Les Cornichons Lyrics in English Nino Ferrer

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Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Les Cornichons by Nino Ferrer from French to English.

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We left on Saturday in a big car

To all have a big picnic out in nature

Taking along baskets, bottles, packages

And the radio

Pickles, mustard

Bread, butter, little onions

Jams and hard-boiled eggs

Pickles

Corned beef and crispbreads

Macaroons, a corkscrew

Petit-Beurre cookies and beer

Pickles

We hadn't forgotten anything, Mom had done it all

She'd worked three days without stopping

To prepare the baskets, the bottles, the packages

And the radio

The cold chicken, the mayonnaise, the chocolate

The mushrooms, the can openers

And the tomatoes

The pickles

But when we arrived, we found rain

What we'd forgotten was the umbrellas

We brought back the baskets, the bottles, the packages

And the radio

We went home

To eat at home

The cheese and the cans

Jams and the pickles

Mustard and butter

Mayonnaise and the pickles

The chicken, the crispbreads

The hard-boiled eggs and then the pickles

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SONG MEANING

Picture a lively French family squeezing into a big car on a Saturday, the boot stuffed with baskets, bottles, packets, and—above all—jars of crunchy cornichons. Nino Ferrer’s “Les Cornichons” is a playful ode to the joyful chaos that precedes a picnic: Mum has cooked for three days straight, the radio is ready for sing-alongs, and the song’s irresistible refrain becomes a mouth-watering shopping list set to music.

The twist? After all that careful packing, the only thing they forget is umbrellas. Rain ruins the outdoor dream, everyone hauls the food back home, and the catalogue of treats is recited once more around the kitchen table. Through humor and catchy repetition, Ferrer gently reminds us that even the best-laid plans can go sideways, but good company—and a few crunchy pickles—can turn any mishap into a memorable feast.

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Nino Ferrer Les Cornichons Lyrics