This is the tango of La Villette1 butchers
This is the tango of the slaughterhouse killers
Come and get caul fat and bone marrow2
and drink blood before it turns pitch black.
Let it bleed
Let people get their grub
Let the fatties stuff themselves
Let the skinny put on fat
Let it bleed
Let the meat brokers3
gorge themselves on
unaffordable4 beef fillet
Let it bleed
Let the hides get tanned
Let the feet get breaded
Let the heads end up in marinade
Let it bleed
Let's swallow cheap meat
to become a fat corpse
and feed hefty worms
Let it bleed
heartily
This is the tango of the merry military
of the joyful victors from everywhere and elsewhere
This is the tango of the famous warmongers
This is the tango of all the gravediggers
Let it bleed
Give the bayonet a shove,
ram it through or break it trying
or you'll get a good what-for
Let it bleed
Clobber a couple of them,
no matter if they're your cousins
Squeeze the juice out of them
Let it bleed
If you can't do them in
your pals will lend a hand
and you'll soon croak
Let it bleed
Tomorrow it will be your turn
Tomorrow it will be your day
Done with you, done with love
Tiens ! Voilà du boudin !....5
1. the place where the "cité des sciences" stands in the north of Paris housed a huge complex of slaughterhouses in the 50's2. the French names can be understood as "strawberry" and "passing romance"3. the French adds "in Les Halles", a now gone huge market in the center of Paris4. lit. "800 francs/kilogram"5. that's the start of the French Foreign Legion marching song:
"Here, have some blood sausage, have some blood sausage..."