At first we make promises to each other,
before compromising ourselves.
We do mea culpas:
"Baby, I was not myself,
Forgive me, baby".
We feel like it will be the end of us,
but we recover eventually.
Our love is a thing of the past.
We hurry to fall in love with someone else,
dealing with urgent matters first1
Is it worth it
to hurt each other's feelings?
Is it worth the effort
to receive so many blows?2
Isn't it a crazy thing to do
to turn the other cheek
as pain whistles (in your ears)3
and love slaps you in the face?
Is it worth it
to hurt each other's feelings?
Is it worth the effort
to receive so many blows?
Isn't it a crazy thing to do
to live under love's yoke4
as it tears you in half
and holds you in its pliers5?
We travel under the sun,
then comes storm time.
It becomes like winter.
"Baby, forgive me,
I've had enough of you".
We are in love because we are alike.
Why shouldn't we grow old together?
The daily routine that soothes us6
Let's say we rather like each other
Let's say it's better than nothing.
Is it worth it
to hurt each other's feelings?
Is it worth the effort
to receive so many blows?
Isn't it a crazy thing to do
to turn the other yoke7
as pain whistles (in your ears)
and love slaps you in the face?
Is it worth it
to hurt each other's feelings?
Is it worth the effort
to receive so many blows?
Isn't it a crazy thing to do
to live under love's yoke8
as it tears you in half
and holds you in its pliers?
We resist as long as we can,
for as long as we exist for one another9
We yell blue murder at each other
then we call each other all kinds of names
before parting ways.
Is it worth it
to hurt each other's feelings?
Is it worth the effort
to receive so many blows?
Isn't it a crazy thing to do
to turn the other yoke
as pain whistles (in your ears)
and love slaps you in the face?
Is it worth it
to hurt each other's feelings?
Is it worth the effort
to receive so many blows?
Isn't it a crazy thing to do
to live under love's yoke
as it tears you in half
and holds you in its pliers?
1. I can't say if it's the genuine expression "parer au plus pressé" or a kind of pun on "partir", which would mean something like "we run after/toward the one who is the most in a hurry". Neither variant makes much sense anyway...2. well the pun is rather weak, and not really worth the effort of trying to mirror it in English, in my opinion3. Man, this is so laborious... "la douleur vous siffle" does not make any sense, really. The usual meaning would be "pain whistles at you", like if you were a dog and the pain your master. However, "Les oreilles vous sifflent" would mean you hear a whistling sound in your ears, either because someone is speaking ill of you (like a mother in law would make an Englishman sneeze) or because you were just slapped hard in the face. Anyway...4. Mercifully, both expressions used as cornerstones for this song are identical in English. Too bad "cheek" does not sound like "yoke", though. As for translators in other languages, they have my sympathy5. in French "tenailler" means "to torture" in a psychological sense (tenaillé par l'angoisse -> tormented by anguish), but this is yet again so awkwardly said...6. this unfinished sentence sounds rather illiterate in French7. sigh...8. at least we were spared "live under love's cheek..."9. Erf... "exister à deux" sounds so cheap... Like a cheesy line from a Brazilian sitcom (no offense meant to Brazil)