Nuit Et Brouillard Lyrics in English Jean Ferrat
Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Nuit Et Brouillard by Jean Ferrat from French to English.
These English lyric translations are not yet verified.
Ils étaient vingt et cent, ils étaient des milliers
There were twenty and a hundred, there were thousands
Nus et maigres, tremblants, dans ces wagons plombés
Naked and thin, trembling, in these leaden wagons
Qui déchiraient la nuit de leurs ongles battants
Who tore the night with their beating nails
Ils étaient des milliers, ils étaient vingt et cent
There were thousands of them, there were twenty and a hundred
Ils se croyaient des hommes, n'étaient plus que des nombres
They thought they were men, were nothing more than numbers
Depuis longtemps leurs dés avaient été jetés
Their die had long been cast
Dès que la main retombe il ne reste qu'une ombre
As soon as the hand falls, only a shadow remains
Ils ne devaient jamais plus revoir un été
They were never to see a summer again
La fuite monotone et sans hâte du temps
The monotonous and unhurried flight of time
Survivre encore un jour, une heure, obstinément
Survive one more day, one hour, stubbornly
Combien de tours de roues, d'arrêts et de départs
How many turns, stops and starts
Qui n'en finissent pas de distiller l'espoir
Who never stop distilling hope
Ils s'appelaient Jean-Pierre, Natacha ou Samuel
Their names were Jean-Pierre, Natacha or Samuel
Certains priaient Jésus, Jéhovah ou Vichnou
Some prayed to Jesus, Jehovah or Vishnu
D'autres ne priaient pas, mais qu'importe le ciel
Others didn't pray, but what does heaven matter
Ils voulaient simplement ne plus vivre à genoux
They simply wanted to stop living on their knees
Ils n'arrivaient pas tous à la fin du voyage
They didn't all reach the end of the journey
Ceux qui sont revenus peuvent-ils être heureux?
Can those who have returned be happy?
Ils essaient d'oublier, étonnés qu'à leur âge
They try to forget, surprised that at their age
Les veines de leurs bras soient devenus si bleues
The veins in their arms have turned so blue
Les Allemands guettaient du haut des miradors
The Germans were watching from the top of the watchtowers
La lune se taisait comme vous vous taisiez
The moon was silent as you were silent
En regardant au loin, en regardant dehors
Looking far away, looking out
Votre chair était tendre à leurs chiens policiers
Your flesh was tender to their police dogs
On me dit à présent que ces mots n'ont plus cours
I am now told that these words are no longer valid
Qu'il vaut mieux ne chanter que des chansons d'amour
That it's better to only sing love songs
Que le sang sèche vite en entrant dans l'histoire
May the blood dry quickly as it enters history
Et qu'il ne sert à rien de prendre une guitare
And there's no point in picking up a guitar
Mais qui donc est de taille à pouvoir m'arrêter?
But who is capable of stopping me?
L'ombre s'est faite humaine, aujourd'hui c'est l'été
The shadow has become human, today it's summer
Je twisterais les mots s'il fallait les twister
I would twist the words if I had to twist them
Pour qu'un jour les enfants sachent qui vous étiez
So that one day the children would know who you were
Vous étiez vingt et cent, vous étiez des milliers
You were twenty and a hundred, you were thousands
Nus et maigres, tremblants, dans ces wagons plombés
Naked and thin, trembling, in these leaden wagons
Qui déchiriez la nuit de vos ongles battants
Who tore the night with your beating nails
Vous étiez des milliers, vous étiez vingt et cent
There were thousands of you, there were twenty and a hundred of you
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