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PARACHUTISTE | PARATROOPER |
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Tu avais juste dix-huit ans | You were only eighteen years old |
Quand on t'a mis un béret rouge, | when they put a red beret on your head |
Quand on t'a dit : "Rentre dedans | and told you "give a good what for (1) |
Tout ce qui bouge." | to anything that moves". |
C'est pas exprès qu' t'étais fasciste, | You weren't a fascist on purpose, |
Parachutiste. | paratrooper. |
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Alors, de combat en combat, | And so, fight after fight, |
S'est formée ton intelligence. | your understanding matured. |
Tu sais qu'il n'y a ici-bas | Now you know there are only |
Que deux engeances : | two types on earth: |
Les gens bien et les terroristes, | good people and terrorists, |
Parachutiste | paratrooper. |
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Puis on t'a donné des galons, | And then you earned your stripes, |
Héros de toutes les défaites | a hero in every defeat (2) |
Pour toutes les bonnes actions | for all the good deeds |
Que tu as faites. | you did. |
Tu torturais en spécialiste, | Torture was your speciality, |
Parachutiste. | paratrooper. |
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Alors sont venus les honneurs, | And then came the honours, |
Les décorations, les médailles | decorations and medals |
Pour chaque balle au fond d'un cour, | for each bullet through a heart, |
Pour chaque entaille, | for each knife cut, |
Pour chaque croix noire sur ta liste, | for each black cross on your list, |
Parachutiste | paratrooper. |
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Mais, malheureusement pour toi, | But, unfortunately for you, |
Bientôt se finira ta guerre : | your war will be over soon: |
Plus de tueries, plus de combats. | no more killing, no more battles. |
Que vas-tu faire ? | What are you going to do? |
C'est fini le travail d'artiste, | The craftsman's work is over, |
Parachutiste. | paratrooper. |
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C'est plus qu'un travail de nana | Nothing but a sissy's job left, |
D' commander à ceux qui savent lire, | bossing around people who can read. |
Surtout qu' t'as appris avec moi | Especially since I was the one |
Ce que veut dire | who taught you the meaning |
Le mot " antimilitariste ", | of the word "anti-militarist" (3) |
Parachutiste. | paratrooper. |
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T' as rien perdu de ton talent, | Your skills are still finely honed, |
Tu rates pas une embuscade | you'll snipe at me whenever you can, |
Mais comme on n' tire pas vraiment, | but since we don't shoot for real, |
Tu trouves ça fade. | you find that dull. |
C'est pt'êt pour ça qu' t' as les yeux tristes, | Maybe that's why your eyes are so sad, |
Parachutiste. | paratrooper. |
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Mais si t' es vraiment trop gêné | Now if you feel really awkward, |
D'être payé à ne rien faire, | getting paid for doing nothing, |
Tu peux toujours te recycler | you still can go train |
Chez tes p'tits frères. | among your little brothers. |
J' crois qu'on engage dans la Police, | There must be career opportunities in the police, |
Parachutiste. | paratrooper. |
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(2) allusion to the decolonisation wars, mostly in Indochina and Algeria. The systematic use of torture against the Algerian FLN was heavily controversial at the time the song was written
(3) During the Algerian war, conscientious objectors had no specific legal status and were subjected to various military punishments, including disciplinary measures as depicted in this stanza