Would love help with French to English...

My partner adores the song A flanc de certitudes by Tete and would love to know what the words mean but neither of us can speak any French, any help would be wonderful, thanks...

Enfant chemin faisant dans la rue ou sur les bancs
A portée de glaviots, livres sur le dos
Je découvrais l'exil et ses vicissitudes, ce parfum de solitude, ce petit air entêtant.

Plus tard considérant l'évident, le convenu
De phrases sybillines en sous entendus
Las d'échoué ma mie à flanc certitudes,je meublais ma solitude
Ce mal que ne guérit nul onguent.

L'exil à vie vois-tu à flanc de ceritudes, ce parfum de solitude
Oh la vie à flanc de certitudes,
Oh la vie à flanc de certitudes.

Que retournent donc les immigrés en "Zimmigrie"
Sur le champ les étrangers en "Zétrangie"

La valse au rythme des couplets de feu Jean-Marie
Les soufflets de tante Eulalie
Quelle griserie non vraiment

L'exil à vie vois-tu à flanc de ceritudes, ce parfum de solitude
Oh la vie à flanc de certitudes,
Oh la vie à flanc de certitudes

Lalala...
<a href="http://www.lyricsmania.com">Lyrics</a>

The Google translation is awful, makes no sense. I would love it if someone could help?

Anyone know where else I could go to get help with the translation of this?


Any suggestions gratefully received, thanks.

This is impossible, even me who lives in France, cant understand the real meaning of this song, so no one could ever possibly translate it in English, at least I dont think so...

Hey hey French can be a twisted language sometimes and Tété as an immigrant (he grew in France but was born in Senegal a French speaking country) use it with its tricks and poetical specificities.

so here is the translation, trying to explain the sense, more that translating word-by-word with my awkward English.

"A flanc" means on the side or by the side but in this song it's better to translate by "on the edge of"


Enfant chemin faisant dans la rue ou sur les bancs
Child on his way, in the streets or on the banks (at school)

A portée de glaviots, livres sur le dos
within the reach of a spit, books on his back
(here he used the French slang word for "spit" which accurate translation in British English slang who be "gob")

Je découvrais l'exil et ses vicissitudes, ce parfum de solitude, ce petit air entêtant.
I was discovering the exile and its eventful moments, this smell of lonelyness, this little persistant tune

Plus tard considérant l'évident, le convenu
Later, considering what's evident, what's conventional

De phrases sybillines en sous entendus
From sybilline sentences (with hidden sense) to ones with innuendo

Las d'échoué ma mie à flanc certitudes,je meublais ma solitude
Tired to fail...(this part in French seems wrong)...., I occupied my lonelyness

Ce mal que ne guérit nul onguent.
This evil which no ointment can cure

L'exil à vie vois-tu à flanc de ceritudes, ce parfum de solitude
The exile till death, you see, at the edge of certainty, this smell of lonelyness

Oh la vie à flanc de certitudes,
Oh la vie à flanc de certitudes.
Oh, life on the edge of certainty

This following part of the song uses French tricks to play with the words "immigrates" and "foreigner" and turn them into the name of a country
we could very freely translate by

May the immigrates go back to Immigrateland
May stranger go right now back to Strangeristan

Que retournent donc les immigrés en "Zimmigrie"
Sur le champ les étrangers en "Zétrangie"

In addition, he plays with the pronounciation of the phonetical link we sometimes do in French when we pronounce the last counsonant or a word if it followed by a word beginning with a vowel ("je vous ai dit is pronouced": jeh voo zay di)

La valse au rythme des couplets de feu Jean-Marie
The waltz following the pace of late Jean-marie verses

Les soufflets de tante Eulalie
The... of aunti Eulalie (I don't know what Tété means here, soufflet is English "bellow" in old French it means "slap" so I can't figure it out).

Quelle griserie non vraiment
what an exaaltation, really!

L'exil à vie vois-tu à flanc de ceritudes, ce parfum de solitude
Oh la vie à flanc de certitudes,
Oh la vie à flanc de certitudes


I hope this helps you, if you want me to translate other Tété's lyrics don't hesitate because he's a real modern poet.

Sorry for all theses technical explainations but it's the only way to catch the real deep sense of these (probably auto-biographical) lyrics of this nice song

nico

Nico,

I found your explanations very, very helpful. Thank you for going into detail. I've used what you did and suggested a few changes in the translation below.

As a child, making his way
around the streets and park benches
Within spitting distance, books on my back

I discovered exile
and its tribulations
This scent of loneliness,
This heady little tune

Later, considering
All that is evident and obvious
about sentences with hidden meaning and innuendo

Tired of not succeeding (failing to earn a living? "Mie" = an antiquated word for bread)
on the edge of certainty
I occupied my loneliness
This evil that no ointment can heal

Lifelong exile, you see, on the edge of certainty
This scent of loneliness
Oh, life on the edge of certainty

Let all the immigrants go back to Immigrantland
Right this minute, let all the foreigners go back to Foreignerland

Waltzes to the beat of the verses of the late Jean-Marie (Le Pen)
Auntie Eulalie's sighs
What an intoxication, I mean really!

(I translated "soufflets" as "sighs" here because I think he's referring to the way that French people blow out air when they're disgusted or frustrated with something or someone.)

hi


thanks for your corrections, it helps me to improve my Emglish :-)

Jean-Marie is probably someone of his family, not Le Pen (even if the reference might be appropriate in that context) and he's not dead yet.

"soufflet", thinkin' of it I assume that it's a slight slap, not to hurt, it's an very old fashioned French word, normally it's the slap given by women with their glove but the word remained few centuries.

More trivialy it could be farts, yes that could be a kind of poetical way to cal them ;-)

Nico

Hi Nico,

I like your translation of "fart" for "soufflet"!!

I do think Tété might be referring to Le Pen here though. I know the "feu" means that someone has passed away, but couldn't that be sort of an ironic way of saying that Le Pen and his ideas are (or should be) a thing of the past?

Just a thought...

Originally Posted by nicoloco

hi


thanks for your corrections, it helps me to improve my Emglish :-)

Jean-Marie is probably someone of his family, not Le Pen (even if the reference might be appropriate in that context) and he's not dead yet.

"soufflet", thinkin' of it I assume that it's a slight slap, not to hurt, it's an very old fashioned French word, normally it's the slap given by women with their glove but the word remained few centuries.

More trivialy it could be farts, yes that could be a kind of poetical way to cal them ;-)

Nico

Thanks to you all for your help, my fella was very pleased!