A L'aube Lyrics in English by Feu! Chatterton

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Below, I translated the lyrics of the song A L'aube by Feu! Chatterton from French to English.

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We were brothers once and things changed, it's true

He left

Eighteen months on the other side of the earth

Test your body and mind

In the banana fields of Oceania where we get up at dawn

Experience the rest on Asian beaches

Where we taste synthetic happiness

And to the infinite spaces that the waters brood at night

Where we get up at dawn

And if we cried together

That day in September when we left each other

It’s because we knew that infinite tenderness

Memory and the mobile phone

Are few things against the distance

That everything was going to change

He left

It's because he gets up at dawn

Yeah, you have to pull yourself out

First there is free age before domestic life

That we all wait for as an absurd and necessary sentence

And then these chimeras to flee

Which we think we leave at the doors of long-haul planes

Finally, the fear of getting fat here

May comfort stupefy us

He left

It's because he gets up at dawn

In our long sleepless nights

Who were going to die in the ashtray

We dreamed a lot and waited for things to happen

As if by magic

The aftermath of these gray evenings

I especially remember the bitter smell of cold tobacco

The torpor caused by smoking weed

Powerlessness and pride

You have to choose, life is elsewhere

That's what we said to each other

He left

It's because he gets up at dawn

Before his departure he was already less talkative

That when I knew him, eight years ago

There is no age to have old demons

His family spoke to him, I believe, of filiation and genealogical tree

This one also cuts off the branches that give shade

And the leaves die there in the fall

So I understood his silences

And I shared them

I also told myself that I was probably less fiery myself

Less expensive than in our early adolescence

Then we discovered, like everyone else

The peril of any true seduction enterprise

And the flavor of clumsy and conquered lips

We also learned by heart the harsh and fleshy mysteries

Of the feminine cunt that we touch first with our fingers

And above all, above all

The insolent and naive feeling of freedom, the ample lungs

When we take the road of travel for the first time

He left

It's because he gets up at dawn

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chimères — pipe dreams / illusions

Chimères translates to "pipe dreams" or "illusions." It's a word rooted in mythology, referring to a monstrous, fire-breathing hybrid creature, which gives it a unique and evocative quality.

In the song, it refers to the elusive and perhaps unrealistic aspirations or fantasies one tries to escape before settling into a more conventional life. The lyrics mention "ces chimères à fuir" (these pipe dreams to flee), suggesting a conscious effort to leave behind youthful, perhaps unattainable, ambitions.

Feu! Chatterton's "A L'aube" tells a story of brotherhood, change, and the universal quest for meaning beyond the familiar. It's about a friend who leaves for an eighteen-month journey to the other side of the world, seeking new experiences "dans les champs de bananes d'Océanie où l'on se lève à l'aube" [in the banana fields of Oceania where one rises at dawn] and on "les plages asiatiques où l'on goûte au bonheur de synthèse" [Asian beaches where one tastes synthetic happiness]. The song captures the bittersweet farewell, acknowledging that "l'infinie tendresse, la mémoire et le téléphone mobile sont peu de choses contre la distance" [infinite tenderness, memory, and mobile phones are little against distance] and that everything would change.

The lyrics explore the reasons for this departure: the desire for "l'âge libre avant la vie domestique" [the free age before domestic life], a flight from "chimères à fuir" [chimeras to flee], and the fear of becoming complacent, "que le confort nous abêtisse" [that comfort would make us stupid]. It's a journey of self-discovery, driven by an internal call to rise early and embrace a different life. The narrator also reflects on his own changes, understanding his friend's silences and sharing in the realization that they are both less impetuous than in their youth, when they first discovered "l'insolent et naïf sentiment de liberté, les poumons amples quand on prend la route du voyage pour la première fois" [the insolent and naive feeling of freedom, full lungs when one takes to the road for the first time].

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Feu! Chatterton A L'aube Lyrics