L'Étranger [English translation]

He looked really sweet

Slightly mad, dreamy eyes

With a strange sparkle

Like lots of Northern boys

In his hair a hint of gold

An angel's smile

I was about to pass by without noticing him

But when he bid me good evening

In a sing-song voice

I knew then that, that evening

Despite the rain and the cold

I would be happy.

He had a really sweet face.

He came from I know not where.

Where are you from? What's your name?

The ship is my home

The sea my village

My name will be known by none

I'm a simple lad

A keen, honest worker

And If my heart is too heavy

Then give me a bit of love

Hope of caresses

And I, a girl with a jaded heart

I felt, under his kisses,

A burning exultation

He had a really sweet face

He came from I know not where

Simply, without patter

I loved my new lover

My husband of an hour

Like many unfortunate souls

He thought he read in my eyes

A woman who leaves you crying

While, madly, I was hoping

That in the morning, he would say to me

Come, I'm taking you with me

I would have said yes, I feel it

But he fled, leaving me

Fastened to my chain

He had a really sweet face

He came from I know not where

I've dreamt of foreign lands

And, my heart all troubled

By cigarettes

By alcohol and the blues

His memory each evening

Made my head spin

But they say that, close to the port

They fished out the body

Of a lad from the marines

Who, abandoned by love

Could find nothing to comfort him

But the tender sea

he had a really sweet face

He went away I know not where