Monocle et col dur [English translation]

It was the good weather of Violette

Des Violaine and Violetta

Missy always loved Colette

And Violet loved Vita

The other Violette, Sunday

Deposed, if I remember

For two sous of white violets.

On the gave of Renee Vivien

And Violette's expeditions,

Who had no other purpose

Than to be the kings of sports,

Had their breasts been removed.

Ah, let them be allowed

Touch necks and a curb

The rose or the ring

Gourmet or tuxedo

The shadow or the base

Tuxedo and monocle

The pure under impurity

Monocle and hard collar.

When the sign and it's purple circle

Goes off to Edgar-Quinet boulevard

They came back to their alcove (room/garden)

Purple like the day it was born

Getting drunk illegally,

From the beguines from boarding school.

Whose men are mocked and excited

Or with bloody passion

But, they loved the noise

Or the secret that dissolves,

The warriors hid their weapons very well

And their black tuxedo underneath.

Ah, let them be allowed

Hard collars and a curb

The rose or the ring

Gourmet or tuxedo

The shadow or the base

Tuxedo and monocle

The pure under impurity

Monocle and hard collar.

A day passed and they are jade

Truck drivers, bad dykes

And here they cried for their youth

And the violets of Vivien

Sometimes, I meet one of those wild beasts

Old huntresses, their eyes on lookout

But there is not purple circle

On boulevard Edgar-Quinet.

Do I have laughter or pain?

Me, who still stays behind and refrain,

Behind my freedom, my chains

And my black tuxedo underneath.

Ah, let them be allowed

Hard collars and a curb

The rose or the ring

Gourmet or tuxedo

The shadow or the base

Tuxedo and monocle

The pure under impurity

Monocle and hard collar.