He's a captain, and his motherland is Marseilles
He admires quarrels, noise and fights
he smokes a pipe and drinks the strongest ale
And loves the girl from Nagasaki.
She's got the traces of leprosy on her hands,
And her lips are as red as poppies
And she dances jig in the taverns on evenings,
this girl from Nagasaki.
She's got so small breasts,
and tattoos are made on them...
Captain starts a long way out,
Leaving the girl from Nagasaki.
And in the times when storm roars
Or in quiet hours on the forecastle
He remembers the narrow eyes
and dreams of the girl from Nagasaki.
Coralls, rubies as red as blood
And silk khaki blouse
And wild and tender love
He brings all this to the girl from Nagasaki.
He's come, he hurries up to her, hardly breathing
But suddenly he knows that a man wearing tail-coat
Once in the evening, after using too much hashish,
Killed the girl from Nagasaki.
She's got so small breasts
And lips, lips as red as poppies...
Captain starts a long way out
not having seen the girl from Nagasaki.