Les hautes lumières [English translation]

After the night

before the day

and through the jungle1

After the night

before the day

I'll go search for the higher lights2

The simple minded have their way3

I'm taking you to toss away the medals

in the blue water of the fountains

and to pick up again those visions

that were being offered at one time like crowns

those visions that were exchanged

to tell ourselves, to remember

I'm the watchman, you're the museum

I want to feel the mint leaves crack

under our teeth with the chlorophyll escaping

and make you listen to the chiming sound

that's produced by ensign halyards banging against masts

in the background the great roaring of the sea that's telling stories

and above the snaily procession of mean and white clouds

I'd like to introduce you to the verdigrised ladies of the ball, queens

that dress us in gowns and in tiaras

At the intersection of Amsterdam and 80th

while I'll be putting around your wrist

cloth bracelets that become flower bracelets

then some ribbons, then some violins

I'm wearing the coat of arms of my clan

from now on I have it engraved on the visible face of my heart

But this doesn't hurt don't worry, quite the opposite

I've embroidered shining memories on the night's coat

that I was provided by brothers tailors, drapers, silk weavers

I have my hawsers at hand

I'm ready

After the night

before the day

and through the jungle

After the night

before the day

I'll offer you the higher lights

After the night

before the day

I'll go search for the higher lights

The simple minded have their way

I'm taking you to dive into the Seine

and swim in the strong currents of Beauchamp

to swim in the rivers, against the current

then take a hot bath

where I'll wash your skin with donkey milk

before drying your body, myself, like once

when we were teenagers

I want to make love in the fields

in the glades, in the taxis

I want to make love everywhere

on the rooftops of Paris too

I want to reside in the hollow of your neck

and in your lilac-scented sheets

while a madonna wrapped in a red shawl

blesses our foreheads in silence

in crosses of camphor balm

I'll show you how to reach for the white balls of Sainte-Florine

to burst them under our feet and between our fingers

before going to stare at the light of street lamps that glow

and shimmer on the banks of the sleeping river

whose surface is ruffled by wind gusts

I want to offer this cigarette to my mother

this cigarette of post-war and its vanilla smell

I'm taking you to see the rosy granite of this sky that we can't shake off

but it's there to protect us

I'm taking you to replay everything, perchance lose everything

perchance swipe everything too, go for everything, win everything

After the night

before the day

and through the jungle

After the night

before the day

I'll go search for the higher lights

The simple minded have their way

I'm taking you to see Colette, Cavour, Siena and Navone

to touch the cobblestones of the streets of Lisbon

and the white marble, smooth and shiny, of palaces

I want to hear the "salaam"s of drivers and who shout at us

"Hey kids, I'll take you to Orleans if it pleases you"

I want to offer you the tinkling of silver cutlery against the crystal

and precious words of mine

I want to listen to the stories of ancients4 over and over

these millennial stories that are being reborn

we met some 3000 ago, we found each other now

and our children will do the same

I'm taking you away from the claws, from the frustration, far from the regrets, far from the headaches

I'm taking you away from the barbarism and the odors of burned kerosene

I'm take you to chase after the girls, after the boys, after the dreams

and contemplate the living, those people we cross paths with sometimes

who we are falling in love with two times, three times

we have moreover to traverse the earth, we have to find a hundred thousand sisters and a hundred thousand brothers

to be alone in cemeteries never more

then on the Palatine Hill5, over the byzantine domes

we'll be posted there before long, we'll arm our diamond arrows

to become sagittarians6 and reach for the higher lights

After the night

before the day

and through the jungle

After the night

before the day

I'll go search for the higher lights

After the night

before the day

and through the jungle

After the night

before the day

I'll go search for the higher lights

1. The original says "reed beds" but I interpret it as places with tall vegetation (metaphorical of course) that prevent you from seeing the "higher" lights2. les hautes lumières means the highlights as well as bright lights, but I interpret it here as a wordplay referring to the stars ("high" lights)3. It's hard to translate the french proverb which says exactly "of the innocent, the hands are full", means "you're more likely to succeed with your enterprise if you're not too crafty or experienced" but originates from the Bible's "blessed are the poor in spirit (meaning simple minded people), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"4. or perhaps elders5. One of seven hills of Rome overlooking the forum Romanum6. or Sagittarii to be exact