La Java de cézigue [English translation]

Cezigue1 is a small man

With cheeks inflated like an apple

Who plays the accordion

Every night at the restaurant2 in the Charenton street3

Hop!

You should see him with his cap

Standing like that of a fair vendor4

And his little cigarette butt

That makes him blink his eyes restlessly5.

To me, usually, music

Oddly enough, makes me sleep,

Gives me neurasthenia

And I don't feel like wanting to move my legs.

Oh yes, but, except, when it is the little Cezigue

Wearing only his shirt6 who shows himself7.

He gets sounds from his accordion.

It gives you the thrill.

It is often said8 to your ears

That all javas are the same.

Well, those who say so

Don't know

Cezigue and his java. Hop!

When Mr Cezigue has captured the attention of some woman

The girl won't stand quietely, looking at flies.9

And then the sleeping room4 in the hotel

Suddenly becomes a branch of the heavens

And later, love is fadding away.

For a word, not in the right place,

The fun is over.

Cezigue is transformed

Into a bumpy machine.

When an ordinary man

Beats a woman because he is too nervous,

Dust moves around the place

And five minutes later, everything is back to normal.

Oh! Oh yes, but, except, if it is the little Cezigue

Wearing only his shirt who shows himself

He knocks people10

Oh my God,

What a distribution!

It is often said to your ears

That all javas are the same.

Well, those who say so

Don't know

Cezigue and his java. Hop!

You think, of course, that Cezigue

Does not come from a box of figs11

As he is called from everywhere.

Whatever he does,

It is never for money

Nor to be like the others.

We play it again at the game of Belote

Or on a horse

Who, on the turf,

Is doing big things like at Trafalgar.

But no! Oh!

Not a year spent resting

Without having gained a Bugatti

Like a gigolo

He has a bank account

And a nice little mansion near the water12.

So, when you see Cezigue

Wearing only his shirt who shows himself

Without fighting,

Even strangers

Say: "He knows how to swim"13

It is often said to your ears

That life is not marvellous.

Ach!

Those who say so

Don't know

Cezigue and his java.

Hop!

1. Cézigue is a slang word meaning "him" ("mézigue" means "me", "tézigue" means "you", etc.), but in this song cézigue is the nickname of an artist (I don't know if he existed or not).2. Un Bougnat is a kind of café or restaurant, that is held by "bougnats" who are quite poor people from the center of France.3. Rue de Charenton is a street in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, near the Gare de Lyon.4. a. b. See comment by PaotrLaouen5. I guess the smoke of the poor quality of his tobacco is making his eyes blink.6. En bras de chemise means without a jacket. At that time, it shows he is comfortable, like at home.7. Faire le zigue is a rare slang expression meaning faire le lurron (clown), to do the show.8. Corner is a seldom verb, derived from the horn (la corne).9. Because Cezigue and her girlfriend will dance right away. First, I translated with "The guy don't take any woman", because une mouche (a fly) could be a little woman, not very attractive. But now, I see the subject is la môme, therefore rather a woman than a man, and attraper les mouches could mean having an opened mouth like a frog who waits for flies.10. Un gnon is a common slang word for a punch, a thrusting blow with the fist.11. See comment by PaotrLaouen.12. Au bord de l'eau can be on the cost of a sea, on the shores of a lake or a river. It could more specifically designate the shore of the Marne river near Joinville le Pont, because of a famous song "Quand on s'promène au bord de l'eau" from the movie, [i]La belle équipe[/i]13. Nager means to move like a smart fish.