Thursday 20 January 2011

Rien à jeter -He would not change a single bit of his girl-friend

This is a light-hearted love song written for Joha Heiman. The poet is playing the popular game of deciding the most important things that he would take with him if he were marooned on a desert island. In fact, he is selecting the most treasured parts of his girl friend’s body. He begins at the top and moves down. In the last two verses he becomes impatient knowing her charm is the whole person. On one French Brassens website, this song is placed in twelfth position in a list of the most popular Brassens songs.



Sans ses cheveux qui volent
J'aurais, dorénavant,
Des difficultés folles
À voir d'où vient le vent.

Tout est bon chez elle, y a rien à jeter,
Sur l'île déserte il faut tout emporter.


Je me demande comme(1)
Subsister sans ses joues
M'offrant deux belles pommes
Nouvelles chaque jour.

Tout est bon chez elle, y a rien à jeter,
Sur l'île déserte il faut tout emporter.



Sans sa gorge(2), ma tête,
Dépourvue de coussin,
Reposerait par terre
Et rien n'est plus malsain.

Tout est bon chez elle, y a rien à jeter,
Sur l'île déserte il faut tout emporter.



Sans ses hanches solides(3)
Comment faire, demain,
Si je perds l'équilibre,
Pour accrocher mes mains ?

Tout est bon chez elle, y a rien à jeter,
Sur l'île déserte il faut tout emporter.



Elle a mille autres choses
Précieuses encore
Mais, en spectacle, j'ose
Pas donner tout son corps.

Tout est bon chez elle, y a rien à jeter,
Sur l'île déserte il faut tout emporter.



Des charmes de ma mie
J'en passe et des meilleurs.
Vos cours d'anatomie
Allez les prendre ailleurs.

Tout est bon chez elle, y a rien à jeter,
Sur l'île déserte il faut tout emporter


D'ailleurs, c'est sa faiblesse,
Elle tient à ses os
Et jamais ne se laisse-
Rait couper en morceaux.

Tout est bon chez elle, y a rien à jeter,
Sur l'île déserte il faut tout emporter.


Elle est quelque peu fière
Et chatouilleuse assez
Et l'on doit tout entière
La prendre ou la laisser.

Tout est bon chez elle, y a rien à jeter,
Sur l'île déserte il faut tout emporter

1969 - La Religieuse

Without her wind-blown hair
I would have, ever after
A hell of a job seeing
Where the wind is blowing from.

All is right with her – there’s nothing to discard,
On the desert isle, we need to take the lot.

I stop to wonder just how
I’d fare without her cheeks
Giving me two fine apples
New and fresh each day.

All is right with her – there’s nothing to discard,
On the desert isle, we need to take the lot.


Without her bosom my head
Deprived of cushioning
Would rest upon the ground
And nothing is less safe.

All is right with her – there’s nothing to discard,
On the desert isle, we need to take the lot.


Without her hips so plump
What’ll I do tomorrow
If I lose my balance
For grabbing with my hands?

All is right with her – there’s nothing to discard,
On the desert isle, we need to take the lot.


She’s a’thousand other things
Prized by me the same
But I daren’t in public
List all her body parts

All is right with her – there’s nothing to discard,
On the desert isle, we need to take the lot.


I skip some of my love’s charms
And these some of the best.
Your course ‘f anatomy
Go and get it elsewhere.

All is right with her – there’s nothing to discard,
On the desert isle, we need to take the lot.

Besides, that’s her weakness
She hangs on to her bones
And’ll never let herself
Be cut up into bits.

All is right with her – there’s nothing to discard,
On the desert isle, we need to take the lot.

She is just a bit proud
And is quite ticklesome
And people have to take
All of her or leave her.

All is right with her – there’s nothing to discard,
On the desert isle, we need to take the lot.





TRANSLATION NOTES

1) Comme is here used in the old sense meaning - comment

2) Gorge means throat but sometimes has the sense of bust e.g. soutien-gorge = bra

3) Ses hanches solides - In several poems Brassens expresses his admiration for a well-rounded female bottom and wrote a full poem in its praise: Vénus Callipyge.


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
During a conversation in the later years of his life, Brassens named this song among those he said were inspired by his love for his lifelong partner, Joha Heiman. Although it is a powerful declaration of love - he would not change the least part of her-, there is also the teasing which we come to expect when Brassens talks of his "Püppchen". He was only a shy youth of eighteen when her beauty had first captivated him. He used to gaze upon her as she passed him along the streets of the quartier of Paris, where he lived. (Fuller notes about their relationship are posted with the song: Je mesuis fait tout petit



Another love song that makes play of detachable parts of the body in the game of love is “All of me”. Here it is sung by Billie Holiday (1941)



Click here to go back to the Index of my Brassens selection



Sunday 16 January 2011

Voltaire Candide Complete Study Notes

During my teaching career, I put together many pages of notes on Candide by Voltaire. Now that I am retired I am putting them on the Internet so that fellow teachers and also students of French Literature can use them.


(Please click on one of the 18 numbered titles below  to access 
the topic of your choice)               


1) SUMMARY OF THE BOOK WITH COMMENTARY




Right - In this old edition, Voltaire conceals his identity

2) The life and character of Voltaire (Pictured below)













3) Identifying the literary genre to which the book belongs.

     

The BBC Jonathan Swift webpage to which reference is
made can be reached with this link:
"Gulliver's Travels": How it Comments on Society








(Voltaire’s aim in the book was to attack Philosophical Optimism and there are four sections, 4-7 below, to cover this topic :)

4) Optimistic Philosophy in the eighteenth century              

5) Direct references to Philosophical Optimism in the book

6) Voltaire's hostility to Philosophical Optimism

7) Voltaire's evidence against Philosophical Optimism

Right a picture of one piece of evidence - The disastrous Lisbon earthquake


(If Voltaire is attacking optimism, we ask the question whether this makes for a gloomy, pessimistic book? Topics 8- 10 below are relevant to this question)

8) Is "Candide" a totally pessimistic book?

9) What is Candide's final philosophy of life?

10) Voltaire's literary style (This topic is relevant to the question of pessimism also because the style serves to dispel any gloomy tone)



(Finally we discuss the characters in topics 11- 18)                  

11) Are the characters merely puppets?

12) The Character of Candide

13) The character of Pangloss

14) The character of Cunegonde

Picture right - Cunegonde and Candide are caught behind the screen, after she had invited him to join in a biological experiment.

15) The character of the German Jesuit Baron

16) The character of the old woman

17) The character of Cacambo

18)The character of Martin



                           

The Auto-da-fe at which Candide had a starring role, burnt over a slow fire as a heretic, at a religious service, in front of a huge congregation, which included Cunegonde.


Saturday 15 January 2011

Marinette (J'avais l'air d'un c..) by Georges Brassens

This is a light-hearted comic song that people find fun to sing. It is the tale of a hapless youth in love with a beautiful girl, who is out of his class in every way. In comic succession, each approach he uses to win her proves a disaster. The song went into the pop charts in 1975, when Denis Pépin, a pop star of the time, recorded it. His video is at the end of this post.

Georges Brassens - Marinette (
Uploaded by kyssiane. - Explore more music videos.
Marinette

Quand j'ai couru chanter ma p'tite chanson pour Marinette
La belle, la traîtresse était allée à l'Opéra...
Avec ma p'tit' chanson, j'avais l'air d'un con ma mère,
Avec ma p'tit' chanson, j'avais l'air d'un con.

Quand j'ai couru porter mon pot d' moutarde à Marinette
La belle, la traîtresse avait déjà fini d' dîner...
Avec mon petit pot, j'avais l'air d'un con ma mère,
Avec mon petit pot, j'avais l'air d'un con.

Quand j'offris pour étrennes un' bicyclette à Marinette
La belle, la traîtresse avait acheté une auto...
Avec mon p'tit vélo, j'avais l'air d'un con ma mère,
Avec mon p'tit vélo, j'avais l'air d'un con.

Quand j'ai couru tout chose(2) au rendez-vous de Marinette
La bell' disait : "J' t'adore" à un sal' typ' qui l'embrassait...
Avec mon bouquet d' fleurs, j'avais l'air d'un con ma mère,
Avec mon bouquet d' fleurs, j'avais l'air d'un con.

Quand j'ai couru brûler la p'tit' cervelle à Marinette
La belle était déjà morte d'un rhume mal placé...
Avec mon revolver, j'avais l'air d'un con ma mère,
Avec mon revolver, j'avais l'air d'un con.



Quand j'ai couru, lugubre, à l'enterr'ment de Marinette
La belle, la traîtresse était déjà ressuscitée...(3)
Avec ma p'tit couronn', j'avais l'air d'un con ma mère,
Avec ma p'tit couronn', j'avais l'air d'un con.
Georges Brassens
1955 - Chanson pour l'Auvergnat
When I ran round to sing my little song to Marinetta
My love, the traitress had gone to the Opera
With just my little song, I looked a right fool,(1) dear mother
With just my little song, I looked a right fool.

When I ran round with my pot of mustard for Marinetta
My love, the traitress had already had her meal.
With just my little pot, I looked a right fool, dear mother
With just my little pot, I looked a right fool.

When I chose a bicy’cle as my gift to Marinetta
My love, the traitress had bought herself a car
With just my little bike, I looked a right fool, dear mother
With just my little bike, I looked a right fool.


When I ran much bothered for a date with Marinetta
She was say’ng: “I love you” to a vile bloke who held her tight.
With my bouquet of flow’rs, I looked a right fool, dear mother
With my bouquet of flow’rs, I looked a right fool.

When I ran to blast out the tiny brain of Marinetta
She was already dead from a cold badly placed...
With my drawn revolver, I looked a right fool, dear mother
With my drawn revolver, I looked a right fool.


When I rushed, filled with gloom, to the funeral of Marinetta
My love, the traitress was already come back to life
With my little wreath clasped, I looked a right fool, dear mother
With my little wreath clasped, I looked a right fool.




TRANSLATION NOTES

1) Looked like a fool – Brassens uses the word for the female genitalia, which is commonly used in French for “idiot” - even by respectable people at times. The direct English equivalent has the same meaning, but to me it is more offensive. I had previously chosen the word “twat” in English, having the same meaning, but perhaps less offensive. Uncomfortable with this word in what I see as a family song, I have now made this change.

2) Tout chose – “Être tout chose” is a colloquial expression for to be ill at ease

3) Déjà ressuscitée... In a number of other poems, Brassens talks of the idea of a person living on after death e.g. Trompe-la-Mort – Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète etc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following is the recording of the song made in 1975 by Denis Pépin. He was a successful pop star at the end of the 1970s but had a short career. He died in January 2010 aged 61.



Click here to go back to the Index of my Brassens selection

Saturday 8 January 2011

Les Philistins - A son you dreamt of as a lawyer turns out a hairy poet

I find this a very charming little song which Brassens wrote from the poem of Jean Richepin. It also has a touch of poignancy. I enjoy the immaculate style with which the very attractive French singer, Sandrine Devienne performs it and I have made hers the first video on this post
Brassens has songs of two of the poems of the 19th century writer and poet, Richepin (1849-1926); the other is “Les oiseaux de passage”, which I have not yet translated.

This is a portrait of Jean Richepin and when I draw attention to his long bushy hair, his beard and his moustache, I am not being gratuitously personal.

What a come-down it would be if your child grew up to be a person who looked like this!  At least that is what the "philistines" think.





Brassens' recording of this song :




Les Philistins(1)

Philistins, épiciers,
Tandis que vous caressiez,
Vos femmes,

En songeant, aux petits
Que vos grossiers appétits
Engendrent,

Vous pensiez: "Ils seront,
Menton rasé, ventre rond
Notaires."

Mais pour bien vous punir,
Un jour vous voyez venir
Sur terre

Des enfants non voulus
Qui deviennent chevelus
Poètes.

Vous pensiez: "Ils seront,
Menton rasé, ventre rond
Notaires."

Mais pour bien vous punir,
Un jour vous voyez venir
Sur terre

Des enfants non voulus
Qui deviennent chevelus
Poètes.

Jean Richepin
1957 - Je me suis fait tout petit

Philistines, grocerymen
All the while you were caressing
Your wives

Dreaming of  little ones
That your lecherous appetites
Engender,

You used to think: "They will be
Clean shaven, round of belly
Lawyers."

But to soundly punish you
 One fine day you see arrive
On earth

Children not as wished for
Who turn out to be long-haired
Poets.

You used to think: "They will be
Clean shaven, round of belly
Lawyers

But to soundly punish you
One fine day you see arrive
On earth

Children not as wished for
Who turn out to be long-haired
Poets.





 TRANSLATION NOTE

(1) Definitions of the word "philistine" from an English and from a French dictionary:

Philistine - often the word is not written with a capital “P”
a :  a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values
b :  a person who is not informed in a certain area of knowledge.

 Philistin

a :  Personne qui a peu de goût pour les arts et la littérature. - b :  Personne qui par extension est ignorant et fat (In English-smug) .


I like Sandrine Devienne's recording of this song



Philistins Sandrine Devienne by viala12

It appears that Sandrine Devienne has recorded an album of the songs of Brassens where his lyrics are taken from other French poets:



Friday 7 January 2011

Le Pornographe- he tells where his reputation as a writer of dirty songs leads him.

Brassens muses over his reputation as a writer of dirty songs. It is a paradox that, although he would not use coarse words in his personal life, he uses them quite freely in his professional life. He explains how this came about and describes the exaggeration caused by the stereotyping effect of public expectation. He has no fear of condemnation by the gods based on the meaningless human criteria of pornography.



Le pornographe

Autrefois, quand j'étais marmot,
J'avais la phobie des gros mots,
Et si je pensais "merde" tout bas,
Je ne le disais pas...
Mais(1)

Aujourd'hui que mon gagne-pain
C'est de parler comme un turlupin, (2)
Je ne pense plus "merde", pardi!
Mais je le dis.


Je suis le pornographe
Du phonographe,
Le polisson(3)
De la chanson.

Afin d'amuser la galerie
Je crache des gauloiseries,
Des pleines bouches de mots crus
Tout à fait incongrus...
Mais


En me retrouvant seul sous mon toit,
Dans ma psyché je me montre au doigt.
Et me crie: "Va te faire, homme incorrecte,
Voir par les Grecs."

Je suis le pornographe
Du phonographe,
Le polisson
De la chanson.

Tous les samedis je vais à confesse
M'accuser d'avoir parlé de fesses
Et je promets ferme au marabout
De les mettre tabou...
Mais

Craignant, si je n'en parle plus,
De finir à l'Armée du Salut,(4)
Je remets bientôt sur le tapis
Les fesses impies.

Je suis le pornographe
Du phonographe,
Le polisson
De la chanson.


Ma femme est, soit dit en passant,
D'un naturel concupiscent
Qui l'incite à se coucher nue
Sous le premier venu...
Mais

M'est-il permis, soyons sincère,
D'en parler au café-concert
Sans dire qu'elle a, suraigu,
Le feu au cul?

Je suis le pornographe
Du phonographe,
Le polisson
De la chanson.


J'aurais sans doute du bonheur,
Et peut-être la Croix d'honneur,
A chanter avec décorum
L'amour qui mène à Rome...(5)
Mais

Mon ange m'a dit: "Turlututu!
Chanter l'amour t'est défendu
S'il n'éclôt pas sur le destin
D'une putain."

Je suis le pornographe
Du phonographe,
Le polisson
De la chanson.


Et quand j'entonne, guilleret,
A un patron de cabaret
Une adorable bucolique,
Il est mélancolique...
Et

Me dit, la voix noyée de pleurs:
"S'il vous plaît de chanter les fleurs,
Qu'elles poussent au moins rue Blondel(6)
Dans un bordel."

Je suis le pornographe
Du phonographe,
Le polisson
De la chanson


Chaque soir avant le dîner,
A mon balcon mettant le nez,
Je contemple les bonnes gens
Dans le soleil couchant...
Mais


N’ me d’mandez pas d’chanter ça, si
Vous redoutez d'entendre ici
Que j'aime à voir, de mon balcon,
Passer les cons.(7)

Je suis le pornographe
Du phonographe,
Le polisson
De la chanson


Les bonnes âmes d'ici bas
Comptent ferme qu'à mon trépas
Satan va venir embrocher
Ce mort mal embouché...(8)
Mais,


Mais veuille le grand manitou,
Pour qui le mot n'est rien du tout,
Admettre en sa Jérusalem,
A l'heure blême,(9)

Le pornographe
Du phonographe,
Le polisson
De la chanson.




Georges Brassens
1958 - Le pornographe
In the past, when I was a kid
I just could not stand bad language
And if I thought “shit” on the quiet
I did’nt say it out loud
But

Today when earning my living
Means to speak like a social rebel
I no longer think “shit” - no way!
But I say it.


I’m the pornographer
Of phonography,
The rude chappie
Of pop’lar song

Just to amuse the gallery
I come out with dirty remarks
With mouthfuls of crude expressions
Completely uncalled for
But


When I get back home, all on my own
In my mind’s eye, I point straight at myself
And yell : “Incorrect man, get y’self
Seen by the Greeks. »

I’m the pornographer
Of phonography,
The rude chappie
Of pop’lar song

On Sat’days, I go to confess
To tell I’ve been speaking of bums
And firmly pledge the holy man
To rule them out tabou
But

Fearing, if there’s no more mention
To end up dependent on charity,
I’m soon bringing up once again
The so impious bums.

I’m the pornographer
Of phonography,
The rude chappie
Of pop’lar song


My wife is, mentioned in passing,
By nature quite concupiscent
Which makes her go to bed naked
Under the first man to call….
But

Am I allowed, let’s be honest
To bring it up in the music-hall
Without saying she has, to the point,
A hot fanny ?

I’m the pornographer
Of phonography,
The rude chappie
Of pop’lar song


No doubt I would have better luck
And perhaps the Croix d'honneur,
Through singing with due decorum
The love that leads to Rome ….
But

My angel told me “Fiddledee !
Singing of love is forbidden
Unless it hinges on the fate
Of a comm’n whore.

I’m the pornographer
Of phonography,
The rude chappie
Of pop’lar song


When I strike up a cheerful song
For the boss of a cabaret
A likable man , bucolic
He is melancholic
And

Tells me, his voice choking with tears
If you enjoy singing of flow’rs
At least let them grow in Soho
In a brothel.

I’m the pornographer
Of phonography,
The rude chappie
Of pop’lar song


Every evening before dinner
Nipping out on my balcony
I gaze at all the good people
In the sunset’s soft light.....
But


Don’t ask me to sing of that if
You’re afraid to hear me say here
I like to see from my balc’ny
The twats go by.

I’m the pornographer
Of phonography,
The rude chappie
Of pop’lar song


The right-minded down here below
Firmly expect that at my death
Satan’s going to roast on a spit
This man who said bad things
But


May he be willing the high chief,
For whom words alone matter not
To admit in his Jerusalem
At the pale hour

The pornographer
Of phonography
The rude chappie
Of pop’lar song






TRANSLATION NOTES

1)     Mais je le dis- Brassens splits each verse into two by the word “but”, so that the second part becomes a surprise or amusing qualification of the first. This applies in all the verses except one where “but” becomes “and”.

2)     un turlupin- . Brassens tells us, at the end of the song, that, according to the teachings of the Church, Satan will finally pitchfork him into the eternal fires of Hell, in punishment for using rude words and for talking too frankly about sexual matters. The strictures of the Church were more important at the time when Brassens was writing.  Brassens’ reference to the Turlupins reminds us that the issue of freedom of thought and expression is centuries old:
The Turlupins were part of a movement of religious dissent that emerged in France in the second half of the 14th century. We can only deduce the ideas of the different factions from what their adversaries in the Church said about them. Some apparently called themselves the “Brethren of the Free Spirit” and “The Society of the Poor". One prominent leader was  Jeanne Daubenton from Picardy.. She taught the virtues of the simple life and preached that individuals could achieve salvation through Christ by direct prayer without the intervention of the Church. Also she denied there was any sin in satisfying one’s sensual desires.   Pope Gregory XI, 
with the cooperation of the King of France, Charles V took action to suppress the religious dissidents. Gregory, who was pope from 1370-1378 was the last pope of the period when the Roman Catholic church was governed from France instead of Rome.  He reestablished the Holy Inquisition in France and people with views independent of the Church were excommunicated; some were thrown into prison and some executed.  Jeanne Daubenton, was arrested in 1372 and subjected to long hours of torture in the Chatelet Prison.  Finally with her body totally broken by the brutality, she was humped on a cart and taken not to the official execution ground, the Place de Grève, but as a final humiliation to the Place des Porceaux , where she was tied upright to a stake to suffer the required death for heretics - the agonising death of the burning of a living human body. (Historical facts from Vincent Thouvenot on French Wikipedia.)

3)     Le polisson - The rude chappie – I used the word chappie because polisson has the idea of “naughty”, “rascally” and I wanted to include a sense of harmlessness. The association in my mind is with the title of “the Cheeky Chappie” given to Max Miller (1894-1963), one of Britain's top comedians in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. The material of his jokes and songs was risqué, full of sexual double entendres which outraged the strait-laced.

4)     L'Armée du Salut – Brassens mentions the Salvation Army because it is known across the world as the final refuge of the destitute.

5)     L'amour qui mène à Rome...- This is perhaps a reference to the respectful acclaim granted to Brassens’ contemporary, the singing priest, le Père Duval, about whom Brassens relates a personal anecdote in his song;"Les Trompettes de la Renommée.”

6)     rue Blondel – was a street in Paris with a red light reputation

7)     Les cons - My suggestion for this translation refers to “les bonnes gens”, whom Brassens observes from his balcony. In the second part of the verse, under pressure from his public reputation, he calls them “cons”, which in its milder sense means silly, misguided people.

8)     “Emboucher” a musical instrument is to put it to your mouth to play. The idiom “Mal embouché” means “expressed in a coarse manner”.  We have a phrase in English to bad mouth.

9) L'heure blême - Brassens uses elsewhere this image of fading light to depict the moment of death.





Click here to go back to the Index of my Brassens selection