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.





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