Charles Aznavour
L’Émigrant lyrics with English translation
- Language
- French
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1955
- Genre
- French Pop, Ballad
- Length
- 2:57
Toutes les gares se ressemblent
All train stations look alike
Tous les ports crèvent d'ennui
All ports are bursting with boredom
Toutes les routes se rassemblent
All roads come together
Pour mener vers l'infini
To lead towards infinity
Dans la cohue de l'existence
In the hustle and bustle of existence
Se trouve toujours un passant
There is always a passerby
Qui n'a pas eu de ligne de chance
Who never had a line of luck
Et qui devint un émigrant
And who became an emigrant
Regardez-le comme il promène
Look at him as he strolls
Son cœur au-delà des saisons
His heart beyond the seasons
Il traverse des murs de haine
He crosses walls of hatred
Des gouffres d'incompréhension
Abysses of misunderstanding
À chaque nouvelle frontière
At every new frontier
Espérant enfin se fixer
Hoping finally to settle down
Il fait une courte prière
He offers a short prayer
Vers ce ciel qui l'a oublié
To that sky that has forgotten him
Regardez-le, il déambule
Look at him, he wanders
Sans jamais savoir où il va
Never knowing where he's going
Il marche comme un somnambule
He walks like a sleepwalker
Et les gens le montrent du doigt
And people point fingers at him
Le monde entier file la haine
The whole world is spinning with hate
Le ciel là-haut n'y comprend rien
The sky up there understands nothing
Les heureux forment une chaîne
The happy form a chain
En se tenant par la main
Holding each other's hands
Pas moyen d'entrer dans la danse
No way to join the dance
Le calendrier a son clan
The calendar has its clan
Si tu n'as pas de ligne de chance
If you don't have a line of luck
Tu resteras un émigrant
You'll remain an immigrant
Regardez-le comme il promène
Look at him as he carries
Son cœur au-delà des saisons
His heart beyond the seasons
Il traverse des murs de haine
He crosses walls of hatred
Des gouffres d'incompréhension
Bottomless pits of misunderstanding
À chaque nouvelle frontière
At every new border
Espérant enfin se fixer
Hoping at last to settle down
Il fait une courte prière
He offers a short prayer
Vers ce ciel qui l'a oublié
To that sky that has forgotten him
Regardez-le, il déambule
Look at him, he wanders
Sans jamais savoir où il va
Never knowing where he's going
Il marche comme un somnambule
He walks like a sleepwalker
Et les gens le montrent du doigt
And people point fingers at him
Mais pour écourter sa misère
But to end his misery
Le ciel un jour le fait tomber
One day the sky lets him fall
Les bras en croix, face contre terre
With arms outstretched, face to the ground
Pour embrasser la liberté
To embrace freedom
Key vocabulary
- calendrier
- calendarB1
- croix
- crossB1
- file
- lineB1
- frontière
- borderB1
- haine
- hateB1
- là-haut
- up thereB1
- misère
- miseryB1
- prière
- prayerB1
- tous
- allB1
- toutes
- allB1
Test yourself
How much of L’Émigrant did you catch?
A quick quiz on the key words from this song.
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.