Le mal de vivre [English translation]

It arrived without warning, it came from far away

It walked from shore to shore, a pout on its lips

And then one morning, upon waking up, it’s almost nothing

But it's there in you, sleeping in the small of your back

The pain of living, the pain of living

We must live well to live better

One can put it over the shoulder or put it on the hand like a piece of jewelry

Like a flower in a buttonhole or at the tip of the breast

It's not necessarily misery, it's not Valmy nor Verdun

But it's the tears on the eyelids on the dying day

On the day that comes

The pain of living, the pain of living

We must live well to live better

It doesn't matter if you're from Rome or America, or from London or Beijing

Or from Egypt or Africa, or Porte Saint-Martin

We all say the same prayer, we all follow the same road

The road is long when you have to do it with your back aching

They have the good intention to understand us

Those who come to us with bare hands

We don't want to listen to them, we can't, not anymore

And all alone in the silence of a night that doesn’t end

Suddenly we think of those who have not come back

Of the pain of living, their pain of living

We must live well to live better

And without warning, it arrived, it came from far away

and it walked from coast to coast, laughter on its lips

And then one morning, upon waking up, it's almost nothing

But it's there, filling you with wonder, in the small of your back

The joy of living, the joy of living

You must live well, your joy of living