Au Suivant Lyrics in English Jacques Brel

Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Au Suivant by Jacques Brel from French to English.
Next one, next one
All naked in my towel
that served me as a loincloth
I was red in the face
and the soap in my hand
Next one, next one
I was just twenty
and we were a hundred and twenty
to be the next one
after the one we followed
Next one, next one
I was just twenty
and I was losing my innocence
in the traveling brothel
of an army on campaign
Next one, next one
I would've really liked
a little more tenderness
or maybe a smile
or just having time
but next one
next one
it wasn't Waterloo
but it wasn't Arcole
it was the hour you regret
having skipped school
Next one, next one
but I swear that hearing
that sergeant of my a**
it's enough to make you
armies of impotent men
Next one, next one
I swear on the head
of my first pox
that since then this voice
I hear it all the time
Next one, next one
this voice that reeked of garlic
and bad booze
it's the voice of nations
and it's the voice of blood
Next one, next one
and since then, every woman
at the moment of giving in
in my too thin arms
seems to whisper to me
Next one, next one
all the next ones in the world
should join hands
that's what at night
I scream in my delirium
Next one, next one
and when I'm not delirious
I end up telling myself
that it's more humiliating
to be followed than next
Next one, next one
one day I'll become legless
or a nun or hanged
anyway one of those things
where I'll never again be
the next one, the next one
Lyrics and Translations Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC FRANCE
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SONG MEANING

**“Au Suivant” plunges us into Jacques Brel’s razor-sharp storytelling, where a twenty-year-old conscript stands naked in a towel, soap in hand, waiting his turn at a grim, army-run brothel. The barked order “Au suivant” (“Next”) ricochets through the line of 120 nervous soldiers, turning what should be an intimate first encounter into a joyless assembly-line ritual. Brel’s narrator longs for a smile, a trace of tenderness, anything that might make him feel human, yet the only thing he receives is the sour stench of garlic, cheap booze, and an adjutant’s voice that will haunt him forever.

Years later, every embrace resurrects that brutal command, and the singer realizes that societies, like armies, often treat people as numbers on a list. With biting irony and dark humor, Brel condemns militarism, sexual exploitation, and the way authority can strip away individuality. The song’s pounding refrain becomes a protest chant: all the “suivants” of the world should join hands and refuse to be herded any longer. In the end, the narrator dreams of any fate that would free him from being “the next,” reminding listeners that real dignity begins when we refuse to let others dictate our worth.

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