Charles Aznavour
Ce sacré piano lyrics with English translation
- Language
- French
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1958
- Genre
- Chanson
- Length
- 3:19
Ce sacré piano
That sacred piano
Placé dans un coin
Set in a corner
Voudrait libérer
Wants to break free
La voix qui déborde
The voice that overflows
Mais reste accrochée
But remains clinging
Au long de ses cordes
Along its strings
Et son vieux clavier
And its old keyboard
Qu'aucun doigt n'aborde
That no finger touches
Espère des mains
Hopes for some hands
Ce sacré piano
That sacred piano
Qui semble endormi
Who seems to be asleep
Pour l'éternité
For eternity
Entre quatre planches
Between four planks
Aimerait que ses touches noires et blanches
Would love for its black and white keys
Fussent caressées
To be gently touched
Mais nul ne se penche
But no one leans down
Sur son corps vieilli
Over its aged body
Moi de temps en temps, quand j'ai de la peine
Me, from time to time, when I'm feeling sad
Je vais doucement consoler la sienne
I go softly to comfort hers
Et tout deux rêvant de nos joies anciennes
And both of us dreaming of our old joys
Nous pleurons les jours anciens
We mourn the days of old
Ce sacré piano
That sacred piano
Me colle à la peau
Sticks to my skin
Mais plus mes doigts courent
But the more my fingers run
Moins je me délivre
The less I'm set free
De ce vieil amour
From this old love
Qui perd l'équilibre
That loses its balance
Et compte les jours
And counts the days
Qui me restent à vivre
That are left for me to live
Sans repos
Without rest
Ce sacré piano
This sacred piano
Est mon seul ami
Is my only friend
Il sait m'étourdir
It knows how to daze me
Sans trop de manières
Without too much fuss
Et m'aide à franchir
And helps me cross
Toutes les barrières
All the barriers
Grâce aux souvenirs
Thanks to the memories
Placés sur la terre
Set upon the earth
Jalonnant la vie
Marking the life
Ce sacré piano
This sacred piano
Attend nuit et jour
Wait day and night
Debout dans un coin
Standing in a corner
Que je le caresse
For me to stroke it
Comme un pauvre chien
Like a poor dog
Tirant sur sa laisse
Pulling on its leash
Pour aller vers un
To go towards a
Maître qui le laisse
Master who releases it
Pour d'autres amours
For other loves
Et lorsque je mets les doigts sur ses touches
And when I place my fingers on its keys
Sur lui, dès que j'ai les mains qui se couchent
On it, as soon as my hands lay down
Le passé renaît du fond de sa bouche
The past is reborn from the depth of its mouth
Évoquant nos anciens jours
Evoking our bygone days
Ce sacré piano
That sacred piano
Quand il parle trop
When it talks too much
Me remet souvent
Often brings me back
Des choses en mémoire
To things in memory
Et remue le temps
And stirs up time
Et fait des histoires
And creates stories
Parfois tant et tant
Sometimes so much and so often
Que je me sépare
That I find myself separating
De mon vieux piano
From my old piano
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Key vocabulary
- deux
- twoB2
- joies
- joysA1
- jour
- dayA1
- jours
- daysA1
- laisse
- leashA1
- mains
- handsA1
- maître
- masterA1
- manières
- mannersA1
- doigt
- fingerA2
- espère
- hopes
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About this song
Charles Aznavour was a French-Armenian singer and actor whose music blended French chanson with Eastern European folk, American jazz, tango, and Middle Eastern influences. He was known for a long-running career marked by thousands of recordings and his songwriting, composing or co-composing over a thousand songs for himself and other artists.