| C'était… c'était… c'était…
| It was... it was... it was...
|
| Du côtéde la rivière,
| On the side of the river,
|
| C'était du côtédu ruisseau des lavandières
| It was on the side of the washerwomen's stream
|
| C'était c'était c'était,
| It was it was it was,
|
| Après le pont dans les herbes,
| After the bridge in the grass,
|
| C'était c'était du côté
| It was it was on the side
|
| Du côtéde l'été.
| On the summer side.
|
| On y voyait l’azur superbe
| You could see the superb azure
|
| Derrière l’usine àsoufre.
| Behind the sulfur factory.
|
| Les grillons qui couraient dans l’herbe
| The crickets running in the grass
|
| Tombaient dans le gouffre de l'écluse.
| Were falling into the abyss of the lock.
|
| C'était c'était c'était
| it was it was it was
|
| L’amour des premiers âges,
| The love of the first ages,
|
| Volage,
| fickle,
|
| Un baiser trop vite accepté.
| A kiss too quickly accepted.
|
| C'était la volupté,
| It was voluptuousness,
|
| C'était la chanson de l'été,
| It was the song of the summer,
|
| C'était ma vie.
| It was my life.
|
| C'était c'était c'était
| it was it was it was
|
| L’orage dans les wagons-foudres,
| The storm in the lightning wagons,
|
| C'était la maison du bossu
| It was the hunchback's house
|
| Réduite en poudre…
| Powdered...
|
| C'était c'était c'était
| it was it was it was
|
| Les gens sur la passerelle,
| People on the catwalk,
|
| C'étaient les voyous du quartier.
| They were the neighborhood thugs.
|
| Pour moi, c'était l’amitié
| For me it was friendship
|
| Parmi les buissons des garrigues,
| Among the bushes of the garrigue,
|
| Courant vers les jeunettes,
| Running towards young girls,
|
| M’arrêtant pour manger des figues,
| Stopping to eat figs,
|
| Chantant ma chansonnette
| Singing my song
|
| Hiver, été.
| Winter summer.
|
| C'était c'était c'était
| it was it was it was
|
| L’amour des premiers âges,
| The love of the first ages,
|
| Volage, un baiser
| Flighty, a kiss
|
| Trop vite accepté.
| Too quickly accepted.
|
| C'était la volupté…
| It was pleasure...
|
| C'était c'était c'était
| it was it was it was
|
| La route de la poussière,
| The road of dust,
|
| C'étaient les trains qui roulaient
| It was the trains that were rolling
|
| Dans la nuit familière.
| In the familiar night.
|
| C'était c'était c'était
| it was it was it was
|
| Le bruit sourd d’une porte.
| The dull sound of a door.
|
| C'était peut-être un mort?
| Maybe it was a death?
|
| Grand-mère qui revenait,
| returning grandmother,
|
| Platanes au vent de septembre,
| Plane trees in the September wind,
|
| Amis, chers musiciens,
| Friends, dear musicians,
|
| Bercez ce soir dans ma chambre
| Rock tonight in my room
|
| Mes souvenirs anciens,
| my old memories,
|
| Vieille mode.
| Old fashion.
|
| C'était c'était c'était
| it was it was it was
|
| Le temps heureux que j’envie.
| The happy time I crave.
|
| C'était la chanson de l'été!
| It was the song of the summer!
|
| C'était ma vie… | It was my life... |