Socialiste [English translation]

I can't say she was rude

or arrogant.

On the contrary, she was rather

elegant.

Like a slice of bread with marmelade

dipped in coffee1,

like a scribbling on a

toilet wall

I met her in a pacifist

protest.

There was quite a fight going on with

the police

I had hurt myself flinging

a cobblestone.

I had sprained the ankle of my arm

(I mean) my wrist

She was a socialist,

Protestant and feminist.

A bit of a pain, a bit sad too

a school teacher.

She thought the revolution was about

to come.

She believed in the great winds

of hope2

The kind of bullshit I had read

somewhere

In Minute3 or in a paper4,

I can't remember.

She spoke about Bernard Tapie5

with enthusiasm

She said he had genius

and class

I told her: "Right you are, Daisy,

he's like Karl Marx,

only more awesome and more honest

and more efficient6"

As for me, I was a Nothing-at-all-ist

Anarcho-Mitterrandist7

Don't know if that actually exists

but it turns me on!

And then she said she knew

big-wigs,

she was a good friend of a friend

of Nunky8

she had dinner with Jack Lang9

a month ago

and Guy Bedos10 had four helpings

of meat.

I told her I was done with the

high society

I had met Charles Hernu11

in jail

I had dinner once in a

ministry building

but to say the truth the food was not as good

as my mother's

She was a Socialist

she was wary of the Ecologists

she hated Communists12

and dentists

I told her "Daisy, you shouldn't talk politics

with me.

We'll end up having a row,

that's a classic.

How could I possibly agree

with you?

I already have a hard time agreeing

with myself."

She said: "My name is not Daisy

anyway.

I'm Gladys, if that's alright with you"

I said "Right.

I have to go, got to get back to the

Gare de Lyon13

before someone pinches my moped,

that would be a bummer."

And that's how my Socialist,

who was so afraid of thieves14

dumped me right in the middle of the protest

because of a moped

How could you change life15

if you fear for your goods.

You can't be at the same time

a sheep and a rebel.

You can't be in two places

at the same time16

You can't be both

Jean Dutourd and Jean Moulin17

1. the traditional French breakfast2. Renaud uses common French political waffle, I don't really know English equivalents, but all suggestions are welcome3. far right paper, the mouthpiece of the Front National far right party4. that implies Minute is not even worthy of the name "paper" :)5. At the time the song was written, Tapie was the embodiment of Reagan and Thatcher's neo-cons ideology in France. A kind of emblematic French yuppie, so to speak. He even ended up as a (rather insignificant) minister in a socialist government a few years later.

History proved he was but a dignified crook, but then again what else would you expect from a yuppie?6. I don't know about you, but this depiction has me rolling on the floor laughing7. like "anarcho-syndicalist"' with "syndicate" replaced with François Mitterrand (Socialist president at the time)8. "Tonton" (Uncle) was a very common nickname of Mitterrand9. Socialist minister of culture. A symbol of the "Gauche caviar", the wealthy Socialists who had long lost touch with the prole10. a famous stand-up comedian who openly supported the Socialists11. Socialist minister of defense. He was the scapegoat in the infamous Rainbow Warrior scandal and had to resign, but he never actually went to jail12. Mitterrand used the Communists as a springboard to get elected in 1981, then blatantly betrayed them by jumping in Reagan, Thatcher and Kohl's train in 1983, and did his best to reduce their influence from that point on13. one of the main Paris train stations, serving the Southeast14. he's sniping at the Socialists again, implying they are but bashful Bourgeois :)15. "changer la vie" was one of the many Socialist slogans of the era16. the idiom goes "you can't be (simultaneously) at the oven and at the mill", linking "moulin and "Jean Moulin" nicely17. Both were members of the French résistance. Jean Moulin died during the war at the hands of the Gestapo and is revered as a symbol of courage and integrity. Dutourd is a lot less famous. He survived the war and had a fleeting moment of fame when he became very critical of the Socialists after their twist toward social-democracy at the expense of the communists. He notably wrote a book called "The most stupid Left in the world" in 1985 :)