Lyrics of O Gringo - Bernard Lavilliers

O Gringo (original)

C'était à Rio de Janeiro
Une ampoule jaune pendait au plafond
Elle me demandait avec son regard étrange
Tu pars?
Tu pars demain?
Elle a fait glisser sa bague
Autour de ses doigts et posé ses deux mains
Tout près de mon cœur et demandé des nouvelles
D’ailleurs, du monde entier
Sou o gringo que não fala brasileiro
Ele é o gringo que não fala brasileiro
Meu teto é o céu meu leito é o mar
Elle faisait Copacabana
Les vieux Allemands tristes
Et les marins saouls
Elle venait du Nord et croyait que la misère
Ici, c'était moins dur
Pendant que les grands s’affrontent
A coup de calibres, de whiskys glacés
Dans les grands salons de Leblon et d’Ipanema
Petit, tu peux crever
J’ai laissé tous mes cruzeiros
Au coin de son lit et je me suis cassé
Seul, dans les chemins qui descendent vers la mer
Le fric, les hauts-placés
Tu ne sauras pas criola
Que cette chanson je l’ai composée
Au petit matin, en descente de maconha
Pour toi, du monde entier

(translation)

It was in Rio de Janeiro
A yellow light bulb was hanging from the ceiling
She asked me with her strange look
You leave?
You leave tomorrow?
She slid her ring
Around her fingers and put both her hands
Close to my heart and asked for news
By the way, from all over the world
Sou o gringo que não fala brasileiro
Ele é o gringo que não fala brasileiro
Meu teto é o céu meu leito é o mar
She was doing Copacabana
The sad old Germans
And drunken sailors
She came from the North and believed that misery
Here, it was less hard
While the greats clash
With calibers, frozen whiskeys
In the great salons of Leblon and Ipanema
Kid, you can die
I left all my cruzeiros
On the corner of his bed and I broke
Alone, on the paths down to the sea
The money, the high places
You won't know criola
That this song I composed
In the early morning, downhill from Maconha
For you, from all over the world