awanderingbard: (RJ: Juliette balcon)
[personal profile] awanderingbard
So, my MP3 player decided it was going to be all French, all the time today on my walk and it put me into a translation mood. I'm going to do a song from a French musical called Les Dix Commandements (The Ten Commandments), which is unsurprisingly, the story of Moses (or Moïse, in French) from the Bible. I haven't actually seen the show, since the DVD recording of it isn't available in Region 1, but it appears to be uploaded to youtube, so feel free to check it out. The music is very catchy, if nothing else. This particular song is song by Josué (Joshua), and it's one my favourites. There's a video below the cut.



La Peine* Maximum (My Greatest Sorrow)



French
English
Josué Joshua
Et puisque l'on a pour prison
Une terre dont le seul horizon
Est un désert
Un désert
Et puisqu'il faut souffrir debout
Pour ne survivre ici qu'à genoux
Dans la poussière
And because we have as a prison
A land of which the only horizon
Is a desert
A desert
And because we have to suffer on our feet
Just to survive here on our knees
In the dust

Puisque l'amour
Est inaccessible, un jour
Et le rêve trop lourd
Pour être libre, un jour
Que Dieu me pardonne
Si de n'être qu'un homme
C'est ma peine maximum
Because love
Is unattainable, one day
And the dream is too heavy
To be free, one day
May God forgive me
If I'm only a man
It's my greatest sorrow
Et puisque nos appels se perdent
Et que notre ciel reste sans lumière
Et sans regard
Où qu'on regarde
Même si croire n'est qu'un recours
Devant le peu d'espoir qui nous entoure
Qui nous égare
And because our cries get lost
And our heaven remains in darkness
And without being visible
Wherever we look
Even if you believe there's only one course of action
In light of the little hope that surrounds us
That we've misplaced

Puisque l'amour
Est inaccessible, un jour
Et le rêve trop lourd
Pour être libre, un jour
Que Dieu me pardonne
Si de n'être qu'un homme
C'est ma peine maximum
Because love
Is unattainable, one day
And the dream is too heavy
To be free, one day
May God forgive me
If I'm only a man
It's my greatest sorrow
Mais pourquoi se mettre à genoux
Pour qui vouloir vivre debout

But why kneel down
For those who want to live standing

Puisque l'amour
Est inaccessible, un jour
Et le rêve trop lourd
Pour être libre, un jour
Que Dieu me pardonne
Si de n'être qu'un homme
C'est ma peine maximum
Because love
Is unattainable, one day
And the dream is too heavy
To be free, one day
May God forgive me
If I'm only a man
It's my greatest sorrow


*Peine can also be translated as 'punishment'.
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