edith piaf "La Foule"

[ivresse]

here is again my own translation. some words in this song were hard for me to understand so there might be wrong words used. i tried looking up some lyrics online yet this is the best i came up with.
please anyone who knows this song, may you please help correct the lyrics as well as a retouching of the translation.
and hopefully there can be more discussion on any vocabe or grammer or anything else.

thank you all in advance,
ivresse.


Je revois la ville en fête et en délire I re-examine the city in celebration and delirious
Suffoquant sous le soleil et sous la joie Suffocating under the sun and under the joy
Et j'entends dans la musique les cris, les rires and I hear in the music cries & laughter
Qui éclatent et rebondissent autour de moi Which bursts & rebounds around me
Et perdue parmi ces gens qui me bousculent and lost amongst these people who hustle me
Étourdie, désemparée, je reste là disabled, dazed,I remain there
Quand soudain, je me retourne, il se recule, when Suddenly, I am turned over, he recedes,
Et la foule vient me jeter entre ses bras. And the crowd comes to throw me in his arms
Emportés par la foule qui nous traîne Emportés by the crowd that we lag behind
Nous entraîne We lead
Écrasés l'un contre l'autre Écrasés against one another
Nous ne formons qu'un seul corps We are fromed into only one body
Et le flot sans effort And the flow effortlessly
Nous pousse, enchaînés l'un et l'autre We shoot, chained both
Et nous laisse tous deux And let us both
Épanouis, enivrés et heureux. Épanouis, drunk and happy.
Entraînés par la foule qui s'élance led by the crowd that starts
Et qui danse Une folle farandole And dancing A mad farandole
Nos deux mains restent soudées Our two hands remain welded
Et parfois soulevés And sometimes raised
Nos deux corps enlacés s'envolent Our two body embracing soar
Et retombent tous deux And both fall
Épanouis, enivrés et heureux... Épanouis, drunk and happy ...
Et la joie éclaboussée par son sourire And joy witnessing his smile
Me transperce et rejaillit au fond de moi Me and pierces redounds to the bottom of me
Mais soudain je pousse un cri parmi les rires But I suddenly grows a cry among the laughs
Quand la foule vient l'arracher d'entre mes bras... When the crowd just tear of my arms ...
Emportés par la foule qui nous traîne Emportés by the crowd that we lag behind
Nous entraîne Nous éloigne l'un de l'autre We leads We away from one another
Je lutte et je me débats I fight and I debate
Mais le son de sa voix But the sound of his voice
S'étouffe dans les rires des autres S'étouffe laughter in the other
Et je crie de douleur, de fureur et de rage And I shouted with pain, fury and rage
Et je pleure... And I cry ...
Entraînée par la foule qui s'élance led by the crowd that starts
Et qui danse Une folle farandole And dancing A mad farandole
Je suis emportée au loin I am swept away
Et je crispe mes poings, maudissant la foule qui me vole I crisp my fists, crushing the crowd who stole from me
L'homme qu'elle m'avait donné The man she had given me
Et que je n'ai jamais retrouvé... And that I had never found agian...

[cortom]

Just so that Birdman shouldn't have to do all the work...
I'll do my best.

Je revois la ville en fête et en délire
...I remember (lit.: see again) the city, celebrating and delirious
Suffoquant sous le soleil et sous la joie
...Suffocating from (lit. under) sun and joy
Et j'entends dans la musique les cris, les rires
...And in the music I hear the cries and laughter
Qui éclatent et rebondissent autour de moi
...that burst and bounce around me
Et perdue parmi ces gens qui me bousculent
...and lost amidst these jostling people
Étourdie, désemparée, je reste là
...dizzy and disoriented (? maybe not the best translation), I stand still
Quand soudain, je me retourne, il se recule,
...when suddenly, I turn around, he steps back
Et la foule vient me jeter entre ses bras.
...and the crowd just throws me in his arms
Emportés par la foule qui nous traîne
...Carried away by the crowd that pulls on us,
Nous entraîne
...takes us in tow.
Écrasés l'un contre l'autre
...Crushed into each other
Nous ne formons qu'un seul corps
...we are but one single body.
Et le flot sans effort
...Without effort the flow
Nous pousse, enchaînés l'un et l'autre
...pushes us, chained to each other
Et nous laisse tous deux
...and leaves us both
Épanouis, enivrés et heureux.
...blossoming, intoxicated, happy
Entraînés par la foule qui s'élance
...carried with the crowd that pushes ahead
Et qui danse Une folle farandole
...and dances a mad farandola (=folk dance)
Nos deux mains restent soudées
...Our [two] hands remain (as) soldered,
Et parfois soulevés
...and, at times lifted up
Nos deux corps enlacés s'envolent
...our entwined bodies fly away
Et retombent tous deux
...and fall back together
Épanouis, enivrés et heureux...
...blossoming, intoxicated, happy...
Et la joie éclaboussée par son sourire
...And joy, kindled (??) by his smile
Me transperce et rejaillit au fond de moi
...pierces me, and wells up again deep inside me (lit.: at my bottom)
Mais soudain je pousse un cri parmi les rires
...But suddenly, in between laughter, I let out a cry
Quand la foule vient l'arracher d'entre mes bras...
...when, all of a sudden, the crowd tears him out of my arms
Emportés par la foule qui nous traîne
...Carried away by the crowd that pulls on u
Nous entraîne Nous éloigne l'un de l'autre
...takes us in tow, moves us apart from each other (this doesn't sound very good, but I find nothing better)
Je lutte et je me débats
...I fight and I wrestle
Mais le son de sa voix
...but the sound of his voice
S'étouffe dans les rires des autres
...is smothered in the their (=the crowds) laughter (lit.: laughs of the others)
Et je crie de douleur, de fureur et de rage
...I shout from pain, rage and anger
Et je pleure...
...and I cry
Entraînée par la foule qui s'élance
...carried by the crowd that pushes ahead
Et qui danse Une folle farandole
...and dances a mad farandola
Je suis emportée au loin
...I'm carried away in the distance
Et je crispe mes poings, maudissant la foule qui me vole
...I clench my fists, damning the crowd that steals from me
L'homme qu'elle m'avait donné
...the man she had given me
Et que je n'ai jamais retrouvé...
...and that I've never found again...


Phew, those Edith Piaf songs are really hard work.

@ivresse: one recurring error I noticed is that you translate 'nous' systematically as 'we', while often it means 'us'. This may help a lot in understanding the meaning of the text. That's not meant as a criticism. I'm sure my own translation contains errors too.

[ivresse]

well i thank you so deeply for your kindness to help out with this long translation,
and also for the corrections you've offered!

[ivresse]

hello agian!
can anyone comment on "l'un et l'autre" and "l'un contre l'autre"
is this the proper way to say "to eachother" and "into eachother"
can anyone deconstruct this grammatically, what the l' stands for and so on?
and perhaps give a few simple examples.
much thanks

[Zise_ti_zoi]

Originally Posted by ivresse

hello agian!
can anyone comment on "l'un et l'autre" and "l'un contre l'autre"
is this the proper way to say "to eachother" and "into eachother"
can anyone deconstruct this grammatically, what the l' stands for and so on?
and perhaps give a few simple examples.
much thanks

Well, I far as my "connaisances" reach,

Un (masculine) is One

Et is And

Autre is Other

Contre is Against

L'un et l'autre goes for "The one and the another"

L'un contre l'autre goes for "The one against the another"

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by ivresse

hello agian!
can anyone comment on "l'un et l'autre" and "l'un contre l'autre"
is this the proper way to say "to eachother" and "into eachother"
can anyone deconstruct this grammatically, what the l' stands for and so on?
and perhaps give a few simple examples.
much thanks

As Zise said, "l'un et l'autre" is the contraction form of "le un et le autre". (it may be easier to see in the plural form "les uns et les autres")

where
- "le" = definite article
- "un" and "autre" are used here as undefinite pronoun replacing without distinction each lover (in the song).

- "et" and "contre" are conjonction or preposition (i dont remember wihch is wich)

- "contre" may have all english senses of "against" (Je vote contre cette personne / Placez vous contre le mur). And "contre" may also mean "close by, close to sb/sth" as in "Je serre mon enfant contre mon coeur".


In the song context (the crowd and two lovers),

1- "... enchainés l'un et l'autre (par la foule)" may also means "... enchainés l'un à l'autre" or "... enchainés l'un avec l'autre".

So writing "(lovers are)...chained to each other (by the irresistable crowd movement)" seems to me a good translation.


2- In "écrasés l'un contre l'autre (par la foule)" means also "écrasés l'un sur l'autre" or "écrasés l'un dans l'autre". "Contre", here, has the meaning of proximity, to be very close to sb.

So Cortom has it right in translating by "(we are) crushed into each other (by the crowd movement)"


As a example, Sacha Guitry, well-know for his humor about (and against) women, had this funny line which plays with the two opposite meanings of "contre" :

"Je suis contre (against) les femmes... tout contre (very close to them, intimate)".

.