Lyrics of Mon ami cévenol - Yves Duteil

Mon ami cévenol (original)

Il existe une auberge deux pas d’une cole
Quelque part en pays Cvenol
Comme un vieux coeur de pierre, sur le flanc d’un rocher
Au milieu d’un village oubli
On y fait des festins mais celui qui les sert
Vous en parle si bien qu’au dessert
Il reste, au fond du coeur, un parfum d’amiti qui ressemble la flicit
Il vous ouvre sa vie, sa cave et son savoir
Et sa table est un livre d’histoires
La saveur de son vin, pareille son regard
Laisse autant de tendresse et d’espoir
Il nous a racont les mines abandonnes
Les maisons des valles dsertes
Les villages o les arbres et les lianes ont pouss
Sur les murs et les toits effondrs
Dans ce curieux dcor de forts ptrifies
O le temps semblait’s’tre arrt
Il restait par endroits des lambeaux du pass
Que les vents n’avaient pas disperss
De longues promenades en secrets changs
On tait un peu moins trangers
De ces jours de magie, de bonheurs partags
Il nous reste un grand vide combler
Mon ami Cvenol, tu m’as fait bien plaisir
Je n’ai que ma musique t’offrir
Je t’cris ces couplets dans ma tte, en secret
En hommage ton talent discret
N’aie pas peur de vieillir, ton bonheur est ici
Dans ces pierres o ton pre a grandi
Tu l’auras ton toile, un beau jour, c’est certain
Mais le ciel tout entier t’appartient

(translation)

There's a hostel two blocks from a school
Somewhere in Cvenol country
Like an old heart of stone, on the side of a rock
In the middle of a forgotten village
Feasts are held there, but he who serves them
You talk about it so well that at dessert
There remains, deep in the heart, a scent of friendship that resembles cop
He opens his life, his cellar and his knowledge to you
And his table is a storybook
The taste of his wine, like his gaze
Leave so much tenderness and hope
He told us of the abandoned mines
The houses of the deserted valleys
The villages where the trees and creepers grew
Over crumbling walls and roofs
In this curious setting of petrified forts
Where time seemed to stand still
There remained in places shreds of the past
That the winds had not dispersed
Long walks in secrets changed
We were a little less strangers
Of those days of magic, of shared happiness
We have a big void left to fill
My friend Cvenol, you made me very happy
I only have my music to offer you
I write you these verses in my head, in secret
In tribute to your discreet talent
Don't be afraid to grow old, your happiness is here
In these stones where your father grew
You'll get your canvas one day, that's for sure
But the whole sky is yours