Gilles César Lyrics in English by Bénabar
Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Gilles César by Bénabar from French to English.
These English lyric translations are not yet verified.
Son prénom, c'était Gilles
His first name was Gilles
Jusque-là rien de bizarre
So far, nothing strange
Sauf que son nom de famille
Except that his last name
C'était César
Was César
Mi-célèbre mi-anonyme
Half-famous, half-anonymous
Il en avait marre
He was fed up
De son fameux patronyme
With his famous surname
Gilles César!
Gilles César!
À une lettre près
Just one letter away
Il était empereur romain
He was a Roman emperor
Comme quoi ce qu'on dit est vrai
It just goes to show what they say is true
À quoi ça tient, le destin?
How fate hangs by a thread?
Gilles César
Gilles César
À l'école, était nul
At school, he was terrible
En invasion et en latin
At invasion and Latin
Donc son nom ridicule
So his ridiculous name
Ne servait à rien
Was useless
Si ses parents au berceau
If his parents at the cradle
Avaient réfléchi deux secondes
Had thought for two seconds
Ils l'auraient appelé Bruno
They would've called him Bruno
Comme tout l'monde
Like everyone else
Gilles César
Gilles César
Seul son meilleur ami
Only his best friend
Comprenait sa douleur
Understood his pain
Il avait le même souci
He had the same problem
Henri Potter
Henri Potter
Henri, Harry, franchement
Henri, Harry, honestly
Y'a pas grande différence
There's not much difference
Bah si, justement!
Well yes, exactly!
Et d'importance!
And an important one!
Entre un petit sorcier
Between a little wizard
Intrépide et téméraire
Intrepid and reckless
Et un agent immobilier
And a real estate agent
Quadragénaire
In his forties
Henri Potter
Henri Potter
Gilles César
Gilles César
Avait un autre copain
He had another friend
Mais ils étaient fâchés à mort
But they were furious with each other
Faut dire que c'était pas
Gotta say he wasn't
Un mec bien, Marc Vador
A good guy, Marc Vador
C'est pas qu'il avait mauvais fonds
It's not that he was fundamentally bad
Il était même mignon petit
He was even cute as a child
C'est juste qu'il était devenu méchant
It's just that he had become evil
Mais enfin bref, cette chanson
But anyway, this song
Elle parle pas d'lui
It's not about him
Gilles rencontra grâce à Henri
Gilles met, thanks to Henri
Une femme qui lui plut
A woman he liked
Elle avait comme lui
She had, like him
Un nom presque connu
An almost famous name
Mademoiselle Moreau
Miss Moreau
Marilyn de son prénom
Marilyn as her first name
Comme Marilyn Monroe
Like Marilyn Monroe
Enfin pas loin!
Well, not far off!
De toute façon, c'était pas vrai
Anyway, it wasn't true
Elle s'appelait Christelle, en fait
Her name was Christelle, actually
Et depuis toujours elle rêvait
And she had always dreamed
D'un prénom de vedette
Of a star's first name
Gilles épousa Marilyn
Gilles married Marilyn
Et Henri fut leur témoin
And Henri was their witness
Ma chanson qui se termine
My song that's ending
J'espère au moins qu'elle était bien!
I hope at least it was good!
Gilles César
Gilles César
Lyrics and Translations Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © SONY ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING FRANCE
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patronyme — surname
Patronyme translates to "surname" or "family name". While not extremely rare, it's a more formal and less common word than nom de famille (family name), making it stand out.
In the song, the character Gilles César is burdened by his famous patronyme because it constantly reminds him of the Roman emperor, highlighting the humorous and ironic central theme of the lyrics.
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