French in Songs

Il suffit de passer le pont - Georges Brassens

Il suffit de passer le pont – Un favori personnel de Brassens, cette chanson raconte qu'un garçon et une fille font l'amour pour la première fois.	We only have to cross the bridge – A personal favourite of Brassens, this song tells of a boy and girl making love for the first time.
En termes simples, c'était l'histoire de deux adolescents qui se rendaient à la campagne pour faire l'amour au milieu des fleurs du printemps. Pour y arriver, ils doivent d'abord traverser un pont.	Put simply, this was the story of two teenagers going into the country to make love amid the Spring flowers. To get there they first must cross a bridge.
En tant que poème plus sérieux, c'est l'histoire, décrite en images de la nature, d'un garçon persuadant une fille de faire l'amour pour la première fois.	As a more serious poem, it is the story, described in images of nature, of a boy persuading a girl into making love for the first time.
Cette chanson comptait beaucoup pour Brassens. C'était la seule chanson qu'il a incluse dans chaque performance qu'il a donnée. Il véhicule la nouveauté et l'excitation mais aussi l'angoisse et la douleur de leur expérience furtive.	This song meant a lot to Brassens. It was the one song that he included in every performance he gave. It conveys the novelty and the excitement but also the anxiety and the pain of their furtive experiment.
Les souvenirs de ses premières amours ont été très précieux pour Brassens et reviennent dans de nombreuses chansons. Un autre est "La Première Fille", dans lequel il dit que "la dernière fille qu'un homme oublie est la première fille avec qui il a fait l'amour."	The memories of his first loves were very precious to Brassens and recur in many songs. Another is "The First Girl", in which he says “the last girl a man forgets is the first girl he made love to.”

notes	Il suffit de passer le pont	It is enough to cross the bridge
1	Il suffit de passer le pont	It is enough to cross the bridge
2	C'est tout de suite l'aventure Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon Je t'emmène visiter la nature	It’s straightaway a love affair Just let me take hold of your skirt I’m taking you to view nature
3	L'herbe est douce à Pâques fleuries	The grass is soft at Easter in bloom
4	Jetons mes sabots, tes galoches Et, légers comme des cabris Courons après les sons de cloches	Off with my clogs, your galoshes And light of foot as baby goats Let’s run after the sounds of bells
5	Ding din don ! les matines sonnent En l'honneur de notre bonheur	Ding, ding dong ! the morning bells ring To honour the joy that we feel
6	Ding din dong! faut l'dire à personne J'ai graissé la patte au sonneur Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon	Ding, ding dong ! Must not tell a soul I have greased the bell ringer’s palm. Just let me take hold of your skirt
7	Courons, guilleret, guillerette Il suffit de passer le pont Et c'est le royaum' des fleurettes Entre tout's les bell's que voici Je devin' cell' que tu préfères	Let’s run, lad, lass without a care. All it takes is t'cross the bridge And it’s the kingdom of spring flowers Among all the pretty ones here I guess the one that you prefer
8	C'est pas l'coqu'licot, Dieu merci Ni l'coucoumais la primevère J'en vois un' blottie sous les feuilles	It’s not the red poppy, thank God Nor cowslip, but the spring primrose I see one snug beneath the leaves
9	Elle est en velours comm' tes joues	It is velvety like your cheeks
10	Fais le guet pendant qu'je la cueille	Keep a close watch whilst I pluck it
11	" Je n'ai jamais aimé que vous " Il suffit de trois petits bonds	I’ve never loved any’one but you. All it takes is three little jumps
12	C'est tout de suit' la tarantelle Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon	It’s straight off the wild Tarantella Just let me take hold of your skirt
13	J'saurai ménager tes dentelles J'ai graissé la patte au berger	I’ll treat your lace with tender care I have greased the shepherd boy’s palm
14	Pour lui faire jouer une aubade Lors, ma mie, sans croire au danger Faisons mille et une gambades Ton pied frappe et frappe la mousse Si l'chardon s'y pique dedans	To get him to play a serenade So, my love, with no thought of risk Let’s romp a thousand and one times Your foot keeps pummelling the moss If a thistle barb gets lodged in it
15	Ne pleure pas, ma mie qui souffre Je te l'enlève avec les dents On n'a plus rien à se cacher, On peut s'aimer comme bon nous semble	Don’t weep with the pain my love, I’ll pull it out for you with my teeth. We’ve naught more to hide from each other, We can love just as we think fit
16	Et tant mieux si c'est un péché Nous irons en enfer ensemble Il suffit de passer le pont Laisse-moi tenir ton jupon	All the better, if it’s a sin We’ll go down to Hell together All it takes is to cross the bridge Just let me take hold of your skirt

Notes:

Il suffit de passer le pont.
Perhaps a bridge over a stream for the two young lovers to cross, but this has a similar meaning to “cross that bridge when we come to it”.
With the theme of the poem in mind there is a further suggestion of an anatomical “bridge”. Similarly “jupon” means underskirt but could have another interpretation.
l'aventure means the adventure but « une aventure amoureuse » means a love affair. Une aventure d’un soir is, in English slang, a one-night stand.
Visiter la nature: On one plane the boy is inviting his girlfriend to admire the sights of nature on their country walk but the subtext is that he is to show her the roles that nature requires a male and a female to play.
Pâques fleuries : The easter flowers are a metaphor in this poem and other Brassens’ poems for the arrival of maturity. (note 7).
Mes sabots: The wearing of clogs puts this tale in the 1940s. The clogs of the girl were more ladylike. She wore “galoches”, which are waterproof boots worn over shoes.
Ding din don ! les matines sonnent. Reference to the children’s song « Frère Jacques ». The poem is about the entry into the adult world. Perhaps this is a glance back to the world of childhood.
Guilleret, means perky, cheerful and lively, “être guilleret” – “ full of beans.”
c'est le royaum' des fleurettes- coqu'licot - coucou - primevère.
Young flowers symbolise the arrival of maturity. Each flower is symbolic.
La primevère, tells us in its French name that it is the early flower. It is the flower of first love. A “coucou” is another primrose that has medicinal qualities. The line about le coquelicot would not make sense if it was not explained that "les coquelicots" means menstruation.
Elle est en velours comm' tes joues- another intimate anatomical image.
Pendant qu'je la cueille – Cueillir la fleur - has also a second meaning.
Je n'ai jamais aimé que vous – It is also the first time for the boy.
La tarantelle – A very lively and energetic dance from Southern Italy.
Dentelles – Lace, transparent and light – another suggestive image.
Pour lui fair' jouer une aubade. An aubade was a serenade traditionally sung under some-one’s window in the morning. This links with the boy’s request to the girl to keep careful watch so that they are not caught in the act of love. He had paid the shepherd to sing his tune if some-one was coming near.
Ne pleure pas, ma mie qui souffre –
A moment of pain and a link to what was said in the image of note 11.
C'est un péché – Sex outside marriage is a sin for which they will suffer the punishment of Hell. Brassens was not of the faithful and had no such worries, but his partner may not have been encouraged by the remark.

Version Instrumentale
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Version Chantée
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(Un chanteur interprète le guide vocal)

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