Jacques Brel
Le Caporal casse‐pompons lyrics with English translation
- Language
- French
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1962
- Genre
- French Pop, Ballad
- Length
- 2:37
Mon ami est un p'tit peu énorme
My friend is a little bit enormous
Il aime la trompette et le clairon
He loves the trumpet and the bugle
Tout en préférant le clairon
While preferring the bugle
Qu'est une trompette en uniforme
What is a trumpet in uniform
Mon ami est une valeur sûre
My friend is a sure value
Qui dit souvent sans prétention
Who often says without pretension
Qu'à la minceur des épluchures
That in the thinness of peels
On voit la grandeur des nations
We see the greatness of nations
Subséquemment, subséquemment
Subsequently, subsequently
Subséquemment que j'comprends pas
Subsequently, that I don't understand
Pourquoi souvent ses compagnons
Why do his companions often
L'appellent, l'appellent
Call him, call him
Caporal casse-pompon
Corporal Casserole
Mon ami est un doux poète
My friend is a gentle poet
Dans son jardin, quand vient l'été
In his garden, when summer comes
Faut l'voir planter ses mitraillettes
You have to see him planting his machine guns
Ou bien creuser ses p'tites tranchées
Or digging his little trenches
Mon ami est homme plein d'humour
My friend is a man full of humor
C'est lui, c'est lui qu'a trouvé ce bon mot
It's him, it's him who found that good word
Que je vous raconte à mon tour
That I will tell you in turn
Ich slaffen at si auuz wihr prellen zo
I sleep at night as if I were playing along
Subséquemment, subséquemment
Subsequently, subsequently
Subséquemment que j'comprends pas
Subsequently, I don't understand
Pourquoi souvent ses compagnons
Why often his companions
L'appellent, l'appellent
Call him, call him
Caporal casse-pompon
Corporal troublemaker
Mon ami est un doux rêveur
My friend is a gentle dreamer
Pour lui Paris c'est une caserne
To him, Paris is a barracks
Et Berlin un petit champ de fleurs
And Berlin a little flower field
Qui va de Moscou à l'Auvergne
That goes from Moscow to Auvergne
Son rêve, revoir Paris au printemps
His dream, to see Paris in springtime
Redéfiler à la tête de son groupe
To march ahead at the front of his crew
En chantant comme tous les vingt-cinq ans
Singing just like every twenty-five years
Baisse ta gaine Gretchen que j'baise ta croupe (ein zwei)
Lower your waist, Gretchen, so I can squeeze your rear (ein zwei)
Subséquemment, subséquemment
Subsequently, subsequently
Subséquemment que nous ne comprenons
Subsequently, that we do not understand
Comment nos amis les Franzosen
How our friends the Germans
Ils osent, ils osent l'appeler
They dare, they dare to call him
Caporal casse-pompon (ein zwei)
Corporal break-the-mold (ein zwei)
Key vocabulary
- doux
- softA1
- jardin
- gardenA1
- ami
- friendA1
- p'tit
- littleB2
- aime
- loveA1
- trompette
- trumpetB2
- clairon
- trumpetC1
- préférant
- preferring
- uniforme
- uniformB1
- valeur
- valueA2
About this song
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer, songwriter, and actor associated with lyric-driven French-language chanson. He was known for theatrical vocal delivery and character-driven songs, and his work influenced artists such as David Bowie, Scott Walker, and Marc Almond.