Le Grand Chêne Lyrics in English Georges Brassens
Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Le Grand Chêne by Georges Brassens from French to English.
Il vivait en dehors des chemins forestiers
He lived outside the forest paths
Ce n'était nullement un arbre de métier
He was by no means a tree of trade
Il n'avait jamais vu l'ombre d'un bûcheron
He had never seen the shadow of a lumberjack
Ce grand chêne fier sur son tronc
This proud oak on its trunk
Il eût connu des jours filés d'or et de soie
He would have known days spun of gold and silk
Sans ses proches voisins, les pires gens qui soient
Without his close neighbors, the worst people there are
Des roseaux mal pensant, pas même des bambous
Malicious reeds, not even bamboos
S'amusant à le mettre à bout
Having fun pushing him to his limits
Du matin jusqu'au soir ces petit rejetons
From morning till night these little sprouts
Tout juste cann' à pêch', à peine mirlitons
Just barely fishing rods, hardly flutes
Lui tournant tout autour chantaient, in extenso
They turned all around him singing, in full
L'histoire du chêne et du roseau
The story of the oak and the reed
Et, bien qu'il fût en bois, les chênes, c'est courant
And, although he was made of wood, oaks, it's common
La fable ne le laissait pas indifférent
The fable did not leave him indifferent
Il advint que lassé d'être en but aux lazzi
It happened that tired of being the target of mockery
Il se résolu à l'exi
He resolved to leave
A grand-peine il sortit ses grands pieds de son trou
With great difficulty he pulled his big feet from his hole
Et partit sans se retourner ni peu ni prou
And left without looking back, not at all
Mais, moi qui l'ai connu, je sais qu'il en souffrit
But, I who knew him, I know he suffered
De quitter l'ingrate patrie
From leaving the ungrateful homeland
A l'orée des forêts, le chêne ténébreux
At the edge of the forests, the dark oak
A lié connaissance avec deux amoureux
Made acquaintance with two lovers
Grand chêne laisse-nous sur toi graver nos noms
Great oak, let us carve our names on you
Le grand chêne n'as pas dit non
The great oak did not say no
Quand ils eur'nt épuisé leur grand sac de baisers
When they had exhausted their big sack of kisses
Quand, de tant s'embrasser, leurs becs furent usés
When, from so much kissing, their beaks were worn
Ils ouïrent alors, en retenant des pleurs
They then heard, holding back tears
Le chêne contant ses malheurs
The oak recounting its misfortunes
Grand chên', viens chez nous, tu trouveras la paix
Great oak, come to us, you will find peace
Nos roseaux savent vivre et n'ont aucun toupet
Our reeds know how to live and have no cheek
Tu feras dans nos murs un aimable séjour
You will make a pleasant stay in our walls
Arrosé quatre fois par jour
Watered four times a day
Cela dit, tous les trois se mettent en chemin
That said, all three set off on their way
Chaque amoureux tenant une racine en main
Each lover holding a root in hand
Comme il semblait content Comme il semblait heureux
How content he seemed, how happy he seemed
Le chêne entre ses amoureux
The oak among his lovers
Au pied de leur chaumière, ils le firent planter
At the foot of their cottage, they had him planted
Ce fut alors qu'il commença de déchanter
It was then that he began to lose heart
Car, en fait d'arrosage, il n'eut rien que la pluie
For, in terms of watering, he had nothing but rain
Des chiens levant la patt' sur lui
Dogs lifting their paws on him
On a pris tous ses glands pour nourrir les cochons
They took all his acorns to feed the pigs
Avec sa belle écorce on a fait des bouchons
With his beautiful bark, they made corks
Chaque fois qu'un arrêt de mort était rendu
Every time a death sentence was handed down
C'est lui qui héritait du pendu
It was he who inherited the hanged man
Puis ces mauvaises gens, vandales accomplis
Then these bad people, accomplished vandals
Le coupèrent en quatre et s'en firent un lit
Cut him into four and made a bed from him
Et l'horrible mégère ayant des tas d'amants
And the horrible shrew with many lovers
Il vieillit prématurément
He aged prematurely
Un triste jour, enfin, ce couple sans aveu
One sad day, finally, this couple without a vow
Le passa par la hache et le mit dans le feu
Passed him through the axe and put him in the fire
Comme du bois de caisse, amère destinée
Like boxwood, a bitter fate
Il périt dans la cheminée
He perished in the chimney
Le curé de chez nous, petit saint besogneux
The priest from our place, a little saintly worker
Doute que sa fumée s'élève jusqu'à Dieu
Doubts that his smoke rises to God
Qu'est-c'qu'il en sait, le bougre, et qui donc lui a dit
What does he know, the poor guy, and who told him
Qu'y a pas de chêne en paradis
That there are no oaks in paradise
Qu'y a pas de chêne en paradis
That there are no oaks in paradise
Lyrics and Translations Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Did you like these lyrics?
Did you know?
In addition to reading lyric translations, you can now learn French with music and lyrics from your favorite artists.
No more boring lessons. You can now learn with engaging and culturally relevant lyrics from the best artists.
Learn French with lessons based on similar songs!
Apple and App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc.
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.