La chanson de Craonne
Anonymous
Original | English translation / Traduzione inglese / Traduction anglaise... |
LA CHANSON DE CRAONNE | THE SONG OF CRAONNE |
Quand au bout d’huit jours, le r’pos terminé, | When at the end of a week's leave |
On va r’prendre les tranchées, | We're going to go back to the trenches, |
Notre place est si utile | Our place there is so useful |
Que sans nous on prend la pile. | That without us we'd take a thrashing. |
Mais c’est bien fini, on en a assez, | But it's all over now, we've had it up to here, |
Personn’ ne veut plus marcher, | Nobody wants to march anymore. |
Et le cœur bien gros, comm’ dans un sanglot | And with hearts downcast, like when you're sobbing |
On dit adieu aux civ’lots. | We're saying good-bye to the civilians, |
Même sans tambour, même sans trompette, | Even if we don't get drums, even if we don't get trumpets |
On s’en va là haut en baissant la tête. | We're leaving for up there with lowered head. |
Adieu la vie, adieu l’amour, | Good-bye to life, good-bye to love, |
Adieu toutes les femmes. | Good-bye to all the women, |
C’est bien fini, c’est pour toujours, | It's all over now, we've had it for good |
De cette guerre infâme. | With this awful war. |
C’est à Craonne, sur le plateau, | It's in Craonne up on the plateau |
Qu’on doit laisser sa peau | That we're leaving our skins, |
Car nous sommes tous condamnés | 'Cause we've all been sentenced to die, |
C'est nous les sacrifiés ! | We're the ones that they're sacrificing. |
Huit jours de tranchées, huit jours de souffrance, | Eight days in the trenches, eight days of suffering, |
Pourtant on a l’espérance | And yet we still have hope |
Que ce soir viendra la r’lève | That tonight the relief will come |
Que nous attendons sans trêve. | That we keep waiting for. |
Soudain, dans la nuit et dans le silence, | Suddenly in the silent night |
On voit quelqu’un qui s’avance, | We hear someone approach |
C’est un officier de chasseurs à pied, | It's an infantry officer |
Qui vient pour nous remplacer. | Who's coming to take over from us. |
Doucement dans l’ombre, sous la pluie qui tombe | Quietly in the shadows under a falling rain |
Les petits chasseurs vont chercher leurs tombes. | The poor soldiers are going to look for their graves. |
Adieu la vie, adieu l’amour, | Good-bye to life, good-bye to love, |
Adieu toutes les femmes. | Good-bye to all the women, |
C’est bien fini, c’est pour toujours, | It's all over now, we've had it for good |
De cette guerre infâme. | With this awful war. |
C’est à Craonne, sur le plateau, | It's in Craonne up on the plateau |
Qu’on doit laisser sa peau | That we're leaving our hides |
Car nous sommes tous condamnés | 'Cause we've all been sentenced to die, |
C'est nous les sacrifiés ! | We're the ones that they're sacrificing. |
C’est malheureux d’voir sur les grands boul’vards | On the grands boulevards it's hard to look |
Tous ces gros qui font leur foire ; | At all the rich and powerful whooping it up. |
Si pour eux la vie est rose, | For them life is good, |
Pour nous c’est pas la mêm’ chose. | But for us it's not the same. |
Au lieu de s’cacher, tous ces embusqués, | Instead of hiding, all these shirkers |
F’raient mieux d’monter aux tranchées | Would do better to go up to the trenches |
Pour défendr’ leurs biens, car nous n’avons rien, | To defend what they have, because we have nothing |
Nous autr’s, les pauvr’s purotins. | All of us poor wretches. |
Tous les camarades sont enterrés là, | All our comrades are being buried there |
Pour défendr’ les biens de ces messieurs-là. | To defend the wealth of these gentlemen here. |
Ceux qu’ont l’pognon, ceux-là r’viendront, | Those who have the dough, they'll be coming back, |
Car c’est pour eux qu’on crève. | 'Cause it's for them that we're dying. |
Mais c’est fini, car les trouffions | But it's all over now, 'cause all of the grunts |
Vont tous se mettre en grève. | Are going to go on strike. |
Ce s’ra votre tour, messieurs les gros, | It'll be your turn, all you rich and powerful gentlemen, |
De monter sur l’plateau, | To go up onto the plateau. |
Car si vous voulez la guerre, | And if you want to make war, |
Payez-la de votre peau ! | Then pay for it with your own skins. |