Monsieur Marcel [English translation]

Mr. Marcel is a gravedigger

As many are elsewhere

But his sleep is elastic

He is a narcoleptic

It isn’t rare that between two clods

He falls asleep right in his boots

That causes no bother except for

The survivors having to return the next day

But on balance

If it’s necessary to dig

Would you rather one dug

With a spade

But on balance

If it’s necessary to dig

Would you rather one dug

With a digger?

He has a pointed chin

From sleeping on his pickaxe

And oval shaped eyelids

Heavy as a tombstone

Round here so the rumour goes

Best to plan ahead when you die

But without going into the details

Everything will depend on your size

But on balance

If it’s necessary to dig

Would you rather one dug

With a spade

But on balance

If it’s necessary to dig

Would you rather one dug

With a digger?

Since I’ll have to sleep under the heather

Near to the canal

I prefer to know myself in

An artisanal gruyere 1

Me, I want one Mr. Marcel

To dig my plot

Yesterday a general’s widow

Who had believed she had heard rattling 2

Had the grave reopened

All that for a bit of snoring

We must believe that having stripes 3

Gives his wife a long arm 4

It only needed her to deploy it

Mr. Marcel no longer has a job

But you stuck up old bat

For your funeral

Would you rather one dug

With a spade

But you stuck up old bat

For your burial

Would you rather one dug

With a digger

Since I’ll have to sleep under the heather

Near to the canal

I prefer to know myself in

An artisanal gruyère

Me, I want a Mr. Marcel

To dig my plot

But on balance

If it’s necessary to dig

Would you rather one dug

With a spade

But on balance

If it’s necessary to dig

Would you rather one dug

With a spade

But on balance

If it’s necessary to dig

Would you rather one dug

With a spade

But on balance

If it’s necessary to dig

Would you rather one dug

With a digger?

With a digger?

With a digger?

With a digger?

With a digger?

With a digger?

With a digger?

With a digger?

1. This is odd - I think the meaning is he wants a hand-dug plot rather than one made by a machine2. râles - death rattles3. as in military stripes4. has influence