Probleme de Familie [English translation]

"When you try to squeeze seven, eight people in a single apartment on the outskirts of Bucharest... family issues start coming up just like that"

I

Don't judge me too harshly, mom

I'm not a model son but I'm not scum either

Drugs and vagrancy until dawn

I'm never home when you wake up in the morning

Quarrels never end

I remember that you kicked me out of the house

I never thought I'd come back

No problem: my house is on the street

With the homies and the faggots,

The guys who stick by me and the hustlers

Where the f*** are you at now, dad?

Where the hell are you so I can tell you my pain

It would have been better if you had been here

But mom struggled hard and made it work without you anyway

These are just family problems and I'm sorry

That you didn't stick around to experience them by your kid's side

"I don't remember what my dad looked like. Maybe if I see someone on the street who looks like me I'll think it's him."

II

It's hard as a young'un to make it on your own

You're gonna run into a lot of problems

Pockets: empty, it's hard

When daddy buys vodka with the grocery money

Here he comes again, home late at night, drunk

Sees himself as a great hustler

Row after row every night

Your mother works like a slave to keep you in school

So that at least you can have a better life

In the 'hood the poverty remains a constant

You see kids that are all skin and bones

Filthy apartments turn your stomach inside out

And you feel like leaving and going out into the wide world

When your parents don't give a shit about you

Grit your teeth, no matter what goes down

They're only problems - only family problems (family problems)

III

Tired of going from job to job, some start looking to take a punt

Life is far from cheap

You wouldn't believe how little you make after a whole day's work

While others throw piles of it away

Your sister put on too many airs

So much so that she ended up a tramp

Your mother 's crying, covered in bruises

She says she slipped but it's not true

Some people's lives are like a soap opera

Only it's live, it's like you're on stage

You're the leading actor in the leading role

Even if the play seems a nightmare

If you're playing the role of Father, get a little worked up

Don't be just a spectator, if you get my meaning

Maybe you're having a hard time too

Both you and I've got family problems

"Too many children live alone in the 'hood and become problems for their families. That's just the reality of it is and no one can change that shit."