edith piaf "dan ma rue"

hello to helping hands!
below i wrote the lyrics to her "dan ma rue" song
and came up with my own translation with the little french i know
can anyone who is familiar with slang french and can make the translation smoother for me please by correcting the awkward parts.
much thanks.




J'habite un coin du vieux Montmartre I live at the corner of old montmartre
Mon père rentre soûl tous les soirs my father returns drunk every night
Et pour nous nourrir tous les quatre and the four of us are fed
Ma pauvre mére travaille au lavoir. My poor mother works at the washhouse
Moi j'suis malade, j'rêve à ma fenêtre me I am sick, I dream through my window
Je regarde passer les gens d'ailleurs I look pass people moreover
Quand le jour vient à disparaître when the day comes to vanish
Il y a des choses qui me font un peu peur there are things that brought me a little fear

Dans ma rue il y a des gens qui s' prominent in my street there are people who take a walk
J'les entends chuchoter dans la nuit I hear their whispers in the night
Quand je m'endors bercée par une rengaine when I’m sent to sleep nourished by the corny old tunes
J'suis soudain réveillée par des cris I am suddenly waken from the cries
Des coups d'sifflet, des pas qui traînent, qui vont et viennent the final whistle, to stop those lurking, who go and come
Puis le silence qui me fait froid dans tout le Coeur then the silence that makes me cold in every heart

Dans ma rue il y a des ombres qui s' prominent in my street there are ghosts who take a walk
Et je tremble et j'ai froid et j'ai peur and I shake and I am cold and I am afraid

Mon père m'a dit un jour : "la fille, my father he tells me one day: “ daughter,
Tu ne vas pas rester là sans fin you will not stay here without an end
T'es bonn' à rien, ça c'est d'famille you are good at nothing, this is familly
Faudrait voir à gagner ton pain it’s a mistake to see at earning enough for your bread
Les hommes te trouvent plutôt jolie the men find you rather pretty
Tu n'auras qu'à sortir le soir you go out at night
Il y'a bien des femmes qui gagnent leur vie there are good women who acquire their lives
En "s' ballant sur le trottoir" in “ dangling themselves over the sidewalk”

Dans ma rue il y a des femmes qui s' prominent in my street there are women who take a walk
J'les entends fredonner dans la nuit I hear them sing softly in the night
Quand je m'endors bercée par une rengaine when I’m sent to sleep nourished by the corny old tunes
J'suis soudain réveillée par des cris I am suddenly am waken from the cries
Des coups d'sifflet, des pas qui traînent, qui vont et viennent the final whistle, to stop those lurking, who go and come

Puis le silence qui me fait froid dans tout le Coeur then the silence that makes me cold in all the hearts

Dans ma rue il y a des femmes qui s' prominent in my street there are women who take a walk
Et je tremble et j'ai froid et j'ai peur and I shake and I’m cold and I’m afraid

Et depuis des semaines et des semaines and after weaks and the weak
J'ai plus d' maison, j'ai plus d'argent I have more home,I have more money
J' sais pas comment les autres s'y prennent I know the others
Mais j'ai pas pu trouver d' client but I didn’t try looking for clinets
J'demande l'aumône aux gens qui passent I asked all people who passed by for charity
Un morceau d' pain, un peu d' chaleur a piece of bread, a little bit of warmth
J'ai pourtant pas beaucoup d'audace I had however not much of boldness
Maintenant c'est moi qui leur fait peur now it is me who fears them

Dans ma rue tous les soirs je m' promène in my street all nights I go for a walk
On m'entend sangloter dans la nuit they hear me sob in the night
Quand le vent jette au ciel sa rengaine when the wind drops from the heavens it's corny old tune
Tout mon corps est glacé par la pluie all my body is ice for the rain

Mais je n' peux plus, j'attends sans cesse que le bon Dieu vienne but I can’t anymore, I waited ceaselessly
for the good god to come
Pour m'inviter à me réchauffer tout près de Lui for an invitation to be warmed all near him

Dans ma rue il y a des anges qui m'emmènent in my street there are angles who took me
Pour toujours mon cauchemar est fini for always my nightmares are finished!

j'habite un coin du vieux Montmartre I live at the corner of old montmartre
Mon père rentre soûl tous les soirs my father returns drunk every night
Et pour nous nourrir tous les quatre and the four of us are fed
And in order to feed us
Ma pauvre mére travaille au lavoir. My poor mother works at the washhouse
Moi j'suis malade, j'rêve à ma fenêtre me I am sick, I dream through my window
Je regarde passer les gens d'ailleurs I look pass people moreover
I watch the people pass
Quand le jour vient à disparaître when the day comes to vanish
Il y a des choses qui me font un peu peur there are things that brought me a little fear
This is Ok but should be in present tense

Dans ma rue il y a des gens qui s' prominent in my street there are people who take a walk
J'les entends chuchoter dans la nuit I hear their whispers in the night
Quand je m'endors bercée par une rengaine when I’m sent to sleep nourished by the corny old tunes
bercee=rocked to sleep, soothed
J'suis soudain réveillée par des cris I am suddenly waken from the cries
Des coups d'sifflet, des pas qui traînent, qui vont et viennent the final whistle, to stop those lurking, who go and come
Blows on whistles, lingering footsteps, which comme and go
Puis le silence qui me fait froid dans tout le Coeur then the silence that makes me cold in every heart

Dans ma rue il y a des ombres qui s' prominent in my street there are ghosts who take a walk
Et je tremble et j'ai froid et j'ai peur and I shake and I am cold and I am afraid

Mon père m'a dit un jour : "la fille, my father he tells me one day: “ daughter,
Tu ne vas pas rester là sans fin you will not stay here without an end
OR forvever
T'es bonn' à rien, ça c'est d'famille you are good at nothing, this is familly
You're good for nothing, it's a family trait
Faudrait voir à gagner ton pain it’s a mistake to see at earning enough for your bread
You ought to try to find a way to...

Les hommes te trouvent plutôt jolie the men find you rather pretty
Tu n'auras qu'à sortir le soir you go out at night
You'd only have to go out [to work] at night
Il y'a bien des femmes qui gagnent leur vie there are good women who acquire their lives
earn their living
En "s' ballant sur le trottoir" in “ dangling themselves over the sidewalk”
swaying their hips
Dans ma rue il y a des femmes qui s' prominent in my street there are women who take a walk
J'les entends fredonner dans la nuit I hear them sing softly in the night
Quand je m'endors bercée par une rengaine when I’m sent to sleep nourished by the corny old tunes
J'suis soudain réveillée par des cris I am suddenly am waken from the cries
Des coups d'sifflet, des pas qui traînent, qui vont et viennent the final whistle, to stop those lurking, who go and come

Puis le silence qui me fait froid dans tout le Coeur then the silence that makes me cold in all the hearts
my whole heart

Dans ma rue il y a des femmes qui s' prominent in my street there are women who take a walk
Et je tremble et j'ai froid et j'ai peur and I shake and I’m cold and I’m afraid

Et depuis des semaines et des semaines and after weaks and the weak
And now it's already been weeks and weeks that
J'ai plus d' maison, j'ai plus d'argent I have more home,I have more money
no longer a home, money
J' sais pas comment les autres s'y prennent I know the others
I don't know how the others go about it/manage it
Mais j'ai pas pu trouver d' client but I didn’t try looking for clinets
I couldn't find any
J'demande l'aumône aux gens qui passent I asked all people who passed by for charity
Un morceau d' pain, un peu d' chaleur a piece of bread, a little bit of warmth
J'ai pourtant pas beaucoup d'audace I had however not much of boldness
Maintenant c'est moi qui leur fait peur now it is me who fears them
I make them afraid

Dans ma rue tous les soirs je m' promène in my street all nights I go for a walk
On m'entend sangloter dans la nuit they hear me sob in the night
Quand le vent jette au ciel sa rengaine when the wind drops from the heavens it's corny old tune
Tout mon corps est glacé par la pluie all my body is ice for the rain

Mais je n' peux plus, j'attends sans cesse que le bon Dieu vienne but I can’t anymore, I waited ceaselessly
for the good god to come
Pour m'inviter à me réchauffer tout près de Lui for an invitation to be warmed all near him


Dans ma rue il y a des anges qui m'emmènent in my street there are angles who took me
are taking me away
Pour toujours mon cauchemar est fini for always my nightmares are finished!

thank you so much for your help birdman!

i have a few question, if you or anyone else can get the chance to answer, it will mean alot.

Et pour nous nourrir tous les quatre (And in order to feed us)
is it "in order to feed us all four"?

Je regarde passer les gens d'ailleurs (I watch the people pass)
what is the use of the word d'ailleurs?

does "Faudrait voir" mean "You ought to try"?

is "s' ballant sur le trottoir" a common saying meaning "swaying their hips"?
in other words can this be used in other context? if yes which?

i hope this will also help others who are interested in French and eith piaf!

much thanks
ivresse

Some answers to your questions :

"is it "in order to feed us all four"?
Yes, it is.

"d'ailleurs" means morever, besides.

"fraudrait voir à gagner ton pain"
means "You ought to try to earn your living"

"En s'ballant sur le trottoir"
means "in working as prostitute"

Thanks Jef. Just a couple extra comments:

'D'ailleurs' usually means moreover but here probably has more literal meaning. ie. gens d'ailleurs =? people from other neighbourhoods/strangers.

To be honest translating 's'ballant' as 'swaying their hips' was just a guess that seemed to fit: baller is sometimes used to describe something that is swaying/oscillating.

However after listening to the song and checking other versons of the lyrics I think it should be 's'balladant sur le trottoir', where
se balader = (lit) to take oneself for a stroll.
Thus you could translate the line as: 'by pacing the streets.'

Originally Posted by birdman

Thanks Jef. Just a couple extra comments:

'D'ailleurs' usually means moreover but here probably has more literal meaning. ie. gens d'ailleurs =? people from other neighbourhoods/strangers.

You are perfectly right. It's definitevely "people from other neighbourhoods". Thank you for the correction.

Originally Posted by birdman

To be honest translating 's'ballant' as 'swaying their hips' was just a guess that seemed to fit: baller is sometimes used to describe something that is swaying/oscillating.

However after listening to the song and checking other versons of the lyrics I think it should be 's'balladant sur le trottoir', where
se balader = (lit) to take oneself for a stroll.
Thus you could translate the line as: 'by pacing the streets.'

I dont think so. Just see the context of this part of the lyrics : "her father saying that she's good for nothing", "that she must earn her living (gagner son pain)", "that men find her good looking(plutot jolie)", so... she may (sortir sur le trottoir) and earns their living like some others women... in the streets".

Do you know many women "plutôt jolie" earning their living in just "pacing the streets", if you see what I mean.

So I think it's an "argot" expression where "en s'ballant sur le trottoir" means "en s'emballant (in making her attractive) sur le trottoir" means "en s'offrant (to expose) sur le trottoir" means clearly "en faisant le trottoir (Faire le trottoir)" means "in working as prostitute" to earn one's living.

All the song is just about the rough life in her street (Dans ma rue) du "vieux Montmartre".

I agree that the line means 'by working as a prostitute.' I was just trying to express it euphemistically.

Here,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDLC2...eature=related
it sounds like s'baladant but s'embellant would make sense too

Originally Posted by birdman

I agree that the line means 'by working as a prostitute.' I was just trying to express it euphemistically.

Here,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDLC2...eature=related
it sounds like s'baladant but s'embellant would make sense too

Thanks for the video. You're right. Piaf sings really "en s'baladant".
I was mistaken by the partly incorrect lyrics posted here.

Hey guys, sorry this is going back a while, but I'd like to make one further suggestion for the translation of "en s'baladant sur le trottoir". Could it be translated as "strolling up and down the footpath"?