Songtext:
(sl.) means the word is slang ('argot'). Schilder Druck Unclear words are in curly braces.
Verse One:
English French
The wind blows in Arizona, Le vent souffle en Arizona a state of America in which Harry hung out Un etat d'Amerique dans lequel (wandered / strayed) Harry zona. Cow-boy crazy about bang-bang, about guns, C. dingue du bing-bing, du (ie Harry) flingue (sl.) about weapons, horses and about everything De l'arme, du cheval et de for having a party. quoi faire la bringue (sl.) Pursued by Smith & Wesson, Poursuivi par S. et W. Colt, Berringer, Winchester, & Remington, C. B. W. et R. he wanders in the plains, proud, lonesome. Il erre dans les plaines, fier, solitaire His horse is his partner. Son cheval est son partenaire Sometimes he meets Indians but Parfois il rencontre des Indiens mais The gold rush is his only goal. La ruee vers l'or est son seul dessein His life runs a course that we know by heart: Sa vie suit un cours que l'on connait par coeur "The River of No Return" by Otto Preminger. La riviere sans retour d'Otto Preminger While John Wayne is dressed up like Lucky Luke Tandis que J. W. est looke a (7) la Lucky Luke (7) Clean like an archduke, Propre comme un archiduc uncle Sam tells me 'Hollywood fools us'. L'oncle Sam me dit 'H. nous berne' Hollywood fools us in everyday life, H. berne dans la vie de tous les jours like in the New Westerns. Comme dans les nouveaux w.
Verse Two:
One says, "beware of the gorilla", On dit 'gare au gorille' (? don't know if it's a litterary reference, can mean bouncer, muscular guy...) but beware of Gary Cooper. mais gare a G. C. The modern Western is set up in this Le w. moderne est installe neighbourhood: dans le secteur When the town's asleep, Quand la ville dort the train does not whistle, Le Train ne siffle pas (Allusion to "Le train sifflera 3 fois" movie: The train wistle 3 times, don't know the name of the movie in english) and the Magnificent 7 don't have a single Et sept mercenaires n'ont fight in sight. pas l'once d'un combat (if ok in english translates literraly to: don't have an ounce of a fight) From now on Harry is near H. desormais est proche the "Eastern Station". de la gare de l'est (1) He jumps through time and Il Saute les epoques et space for a new Far West: les lieux pour un nouveau f. w. Saloons are bars Les saloons sont des bistrots where cigarettes are sold, on y vend des clopes (sl.) not chewing tobacco {?} Pas de la chique {?} (if {?} does not mean text is cut there, next line translates to:) like in the movies. du cinemascope He enters the bar, Il entre dans le bar orders an "Indian", scalps commande un indien, scalpe the foam, la mousse Drinks, lays the glass on boit, repose le verre sur the counter le zinc {?} for futile reasons, {?} pour des motifs futiles like in the New Westerns. Comme dans les nouveaux w.
Verse Three:
The [United] States is Les states sont une sorte a kind of multinational. de multinationale It exports Westerns and Elle exporte le western et its feudal model, son modele feodal dictates what's good and bad. Dicte le bien le mal, Lucky Luke & the Daltons (his ennemies) L. L. et les D. Are camouflaged in Paul Smith & Westons Sont camoufles en P. S. et W. (Westons: classy dress shoes 400$, loved by african show off "sapeurs" ie "dressers", P S may be some fancy brand clothing ?) One says that what counts On dit que ce qui compte is the setting. c'est le decor +/- = How you look doesn't make who you are (2) L'habit ne fait pas le moine (ie drug dealers may be well dressed but ain't people of the world ?) during the gold rush dans la ruee vers l'or (here it is the quest for drugs) Ever since the techniques Des lors les techniques are perfected: se perfectionnent Credit cards replace the Remington. La carte a puce (3) remplace le R. (seems harry paid the dope here, and now goes home) But Harry in Paris didn't get any luck. Mais H. a P. n'a pas eu de chance He gets stopped on the beltway On le stoppe sure le with his stage-coach, periph. (4) avec sa diligence then he's put in Fresnes Puis on le place a Fresnes (5) to let Fresnes calm him pour que Fresnes le freine (ps: Freine = break Fresne = name of famous jail -sounds alike) A victim of the directives of what we call Victime des directives de ce que l'on appelle (directives ie administrations current orders ex: fine drivers speeding over 10mph above limit... or a drug user in jail for possession even though not dealing) "The New Western" Le nouveau w.
Verse Four:
Tche tche Tche tche Sometimes life is like a stray bullet, Parfois la vie ressemble a une balle perdue in the modern system where Dans le systeme moderne is drowned the individual. ou se noie l'individu (ie: like a needle in a haystack or a person in a NY crowded street) To stay clear headed Pour rester lucide il he used to drink Brandy s'abreuvait de B. (abreuver: used to say "cattle drink", can mean drink a lot etc.) From now on we bring forward TVs, Desormais on brandit tele pot (grass) and (crack) nuggets. shit et pepites Where white is the Ou blanche et la magnificent ride, chevauchee fantastique (another name of a classic western movie) always against the light, Toujours a contre-jour it's far less heroic. c'est bien moins heroique In the world of dreams, Dans le monde du reve we end it up by a happy end... on termine par un happy-end Is it also the case in what Est-ce aussi le cas dans ce que we call l'on nomme "The New Western" ? -- Le nouveau w.
Outro:
Moderne (etc) Sitting Bull, Cochese, Calamity Jane, James West Tchen Squaws, scalps, tomahawk, the New Western, Modern Lucky Luke, Billy the Kid, Miguelito Loveless
*notes*
(1) One of the 5 big train station in Paris (North, East, Lyon, St Lazarre, MontParnasse) (2) This is a proverb for which I know no English equivalent. (3) i.e. credit card ('puce' = flea = chip) No equivalent in the states yet It is a credit card which has a chip instead of magnetic strips (french patent) used for phone cards (we don't use coins no more) or VISA. BTW: in France, credit cards don't give you credit, they are more like paying cards (plastic cash). (4) 'periph' = peripherique = circular highway that surrounds Paris (even more that delimitates Paris from the (close) suburbs. (5) Fresnes: prison in Paris (as famous as Alcatraz in the US) (6) better translated as "head"? (NO, old 7 neither) (7) Lucky luke is a comic cowboy caracter, "The man who soots faster than his shadow", famous in France and part of Europe. He is with his horse "Joly Jumper" and (both) smoke rolled cigarettes. He is always called upon when the 4 Daltons escape from the state prison (and they are very stupid and mean, and flunk everything they attempt), they are the public enemies #1 and scare everybody with their reputation. At the end, Lucky luke always rides in the sunset singing "I'm a poor lonesome cow boy".
