
Charles Aznavour
L’Enfant prodigue lyrics with English translation
- Language
- French
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 2024
- Genre
- French Pop, Ballad
- Length
- 2:28
Je reviens chez mon père, honteux et repentant
I return to my father, shameful and repentant
Je suis parti naguère comme un mauvais enfant
I left once like a naughty child
J'avais un lit de plume, la table et le pain blanc
I had a feather bed, the table, and white bread
La grande salle commune et son feu de sarments
The large common room and its fire of vine branches
Mais quand loin de sa cage, un oiseau veut s'enfuir
But when far from its cage, a bird wants to fly away
Qui peut le retenir, si belle soit la cage
Who can hold it back, however beautiful the cage may be
Je rêvais de voyages et je voulais savoir
I dreamed of travels and wanted to know
Où vont les grands nuages qu'on voit courir le soir
Where the big clouds go that we see running at night
Je reviens chez mon père qui fait tuer le veau gras
I return to my father who has the fat calf slain
Je craignais sa colère mais il m'ouvre les bras
I feared his anger but he opens his arms to me
Louons la destinée, un fils nous est rendu
Let us praise fate, a son has been returned to us
Que pendant tant d'années, nous avons cru perdu
That for so many years, we believed lost
Alors mes jeunes frères s'en vinrent tout autour
Then my young brothers came all around
Et jusqu'au petit jour, en cercle m'écoutèrent
And until the break of dawn, they listened to me in a circle
J'ai dit "j'avais pour couche les sables, les déserts"
I said, 'I had for my bed the sands, the deserts'
Je garde dans ma bouche le goût des fruits amers
I keep in my mouth the taste of bitter fruits
Je reviens chez mon père implorer son pardon
I return to my father to beg for his forgiveness
J'ai parcouru la terre vers les quatre horizons
I have roamed the earth towards the four horizons
Jetant, jetant mon héritage et gaspillant mes jours
Throwing, throwing my heritage and wasting my days
J'ai offert en partage mes biens et mes amours
I shared my possessions and my loves
Je n'ai plus de fortune mais j'ai d'autres trésors
I have no fortune left, but I have other treasures
J'ai troqué mes louis d'or pour de beaux clairs de lune
I've traded my gold coins for beautiful moonlit nights
Je reviens chez mon père sans le moindre regret
I return to my father without the slightest regret
Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais
If I had to do it all over again, I would do it again
Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais
If I had to do it all over again, I would do it again
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Key vocabulary
- alors
- thenA1
- autour
- aroundA1
- reviens
- return
- honteux
- shamefulB2
- naguère
- formerly
- plume
- featherA2
- sarments
- vines
- veut
- wants
- enfuir
- flee
- peut
- can
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.