Carla Bruni
Ballade at Thirty Five lyrics with English translation
- Language
- French
- Level
- Advanced
- Released
- 2006
- Genre
- Pop
- Length
- 3:04
This, no song of ingénue
This, no ballad of innocence
This, the rhyme of a lady who
Followed ever the natural bents
This, a solo of sapience
This, a chantey of sophistry
This, the sum of experiments, --
I loved them until they loved me
Decked in garments of sable hue
Daubed with ashes of myriad Lents
Wearing shower bouquets of rue
Walk I ever in penitence
Oft I roam, as my heart repents
Often I roam, as my heart feels remorse
Through God's acre of memory
Through God's acre of memories
Marking stones, in my reverence
Marking stones, with my reverence
"I loved them until they loved me."
Pictures pass me in long review, --
Pictures pass by in a long review, --
Marching columns of dead events
I was tender, and, often, true
Ever a prey to coincidence
Forever a prey to coincidence
Always knew I the consequence
Always saw what the end would be
We're as Nature has made us -- hence
I loved them until they loved me
Princes, never I'd give offense
Won't you think of me tenderly?
Here's my strength and my weakness, gents -
This, no song of ingénue
This, no ballad of innocence
This, the rhyme of a lady who
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Key vocabulary
- ingénue
- ingenueC2
- sapience
- wisdom
- chantey
- chanty
- sum
- total
- loved
- love
- garments
- clothes
- sable
- sandA2
- hue
- shoutC2
- daubed
- smearedC2
- myriad
- countless
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A quick quiz on the key words from this song.
About this song
Carla Bruni is a French singer-songwriter and former supermodel, associated with chanson française. She is known for her chart-topping debut album Quelqu’un m’a dit (2002) and her subsequent No. 1 releases Comme si de rien n’etait (2008), alongside collaborations with artists including Harry Connick Jr., Marianne Faithfull, and Willie Nelson.