I had never dropped my hat
In front of anybody
Now I crawl and I sit up and beg
When she calls1
I was a bad dog and she makes me eat
in the palm of her hand
I had wolf fangs, I traded them
For toothypeg !
I laid low2 in front of a doll
That closes her eyes when you put her to bed
I laid low in front of a doll
That says mama when you touch her
I was hard boiled, she converted me
The smarty3
And I fell all steamy, all roasted
Against her mouth
That have baby teeth when she smiles
When she sings
And wolf fangs, when she's a fury
She is mean
I laid low...
I live under her rule, I keep a low profile
Under her influence
Even if she is jealous beyond imagination
And even worse
A pretty periwinkle4 That I reckoned
Was prettier than her
A pretty periwinkle one day died
Beaten by an umbrella.
I laid low...
All the sleepwalkers, all the wizards told me
Without malice
That in her arms as a cross, I will suffer my
Last ordeal
There is worse, there is better (fate)
But all considered
To be hanged here, to be hanged elsewhere
If you need to be hanged.
I laid low in front of a doll
That closes her eyes when you put he to bed
I laid low in front of a doll
That says mama when you touch her
1. Litterally, "when she rings".2. Litterally, "I made myself tiny".3. Litterally, "the fine fly".4. Hard to tell with Brassens's habit of calling women by flower names, but it could also mean "a meter maid" (Marie Pervenche).