Just in case we might put
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crossbars on our windows
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paint our storefronts blue
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right down to our car tires
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strip the canvas from every museum
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mess up the Champs-Elysées
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wrap in packed earth
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all the beauty of our statues
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veil the lampposts at night
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plunge the City of Light into darkness
Paris will always be Paris!
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The most beautiful city in the world
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Despite the deepest darkness
_____
its sparkle can't be dimmed
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Paris will always be Paris!
_____
The more we cut its lighting
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the more its courage shines
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Its good humor and its spirit
Paris will always be Paris!
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So everyone trains to that noise
_____
we can sound the siren at night
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force us to play the fool
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in pajamas down in our cellar
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They can pass all the ukases they want
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cut off our veal and even our jazz
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force us to wear gas masks
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give us four-square crossword puzzles
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make us stay in our homes
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go to bed at eleven sharp
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Paris will always be Paris!
_____
The most beautiful city in the world
_____
Despite the deepest darkness
_____
its sparkle can't be dimmed
Paris will always be Paris!
_____
The more we cut its lighting
_____
the more its courage shines
_____
Its good humor and its spirit
_____
Paris will always be Paris!
_____
Though, honestly, since October
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dresses have been far more sober
_____
there are fewer flowers and fewer plumes
_____
the colors are more discreet
_____
Though at galas they've scrapped
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chinchillas and ermines
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and jewelry, in all decency
_____
shines mostly by its absence
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though beauty is less showy
_____
less brazen and less frilly
Paris will always be Paris!
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The most beautiful girl in the world
_____
even when distant cannons rumble
_____
looks even prettier still
_____
Paris will always be Paris!
_____
We can cut back her spending
_____
Her poise and her elegance
_____
are only worth all the more
Paris will always be Paris!