Patrick Bruel's "Je t’ l' dis quand même" 派屈克‧布乃爾的〈我仍這樣跟你說 〉

Now that I'm listening to French songs again, how could I have forgotten another one of my favorite French actor-singers, Patrick Bruel, whose jeiwsh parents came to France from Algeria in the late 19th century. He was born as Maurice Benguigui on May 14, 1959 in Tlemcen (then French Algeria)  originally wanted to be a footballer but instead decided to become a singer after seeing a performance of Michel Sardou in 1975. His first hit was  "Marre de cette nana-là" ("Fed up with that chick"),  In the song "Je t'l' dis quand même",〈我仍這樣跟你說〉,he sings of the sentiments of one of those chance encounters in the corner café in one's neighborhood where one meets a girl, feels an impulse to chat her up but for one reason or another doesn't follow up but then later does so in his imagination. It's another one of his most popular songs. The song is simple, its melody catchy, its lyrics moving and he sings with feeling. 

Saturday Fun (星期六，笑一笑)

Quite busy this Saturday. So, there'll just be a tiny tiny portion of fun. They're all centered on the experiences of those people we both love and hate, depending on what they can bring us after we see them in their robes or gowns in white or blue etc.


1.

"Doctor, please hurry. My son swallowed a razor-blade."
"Don't panic, I'm coming immediately. Have you done anything yet?"
"Yea, I shaved with the electric razor."

2.

"Doctor, doctor, You've got to help me - I just can't stop my hands shaking!"
"Do you drink a lot?"
"Not really - I spill most of it!"

3.

"Doctor, doctor, will I be able to play the violin after the operation?"
"Yes, of course..."
"Great! I never could before!"

4.

A man speaks frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant, and her contractions are only two minutes apart!"
"Is this her first child?" the doctor queries.
"No, you idiot!" the man shouts. "This is her husband!"

5.

The surgeon told his patient that woke up after having been operated: "I'm afraid we're going to have to operate you again. Because, you see, I forgot my rubber gloves inside you."
"Well, if it's just because of them, I'd rather pay for them if you just leave me alone."

6.

A doctor and his wife were having a big argument at breakfast.
"You aren't so good in bed either!" he shouted and stormed off to work.
By mid morning, he decided he'd better make amends and phoned home.
After many rings, his wife picked up the phone.
"What took you so long to answer?"
"I was in bed."
"What were you doing in bed this late?"
"Getting a second opinion."

Go out and have a fun weekend.  It's not raining any more!

Goytisolo's "Palabras para Julia" (Words for Julia) 哥迪堤蘇羅的《給朱莉亞的說話》

Spain has never been short of poets. One of its best known contemporary poets is José Agustín Goytisolo Gay. Born in 1928 Barcelona 1928, in a family of writers, his brother being Juan Goytisolo (n. 1931) and Luis Goytisolo (n. 1935), he's part of that group of writers called "The Generation of Fifties" which includes amongst its ranks such other authors as Ángel González, José Manuel Caballero Bonald, José Ángel Valente, Jaime Gil de Biedma, Alfonso Costafreda o Carlos Barral. He is famous for his lyrical poetry which pays great attention to the peculiarities of the Spanish language, full of sounds ending in "a"s and "o"s and "i"s and where words often have more than one meaning.

One of the his best loved poems is "Palabras para Julia" (words for Julia) (給朱莉亞的說話). In Spanish, the word "palabras" means literally "words" either articulated orally or in writing but also has the connotations of "words of advice" and "words from the heart" etc. I think that's the kind of meanings he intends in the poem "Palabras para Julia", which has been beautifully set to music by another very famous Spanish guitarist-singer Paco Ibàñez . "Julia" is the name of Goytisolo's mother, whom he witnessed killed by a francoist assassination in 1938, when he was still 10 years old, something which affected the young poet deeply, so much so that in memory of his mother, he named his own daughter after her: Julia. So the name "Julia" is fraught with feelings for the poet. Goytisolo died in March 1999.

PALABRAS PARA JULIA Tú no puedes volver atrás porque la vida ya te empuja como un aullido interminable. interminable. Hija mía es mejor vivir con la alegría de los hombres que llorar ante el muro ciego. Te sentirás acorralada te sentirás perdida o sola tal vez querrás no haber nacido no haber nacido Yo sé muy bien que te dirán que la vida no tiene objeto que es un asunto desgraciado. Entonces siempre acuérdate de lo que un día yo escribí pensando en ti  pensando en ti como ahora pienso. La vida es bella, ya verás como a pesar de los pesares tendrás amigos, tendrás amor. tendrás amigos Un hombre solo, una mujer así tomados, de uno en uno son como polvo, no son nada no son nada Pero yo cuando te hablo a ti cuando te escribo estas palabras pienso también en otra gente. Tu destino está en los demás tu futuro es tu propia vida tu dignidad es la de todos. Otros esperan que resistas que les ayude tu alegría que les ayude tu canción entre sus canciones. Entonces siempre acuérdate de lo que un día yo escribí pensando en ti pensando en ti como ahora pienso. Nunca te entregues ni te apartes junto al camino, nunca digas no puedo más y aquí me quedo. La vida es bella, tú verás como a pesar de los pesares tendrás amor, tendrás amigos. tendrás amor Por lo demás no hay elección y este mundo tal como es será todo tu patrimonio. Perdóname no sé decirte nada más pero tú comprende que yo aún estoy en el camino. Y siempre siempre acuérdate de lo que un día yo escribí pensado en ti pendado en ti como ahora pienso. José Agustín Goytisolo

給朱莉亞的說話 你不能回頭 因生命已把你推前 猶如一永不停止的吶喊 我的親生女兒，與男士 快樂地生活總比 在瞎眼牆壁前哭泣好 你會感到走投無路 你會感到迷惘或孤單 有時渴望從沒出生 從沒出生 我當然知道有人會對你說 生命並無目的 是某種不幸 你要永記 某天我曾寫了點東西給你 惦念著你  惦念著你 正如我現在惦念你一樣 生命是美麗的，你會發現 怎樣在各種負累中 你仍會找到朋友，找到愛 找到朋友 單獨一個男子漢，一個女子 就個別看，一個一個分開 就如塵埃般，是沒用的 是沒用的 但當我這樣對你說 當我寫這些字給你 我也想到其他人 你的命運在他人掌握中 你的前途是你自已的生命 你的自尊是所有人的自尊 別人等著你抗拒誘惑 使他們能助你快樂 他們能把你的歌曲 安放在他們的歌曲中 那你要永記 某天我曾寫了點東西給你 惦念著你  惦念著你 正如我現在惦念你一樣 你萬萬不能放棄，也不能偏離 正途，永不說 支撐不了而原地踏步 生命是美麗的，你會發現 怎樣在各種負累中 你仍會找到愛，找到朋友 找到愛 對其他人，沒有選擇 而這樣子的世畀 將是你所有的遺產 請請原諒我，我不懂 再多說但你應明白 我仍在走那路 而你永遠永遠記著 某天我曾寫了點東西給你 惦念著你  惦念著你 正如我現在惦念你一樣 荷西.奧古思定. 哥迪堤蘇羅 愛梭羅(El Zorro) 譯….

In arranging for the song, the order of the stanzas have been altered and the last line of some of the stanzas have been repeated.

Georges Moustaki's "Le Facteur" (The Postman)《 信差》

The more I listen again to George Moustaki's songs, the more I like him, the more I feel the kind of sentiment felt by the girl in his song "Le Facteur" ("The Postman") 《信差》 when she finds the postman which had been the messenger of all her feelings had just died. Georges Moustaki died on 23rd May 2013. I shall miss him. But he has left a rich legacy behind, a virtual treasury of songs, some simple, some more complex but all worth listening to.

Le facteur Le jeune facteur est mort Il n'avait que dix-sept ans L'amour ne peut plus voyager Il a perdu son messager C'est lui qui venait chaque jour Les bras chargés de tous mes mots d'amour C'est lui qui portait dans ses mains La fleur d'amour cueillie dans ton jardin Il est parti dans le ciel bleu Comme un oiseau enfin libre et heureux Et quand son âme l'a quitté Un rossignol quelque part a chanté Je t'aime autant que je t'aimais Mais je ne peux le dire désormais Il a emporté avec lui Les derniers mots que je t'avais écrit Il n'ira plus sur les chemins Fleuris de roses et de jasmins Qui mènent jusqu'à ta maison L'amour ne peut plus voyager Il a perdu son messager Et mon cœur est comme en prison Il est parti l'adolescent Qui t'apportait mes joies et mes tourments L'hiver a tué le printemps Tout est fini pour nous deux maintenant George Moustaki

信差 那年輕的信差去世了 他才十七歲 愛情不可再旅遊了 它已失去它的信差 是他每天來 他的手臂承托著我所有的情書 他是那在其手中拿著 在你園中收集那些情花的人 他已離去走上青天 像一只最終自由和快樂的小鳥 當他的靈魂離他而去 一只不知在哪的夜鶯唱著 我今多愛你猶如我曾愛你一樣 但我從此不能再這樣說了 他已隨身帶走 我寫給你最後的文字 他將不再行走那些小徑 開滿玫瑰和茉莉 直達你的家園 愛情不可再旅遊了 它已失去它的信差  而我心如監獄 那少年已離去 他曾帶給你我的喜悅和我的痛苦 冬天已謀殺了春天 就我倆而說現在一切已完蛋了 艾梭羅(El Zorro) 譯….

Georges Moustaki's "Ma Solitude" (My Loneliness) (我的寂寞)

Since that first day I heard him, Georges Moustaki has become one of my favourite French singers. Apart from his "Mètéque", he's got another song which I like enormously. It's his "Ma Solitude" ("My Loneliness).

Ma Solitude Pour avoir si souvent dormi Avec ma solitude Je m'en suis fait presqu'une amie Une douce habitude Ell' ne me quitte pas d'un pas Fidèle comme une ombre Elle m'a suivi ça et là Aux quatre coins du monde Non, je ne suis jamais seul Avec ma solitude Quand elle est au creux de mon lit Elle prend toute la place Et nous passons de longues nuits Tous les deux face à face Je ne sais vraiment pas jusqu'où Ira cette complice Faudra-t-il que j'y prenne goût Ou que je réagisse? Non, je ne suis jamais seul Avec ma solitude Par elle, j'ai autant appris Que j'ai versé de larmes Si parfois je la répudie Jamais elle ne désarme Et si je préfère l'amour D'une autre courtisane Elle sera à mon dernier jour Ma dernière compagne Non, je ne suis jamais seul Avec ma solitude Non, je ne suis jamais seul Avec ma solitude George Moustaki

我的寂寞 因我這常與 我寂莫同床 她差點兒已成我的女友 一個輕柔的習慣 她寸步不離 如影隨形 她隨我到這到哪 世界的四角 不，我永不獨自一人 我有我的寂寞 當她在我床中 她佔據所有空間 我們一起渡過漫漫長夜 我們兩個面對面 我真的不曉得這陰謀 會走到那兒 是不是我必須上癮 或作出反應？ 不，我永不獨自一人 我有我的寂寞 從她那兒，我已學到的 有如我卸下的眼淚那麼多 若我不時罵她 她永不反抗 若我較喜歡 另一情人 她將成為在我最後一天 我最後的一役 不，我永不獨自一人 我有我的寂寞 不，我永不獨自一人 我有我的寂寞 愛梭羅(El Zorro) 譯