Renaud
Les Molettes lyrics with English translation
- Language
- French
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1993
- Genre
- Pop
- Length
- 3:49
Y'a longtemps ej' min rappell'
It's been a long time, I remember
Ch'étot l'âm' ed' la région
That was the soul of the region
I fallot l'saquer à l'pelle
You had to dig it out with a shovel
Dins chés tall's éeh' carbon
In those alleys, eh, carbon
In étot noyés d'sueur
We were drowned in sweat
In y mettot tout sin coeur
We put all our hearts into it
In savot qu'eha n'étot pas pour rien
We knew it wasn’t for nothing
Ch'est eomm' eha qu'in gagnot sin pain
That's how we earned our bread
Pour cha in étot pas tout seul
For that, we weren't all alone
Là in haut i n' n'avot deux
Up there, there weren’t two
Tout à l'tiêt' du chevalet
All at the tip of the easel
I n'arrêtott' pas d'tourner
It never stops turning
Quand in l'air in l'vot ses yeux
When in the air their eyes turn
In étot tout heureux
He was all so happy
Aujourd'hui in n'vot pas cha
Today they don't see that
Je n'cros pas qu'cha r'tournera
I don't think that will return
I vont bientôt disparaître
They will soon disappear
Les molettes
The dials
Y'a Totoche un vieux mineur
There's Totoche, an old miner
Qui vient d'avoir es' pinsion
Who just got his pension
Y'a bin n'mau à sin coeur
There's hardly any bad in my heart
Qui n'peut pus vir el' fond
That can't resist the depths
Comm' y dit ch'étot l'bon temps
As they say, it was the good times
Si j'avos incor vingt ans
If I were just twenty years old
L'apprindros à tous ehés jeun's d'à eh't'heure
I would teach all the young ones of now
Commint t'nir un martieau-piqueur
How to hold a jackhammer
Mais in ravissant in l'air
But in a lovely way in the air
Tout d'un eop i'a invie d'braire
All of a sudden, I feel like shouting
Tous les jours ed' bore matin
Every day at dawn
D? l'voyette ed' sin gardin
In the view of his garden
I véyot tourner deux roulettes
I see you spinning two wheels
Cha vivot ch'étot bien
It felt good back then
Aujourd'hui cha n 'marche plus
Today it just doesn't work anymore
Ch'est muet comme eun' statue
It's silent like a statue
In va les fair' disparaître
We’re going to make them disappear
Les molettes
The little knobs
Mais j'cros Lin qu'ch'est pas fin
But I believe it's not over yet
Et l'carbon ch'est tout'not'vie
And the carbon, that's our whole life
I attind fauqu' après nous
It's waiting for us after all
Des molettes des barrons
Little knobs of the lords
Et l'souffrance, et l'faim, l'bhômage
And the suffering, and the hunger, the unemployment
Cha s'ra Lin vite oublié
That'll be forgotten quickly
In rouvrira tous les moulinaches
We will reopen all the little mills
In s'ra fier ed' dévaller
We will be proud to descend
Alors in haut des chevalets
So up on the easels
Les roulettes i s'mettront à r'tourner
The wheels will start to turn again
Ch'est tondis rot' seul espoir
It's the only hope that remains
D'armonter un jour tout noir
To rise one day from the dark
Avec incor dins s 'musette
With the heart of a bagpipe
Du bon pair d'alouette
Of the good pair of larks
De l 'cage jusqu'au lavabo
From the cage to the sink
In pinss'ra tous à nos tchots
We'll all gather at our spots
In n'veut pus jamais qu'i s'arrêtent
We never want them to stop
Nos molettes
Our wheels
Ch 'est toudis not' seul espoir
That's always our only hope
D'armonter un jour tout noir
To climb someday out of the dark
In n'veut pas les vir disparaître
We don't want to see them disappear
Nos molettes
Our wheels
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
Key vocabulary
- r'tourner
- turn backA1
- région
- regionA1
- rien
- nothingA1
- seul
- aloneA1
- temps
- timeA1
- tourner
- turnA1
- tout
- allA1
- vieux
- oldA1
- vingt
- twentyA1
- vite
- quicklyA1
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.”