Jacques Brel
Le Diable (Ça va !) lyrics with English translation
- Language
- French
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1954
- Genre
- Ballad, French Pop
- Length
- 2:30
Un jour, un jour le Diable vint sur terre, un jour le Diable vint sur terre
One day, one day the Devil came to earth, one day the Devil came to earth
pour surveiller ses intérêts, il a tout vu le Diable, il a tout entendu
To watch over his interests, the Devil has seen it all, he has heard it all.
et après avoir tout vu, après avoir tout entendu, il est retourné chez lui
and after seeing it all, after hearing it all, he went back home
là-bas.
over there.
Et là-bas on avait fait un grand banquet, à la fin du banquet, il s'est levé le Diable,
And over there we had a grand feast, at the end of the banquet, the Devil stood up,
il a prononcé un discours
he delivered a speech
Ca va
It's okay
Il y a toujours un peu partout
There's always a little bit everywhere
Des feux illuminant la terre ça va
Lights illuminating the earth, it's all good
Les hommes s'amusent comme des fous
Men have fun like crazies
Aux dangereux jeux de la guerre ça va
In the dangerous games of war, here we go
Les trains déraillent avec fracas
The trains derail with a crash
Parce que des gars pleins d'idéal
Because idealistic guys
Mettent des bombes sur les voies
Place bombs on the tracks
Ça fait des morts originales
It brings about unique deaths
Ça fait des morts sans confession
It brings about deaths without confession
Des confessions sans rémission ça va
Confessions without redemption, here we go
Rien ne se vend mais tout s'achète
Nothing is sold but everything is bought
L'honneur et même la sainteté ça va
Honor and even holiness, here we go
Les États se muent en cachette
States transform in secrecy
En anonymes sociétés ça va
In anonymous societies, it goes on
Les grands s'arrachent les dollars
The big shots are snatching up dollars
Venus du pays des enfants
Coming from the land of children
L'Europe répète l'Avare
Europe is echoing The Miser
Dans un décor de mil neuf cent
In a backdrop of nineteen hundred
Ça fait des morts d'inanition
It leads to death by starvation
Et l'inanition des nations ça va
And the starvation of nations, it goes on
Les hommes ils en ont tant vu
Men have seen so much
Que leurs yeux sont devenus gris ça va
That their eyes have turned gray, it goes on
Et l'on ne chante même plus
And we don't even sing anymore
Dans toutes les rues de Paris ça va
In every street of Paris, it's happening
On traite les braves de fous
The brave ones are called fools
Et les poètes de nigauds
And the poets are seen as simpletons
Mais dans les journaux de partout
But in the newspapers everywhere
Tous les salauds ont leur photo
All the scoundrels have their picture
Ça fait mal aux honnêtes gens
It hurts the honest folks
Et rire les malhonnêtes gens.
And it makes the dishonest folks laugh.
Ça va ça va ça va ça va
It's happening, it's happening, it's happening, it's happening
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Key vocabulary
- après
- afterA1
- diable
- devilA2
- vint
- came
- surveiller
- monitorA2
- intérêts
- interestB1
- vu
- seen
- prononcé
- pronouncedB1
- discours
- speechA2
- ca
- here
- va
- go
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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.