Marie Laforet - Viens Viens

More than 25 years later this superhit sounds in my mind as if the gramophone is filling again the room with this screaming vocal of magnificent madame Marie Laforêt. An undeletable memory of mine - the real things do endure time for sure, exactly.
I am still stunned how a simple needle and a low-grade vinyl player is overpowering me and is outplaying the modern "Hi-Fi" junks.

Please translate into English this old song from my vinyl childhood times:

Marie Laforêt - Viens Viens - Version HIFI :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ach7L...eature=related

Viens, viens, c'est une prière
Viens, viens, pas pour moi mon père
Viens, viens, reviens pour ma mère
Viens, viens, elle meurt de toi
Viens, viens, que tout recommence
Viens, viens, sans toi l'existence
Viens, viens, n'est qu'un long silence
Viens, viens, qui n'en finit pas.

Je sais bien qu'elle est jolie cette fille
Que pour elle tu en oublies ta famille
Je ne suis pas venue te juger
Mais pour te ramener
Il parait que son amour tient ton âme
Crois-tu que ça vaut l'amour de ta femme
Qui a su partager ton destin
Sans te lâcher la main.

Viens, viens, maman en septembre
Viens, viens, a repeint la chambre
Viens, viens, comme avant ensemble
Viens, viens, vous y dormirez
Viens, viens, c'est une prière
Viens, viens, pas pour moi mon père
Viens, viens, reviens pour ma mère
Viens, viens, elle meurt de toi
Sais-tu que Jean est rentré à l'école
Il sait déjà l'alphabet, il est drôle
Quand il fait semblant de fumer
C'est vraiment ton portrait

Viens, viens, c'est une prière
Viens, viens, tu souris mon père
Viens, viens, tu verras ma mère
Viens, viens, est plus belle qu'avant
Qu'avant, qu'avant, qu'avant, qu'avant
Viens, viens, ne dis rien mon père
Viens, viens, embrasse moi mon père
viens, viens, tu es beau mon père

It is mandatory this vinyl classic to enter the digital era in extreme (vinyl-like) quality, of course with (translated) lyrics of course proofed.

note: mon in 'mon père' can often be omitted in English, where possessive is implied not stated.


Come, come, it is a prayer
Come, come, not for me father
Come, come, return for mother
Come, come, she dies because of you
Come, come, that everything begins again
Come, come, without you here [lit: in existence]
Come, come, is only a long silence
Come, come, which never ends

I know well that she is attractive, this girl
That for her you forget your family
I did not come to judge you
But to bring you back
Apparently this love so grips your soul
You believe that it is worth the love of your wife
Who knew how to share your fate
Without letting go of your hand.

Come, come, Mom in September
Come, come, repainted the room
Come, come, together as before
Come, come, you will sleep there
Come, come, it is a prayer
Come, come, not for me father
Come, come, come back for mother
Come, come, she dies because of you
You know that Jean returned to school
He already knows the alphabet, he is funny
When he pretends to smoke
He really is the image of you [lit: your portrait]

Come, come, it is a prayer
Come, come, smile father
Come, come, you will see mother
Come, come, is more beautiful than before
Than before, than before, than before, than before
Come, come, say nothing father
Come, come, embrace me father
come, come, you are beautiful father

Ooh, I didn't expect such a gloomy context.

Merci bluejacket.

I am a total dummy regarding French language but here three things for clarifying:
- a typo in 'Without letting go of your the hand.' - 'the' is for deletion.
- as for 'mon père' and all 'mon's, I suppose that an alternative verse would be 'smile me(stronger than my) father' in order to stress on child-father bond. It goes well with the following 'kiss me' (but then 'kiss me me father' is just unacceptable), but there is a problem which I saw just now: a possible confusion because of 'smile' being a transitive verb also! All-in-all your way of omitting the possessiveness is just right.
- as for 'You believe that that is worth the love of your wife' I salute you for this feint (nonjudgmental statement) whereas the dummy Google says: 'Do you think it's worth the love of your wife'.

A powerful song with much more sentiments than I was expecting, thanks a lot bluejacket.

You're welcome . Yes, it's much darker than it seems....

1.'the' omitted - as the old joke goes - 'Dyslexia Rules K.O'.
2. It would have to be 'smile at or for me father' to work in English - 'smile father' is an abbreviation which allows reader to choose which applies.
3. * could be 'kiss me father' rather than 'embrace me' I suppose - (I think embrace works better too) I hope it's not the Québécois slang - that means something entirely earthier....... !!

Ha,
right right.

Second and third notes kind of passed through my mind back then at writing my previous post - I saw that French 'embrasse' is the origin of English 'embrace' so I thought that embrace is rather more suitable.

For reference: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=embrace

Glad glad I am.

Originally Posted by Sanmayce

Ha,
right right.

Second and third notes kind of passed through my mind back then at writing my previous post - I saw that French 'embrasse' is the origin of English 'embrace' so I thought that embrace is rather more suitable.

For reference: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=embrace

Glad glad I am.

I agree and have amended my original - great etymology dictionary site by the way - thanks for the link.