La quête [English translation]

Nothing can bring me further back

Than the distinctive Play-Doh smell

Mommy works in kindergarden

She actually teaches next door1

I'm five, I jump through the window

To hide myself in her classroom

She tells me "You shouldn't be here"2

"I belong near you" I reply3

Books's all I like, and alone time4

So I'm happier on rainy days

I try going to Sunday school

But I'm unsure about my faith5

I'm seven and life is easy

I can always ask Mom for help6

After her "I don't know it all"

I lost all my trust in the World7

At five I so wanted to be seven8

At seven I couldn't wait to see more

These days I would prefer for time to stop9

Oh, what matters is the journey, not the end10

As I sweep dead leaves from the court11

The cold is blistering my hands

At ten I'm a basketball fan

So I dress up like in the States12

My dad, my hero, gifted me

A pair of velcro-ed Jordan 8

So I do all I can to make

Him proud when he comes to the games13

Called upper-class in middle school14

No wonder: my shoes are pricey

Stop wearing them, my dad gets mad

"We had nothing, you have it all!"

I'm twelve and a troublemaker

To try finding some friends at school

Our music teacher kills himself

He's now in teachers' Paradise

At eleven I dreamed of bein' thirteen15

At thirteen I couldn't wait to see more

These days I would prefer for time to stop9

Oh, what matters is the journey, not the end10

Often I had fallen in love

But for once it's reciprocal

I cowardly neglect my friends16

Spend time with my girl smoking cigs17

At fourteen I've become a ghost

At least that's what my parents claim18

My babe wants me all to herself19

Though she is always in a huff20

I have to move, we're pulled apart21

I tell myself love ain't that great22

I choose to give up basketball

Since my brother now kicks my ass23

I'm fifteen and I binge-watch Kill

I hang out with guys like Casper24

Since my father is hard on me

In turn I'm strict with my brother25

At fifteen I wanted to be sixteen26

At sixteen I couldn't wait to see more

These days I would prefer for time to stop9

Oh, what matters is the journey, not the end10

Gripped by fear, I'm racing downstairs

To get a hold of my reports27

Home has become a cold war zone

We don't communicate no more28

I'm sixteen, jump over the wall

To meet my dudes at the skatepark

We drink some beers, we smoke some joints

And I describe that in my raps

So quickly do the years fly by

I can't sing my age anymore29

My two siblings do my wedding:

one organizes, one records30

Those things that I keep to myself

Are the ones filling up venues31

My Mom is here, my Dad is proud

And the World is nice afterall32

(The World is quite nice afterall)

At sixteen I dreamed of bein' seventeen33

Seventeen, I couldn't wait to see more

These days I would prefer for time to stop9

Oh, what matters is the journey, not the end10

At five I so wanted to be seven34

At seven I couldn't wait to see more

These days I would prefer for time to stop9

Oh, what matters is the journey, not the end10

1. lit. "Mum is a kindergarden teacher / She's even the one teaching next door"2. lit. "She tells me: You aren't supposed to be here"3. lit. "I tell her: Near you, that's where my 'spot' is" (where I belong)4. lit. "All I like is books, I prefer to be alone"5. lit. "I take some catechism classes / But I'm not sure to believe in God"6. lit. "When I don't know (something), I ask my mother"7. lit. "One day, she told me 'I don't know everything' / I lost my faith in the universe"8. lit. "At five years old, I just wanted to be seven (already)"9. a. b. c. d. e. lit. "Today I would like it better if time could stop"10. a. b. c. d. e. lit. "What matters isn't the arrival, but the quest"11. lit. "I sweep the dead leaves on the field." here, "field" is probably a basketball court12. lit. "I dress up like a lil' American"13. lit. "So I do everything to make him proud / When he comes to every single one of my games" (to see him play)14. lit. "I start middle school, I'm called an 'upper-class' (kid)." note that this phrasing is derogatory in the original15. lit. "At eleven years old, I just wanted to be thirteen (already)"16. lit. "I abandon all my friends cowardly"17. lit. "I see only my girl(friend), we smoke cigs (together)"18. lit. "Fourteen years old, nothing but a ghost / At least that's what say my parents"19. lit. "Babe wants me to only hang out with her"20. lit. "Even though she is in a huff all the time" (when he's around)21. lit. "Since I move (out), that separates us"22. lit. "I think to myself that love is wrongly highly-rated"23. lit. "My bro(ther) beats me (easily) at basketball / So I prefer to give up on it"24. not sure who this "Casper" he refers to here is25. lit. "My father is strict with me / So I apply (the same treatment) on my brother"26. lit. "At fifteen years old, I just wanted to be sixteen (already)"27. lit. "I go down the stairs, gripped by fear / to intercept my report card"28. lit. "At home, it's a Cold War zone / We can't understand (communicate with) each other so I don't say anything anymore" - At home we don't understand each / Other so I've just stopped talking29. lit. "The years pass by, maybe a bit too much (too quickly) / To the extent where I'm ashamed to sing how old I am"30. lit. "My bro(ther) records when I give (my wife) the ring / my sis(ter) livens up the wedding"31. lit. "The things that I dare not say to anyone / Are the ones filling up concert halls"32. lit. "And the universe is not that bad (afterall)"33. lit. "At sixteen years old, I just wanted to be seventeen (already)"34. lit. "At five years old, I just wanted to be seven already"