with total equanimity - Another of society’s outsiders for whom he felt great compassion.




Pauvre Martin

Avec une bêche à l'épaule,
With a spade upon his shoulder
Avec à la lèvre un doux chant,
With, on his lips, a little song
Avec à la lèvre un doux chant,
With, on his lips, a little song
Avec à l'âme (1) un grand courage,
With, deep within, spirit unbroken
Il s'en allait trimer aux champs
He would go to the fields to toil
Pauvre Martin, pauvre misère,(2)
Poor old Martin, mis'rably poor
Creuse la terre, creuse le temps
Digs at the earth, digs away time

Pour gagner le pain de sa vie,
To earn enough bread to live off
De l'aurore jusqu'au couchant,
From crack of dawn ‘til setting sun
De l'aurore jusqu'au couchant,
From crack of dawn ‘til setting sun
Il s'en allait bêcher la terre
He would go off to work the land
En tous les lieux, par tous les temps
Off anywhere in all weather
Pauvre Martin, pauvre misère,(2)
Poor old Martin, mis'rably poor
Creuse la terre, creuse le temps
Digs at the earth, digs away time



Sans laisser voir sur son visage
He let appear upon his face
Ni l'air jaloux ni l'air méchant,
No look of envy or of spite
Ni l'air jaloux ni l'air méchant,
No look of envy or of spite
Il retournait le champ des autres,
He tilled the field of other folk
Toujours bêchant, toujours bêchant
Digging nonstop, digging nonstop
Pauvre Martin, pauvre misère,(2)
Poor old Martin, mis'rably poor
Creuse la terre, creuse le temps
Digs at the earth, digs away time

Et quand la mort lui a fait signe
And when death gave him the signal
De labourer son dernier champ,
To begin work on his last field
De labourer son dernier champ,
To begin work on his last field
Il creusa lui-même sa tombe
He dug for himself his own grave
En faisant vite, en se cachant
Getting done quick, keeping hidden
Pauvre Martin, pauvre misère,(2)
Poor old Martin, mis'rably poor
Creuse la terre, creuse le temps
Digs at the earth, digs away time


Il creusa lui-même sa tombe
He dug for himself his own grave
En faisant vite, en se cachant
Getting done quick, keeping hidden
En faisant vite, en se cachant,
Getting done quick, keeping hidden
Et s'y étendit sans rien dire
And laid him there with no word said
Pour ne pas déranger les gens
So as not to trouble people.
Pauvre Martin, pauvre misère,
Poor old Martin, mis'rably poor
Dors sous la terre, dors sous le temps !
Sleep neath the earth, sleep under time. (3)

Georges Brassens
1954 - Les amoureux des bancs publics

TRANSLATION NOTES
1) Avec à l'âme = With in his soul
2) We French teachers bore or perhaps amuse people by talking about "faux amis". The word "misère" is one of these - it looks like the English word "misery" but it means extreme poverty (Of course the two ideas are not unrelated).
3) Brassens often talks of death and the ravages of time in his songs.

I am a great fan of Sandra Devienne



Or Click Here to see her charming version of Pauvre Martin

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