Renaud
Le Tango du cachalot lyrics with English translation
- Language
- French
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1993
- Genre
- Pop
- Length
- 3:43
Depus qu'all a su par la radio
Since we learned about it through the radio
Qu'el patois du Nord y vénot
What northern dialect has come to us
Ed' l'occupation espagnole
Ed' the Spanish occupation
M'tant' qui tot si comme il faut
Tell me how good it is, just like it should be
Cha li a monté au cerveau
That one's gone to my head
A f'sot mourir l'oncle Anatole
We're going to make Uncle Anatole die
En l'ravisant ali trouvot
In reviving the soul, I found it
Des airs d'Rudolph Valentino
Tunes of Rudolph Valentino
All en dev'not complètement folle
She's not completely crazy at all
Et ch'est au biau milieu d'eun' nuit
And it's in the beautiful midst of a night
Qu'en l'réveillant ali lui a dit:
When waking up, she told him:
Non mais dis-donc, pétite rigoles
Well, come on now, little one, laugh it off
Puisque t'as du sang d'hidalgo
Since you have the blood of an Hidalgo
Tu dois savoir danser l'tango
You must know how to dance the tango
Apprinds-me cha vite, au boulot
Teach me that quickly, let's get to work
Allons, philomène
Come on, Philomène
T'es déja hors d'haleine
You're already out of breath
T'es comme eun' baleine
You're like a whale
Arrête ech'phono
Stop with the phonograph
Mets-te cha dans l'tiète
Put this in your head
L'tango des fauvettes
The tango of the warblers
Cha fait trop bébéta
It's just too silly
Avec tes cent vingt kilos
With your one hundred twenty kilos
Ah ch'est comme cha
Ah, that's how it is
Qu'all i a dit
What did he say
Fais-me-s'en un qui sera pus beau
Make me one that will be even more beautiful
Cha sera l'tango du cachalot
It will be the tango of the sperm whale
Cha peut, bien sûr, paraître idiot
It may, of course, seem foolish
Mais le lend'main m'n'oncle y parlot
But the next day my uncle talks
Français comme un vaque espagnole
French like a vague Spaniard
Au fond de l'fosse il expliquot
At the bottom of the pit he explained
Aux ouvriers, aux golibots
To the workers, to the tough guys
Joignant le geste à la parole
Putting action to words
Que pour bien danser le tango
That to really dance the tango
Comme on le fait à Bilbao
Like they do in Bilbao
Faut d'la moless' dans les paules
You need some softness in the shoulders
Que pour les faire comme y faut
To do it just right
Faut d'la cambrure dans le dos
You need a curve in the back
Et de la souplesse dans les guiboles
And flexibility in the legs
Tout in gardant bien le tempo
Keeping the tempo just right
On se tient comme le torêro
We stand like the torero
Qui va combattre le taureau
Who is about to fight the bull
Et joue contre joue
And cheek to cheek
Comme les andalous
Like the Andalusians
Autour des barrous
Around the barricades
Cha y allot l'tango
Yeah, there goes the tango
Oui mais les molettes
Yes, but the levers
Les vale qui s'arrêtent
The reels that stop
Y avot pus d'gaillettes
There were no more triggers
Dins tout l'fosse in dansot
In the depths, they danced
In s'y attadont
In it, we’re caught up
Che fut la guerre
What was the war
Dans les bureaux à vos paquet
In the offices with your package
L'air du tango du cachalot
The air of the tango of the sperm whale
Cha fait du foin sur le carreau
It makes a racket on the floor
Et les amindes cha qui oh
And the friends, oh, that one
Ils'ont ennvoyé l'oncle Anatole
They sent Uncle Anatole away
Dans les cités cha murmurot
In the cities, they whispered
Qu'in arprindot pas le boulot
That we didn’t pick up the work
Si on rindot pas leu idole
If we don’t take back their idol
Dans les arrière sall'ed' bistrot
In the back rooms of the bistro
El syndicat serait unichot
The union would be united
Contre les libertés qu'on viole
Against the freedoms that we violate
Veyant l'tournure que cha a pris
Seeing the turn that this has taken
Tout d'in cop m'n'onc' i leu z'a dit
Suddenly my uncle told me
Laissez tomber, j'monte à l'école
Let it go, I'm heading to school
Ils vont taire tous l'avoir dans l'dos
They will keep everything behind their backs
Pour m'y avoir le dernier mot
To have the final say
J'vais donner des cours de tango
I'm going to give tango lessons
Pour vir'Philomène
To get rid of Philomène
Les salle qui sont toutes pleines
The rooms that are all full
Payant à l'quizaine
Paying every couple of weeks
Ils verront l'populo
They'll see the people
Les vieux vous diront
The old folks will tell you
Qu'dans tous les corons
That in all the mining towns
Les bandonérons
We will let loose
F'sott' danser l'tango
Getting under the dance floor to tango
Un raconte cor
A tale told loudly
Dans les veillées
During the gatherings
Cha un gars du Nord
There's a guy from the North
Qui a inventé
Who invented
L'fameux tango du cachalot
The famous tango of the sperm whale
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Key vocabulary
- baleine
- whaleB2
- foin
- hayB2
- joue
- playsA1
- lend'main
- next dayA1
- libertés
- libertiesA1
- nord
- northA1
- nuit
- nightA1
- oui
- yesA1
- ouvriers
- workersA1
- idole
- idolB2
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About this song
Renaud (Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan) is a French singer-songwriter. He is known for French-language chanson rooted in regional dialects and for topping French album and single charts across multiple decades, including award-winning releases such as “Boucan d’enfer” and “Toujours debout.”