LYRICS GAME

I'm

Locked up, cramped in my cell

Same coffee every day but time is what's soluble

Those good deeds we regret

Those mistakes we repeat

In the visiting room I talk as much to my son as to my own reflection

I'm

Frozen, I string together drinks and winters

To reassure themselves passersby must all think we're hibernating

Rocked by the sound of steps and coins in pockets

Between this guy and my dog, I wonder who's closer to me

I'm

Rich, they wanna make me think it's shameful

Like I'm responsible for all the misery on Earth

I don't owe anybody, even if I run out of cash

They all wanna taste the fruit of the tree I planted

I'm

Sick, but I prefer saying "soon cured"

My pupils fix on the hand of the watch shining on my wrist

Cramped in my body, I watch the world through the keyhole

People will say I only enlarged the one in Social Security

I'm

Believer, they often blame me for it

They blame my beard yet it's the same as Jean Jaurès's

They compare me to barbarians I never believed in

The mosques are too small so sometimes I pray in the street

I'm

A bit lost, my tiny lungs fill with air

New arrival on Earth

My first tears trigger my father's

Lucky, with my family I feel at home

But I don't forget I could've been born in the room opposite

I'm

Alone, at the end of a hallway, nobody asks my view

I've gotten older so yeah I have way more wrinkles than friends

I'd like to share my mistakes, tell you my doubts

Sometimes I talk to myself to be sure somebody listens

I'm

Exhausted, but not for long, I'm sure

Ringtones, pressure have widened my wounds

Can't remember the date of my last roaring laugh

I'm a man, soon I'll be a memory

I'm

Finally here, this land's no longer a mirage

I came by boat but above all by miracle

A new life waits here, much calmer and more stable

This morning I wrote "all good" on the back of the postcard

I'm

Proud, but how to describe all I feel

When I walk in town, fewer and fewer people look like me

In the elevator, I don't even speak my neighbor's language anymore

By planting so many trees, there'll be no room left for our roots

I'm

Tired, bad back and sore kidneys

The wrinkles on my face remind me of the mountains where I'm from

They lied to me and I realized too late

They say this country's not mine even though I'm the one who built it

I'm

Seated, and fate decided I'll never stand again

In this ocean I feel like I've always been rowing

A headache to get on the bus

To head to work, go through their doors

People often stare at me and say it's not their fault

I'm

Happy, young graduate

Concrete mindset, I've amazed

Those who dreamed I'd quit

Family's far from here, I hope they're proud over there

I just won the fight my mom had started

I'm

Confident, I look at my class a bit too packed for me

And I'll hold their hands till success opens its arms to them

I got that sometimes adults are lost

'Cause the biggest lessons came from them

I'm

Pissed, in my hood we're bored far from the city

We write, we pray, we scream and I have friends who deal

My big brother's jobless, my buddy makes five grand a month

Middle school's a mess, soon I'll have to choose

I'm

Far away, what happens at my place interests few people

For others we live a dream yet we often spin in circles

Everything's pricey, there's kind of a lag with the mainland

The beach, the palm trees, but I'm not on vacation

I'm

Discreet, my dad told me not to make waves

My faith, a beacon guiding my steps since I set sail

Funny that he watches me yet does everything

To teach me a lesson by stopping me from going to class

I'm

Worried, lots of haughty looks at my faith

I get lectured by guys who do nothing for others

Humanity's got no more heart, I see the world spinning and changing

And I'm sad to see fewer and fewer people on Sunday

I'm

In love, and I don't see whose business it is

Except me and the one I share my bed with at night

I love him, we weave between insult and joke

To think not long ago I couldn't give him a ring

I'm

Forgotten, my month-ends walk a tightrope

It's become rare to eat out or go see a movie

I'm just a number, a vote, a statistic, one more dot in the crowd

I was just born here and I feel like nobody gives a f*ck

I'm

A meet-up, a chance, a soccer game, a wedding

A protest, a birthday, a hug, a fight

A crime scene, a judgment, a kid laughing, a mistake

A snowy mountain, I'm the tip of an author's quill

I'm the tears of a farewell, I'm the warmth of bars

I'm a five-star flavor or the grease of a kebab

The slackers, the night owls, the early risers

The complainers, the glances on the subway

A racist uncle, an empty gig, the crisis, the depression tightening the vise

I'm excellence, elegance or the hope of a birth

Those silent countrysides, those huge and dense cities

I'm, a bit of me and a lot of others when I think about it

I am France!