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L’Aquarium – Renaud
I have added my English translation of this song at the end, plus a couple of explanatory footnotes:
Énervé par la colère
Un beau soir, après la guerre
J’ai balancé ma télé par la fenêtre
Comme je suis un garçon primaire
Je me suis dit “un militaire
Avec un peu de bol
Se la mange en pleine tête”Libérés, enfin, mes yeux
Ont regardé le scaphandrier de l’aquarium
Qui cherche un trésor planqué
Sous les cailloux bariolés
Pauvre bonhommeÉnervé par France Intox
Les FM, et les juke-box
J’ai balancé ma radio par la fenêtre
En priant pour qu’elle tombe pas
Sur la tronche du môme, en bas
Petit joueur d’accordéon à casquetteLibérées, mes deux oreilles
Ont écouté le poisson rouge de l’aquarium
Qui était content d’être tout seul
Qui faisait juste un peu la gueule
Ou tout commeÉnervé par un Bon Dieu
Que je trouvais bien trop dangereux
J’ai balancé ma vieille Bible par la fenêtre
Comme je suis un garçon normal
Je me suis dit: “un cardinal
Avec un peu de bol
Se la mange en pleine tête”Libéré, enfin, mon âme
Est allée se nicher au fond de l’aquarium
Dans une eau limpide et claire
Loin des centrales nucléaires
Loin des hommesÉnervé par ces gauchos
Devenus des patrons bien gros
J’ai balancé mon journal par la fenêtre
Comme je suis un garçon réglo
J’ai visé le caniveau
Sur d’y retrouvé le rédacteur en chefLibérée, enfin, ma tête
A rejoint le scaphandrier de l’aquarium
Qui cherche un trésor planqué
Sous les cailloux bariolés
Pauvre bonhommeJe suis un peu le scaphandrier
De l’aquarium, sur la cheminée
Je suis un peu le poisson rouge
Et c’est chouette
Je cherche un trésor planqué
L’amour et la liberté
Sous les cailloux bariolés
De la planèteLibérez, enfin, ma terre
Des curés, des journaleux, des militaires
De tous les preneurs de tête
Qui provoquent, sous ma fenêtre
Ma colère***
Angry and on edge
One fine evening after the war[1]
I threw my TV out of the window,
And, as I am just a simple boy,
I said to myself, “A soldier
(with a bit of luck)
Will get it right on the head!”
Liberated at last, my eyes
Looked at the diver in the aquarium
Who is looking for hidden treasure
Under the multi-coloured pebbles,
Poor fellow.
Irritated by France Intox,[2]
FM and the juke box,
I threw my radio out of the window,
Just praying that it wouldn’t fall
On the head of the little kid in a baseball cap
Playing his accordeon down below
Liberated, my two ears
Now heard the goldfish in the aquarium,
Who was content to be alone,
Who simply makes a sulky face,
Or something
Irritated by a Good God
Who I find much too dangerous,
I throw my old Bible out of the window,
And as I am a normal fellow
I say to myself, “A cardinal
(with a bit of luck)
Will get it full on the head
Free at last, my soul
Went to nestle
At the bottom of the aquarium,
In the clear, limpid water,
Far from nuclear reactors,
Far from people
Irritated by those lefties
Who have now become fat bosses,
I threw my newspaper out of the window,
And aim it at the gutter,
Sure that it will find
The editor-in-chief
Liberated at last, my head
Has caught up with the diver in the aquarium,
Who is looking for hidden treasure
Under the multi-coloured pebbles,
Poor fellow.
I’m a bit like the diver
In the aquarium on the mantelpiece,
I’m a bit like the goldfish,
And it’s great,
I’m looking for hidden treasure,
Love and liberty,
Under the multicoloured pebbles
Of the planet
Liberated at last, my earth,
From priests, journalists and armies,
From all those people who do your head in,
Who, under my window,
Provoke my anger.
[1] Probably the first Gulf war.
[2] Wordplay on the radio station France-Inter.
Tonton
The picture (below) seems to be of Mitterrand at some point using an apparently compliant Renaud, probably for electoral purposes. Mitterrand was elected President of France in 1981 on a programme of reforms and a commitment to anti-racism. But a combination of galloping inflation, a balance-of-payments crisis and a budget deficit led to a retreat from promises to “change the life” of France. The government retreated, too, on its anti-racism policies and its commitment to the integration of immigrants, continuing the hard line on immigration controls and deportations of the previous government of the right under Giscard D’Estaing. As early as October 1981, a new law made the conditions for entry into the country even more restrictive than under Giscard. Mitterrand was capitulating to the right. By 1984, the right to family reunification became virtually meaningless. Jean-Marie Le Pen’s fascist Front National argued that the mainstream politicians of both left and right agreed with its arguments but were afraid to adopt its solutions. Whether it was the housing crisis, unemployment, rising crime, the undermining of French national identity, or AIDS, immigrants, they said, were responsible and should be repatriated. Not surprisingly, the Renaud-Mitterrand show didn’t last long. Later, in this song, Renaud depicted an old and failing Mitterrand having his final nightmare:
Tonton (Mitterrand) is angry
Everything’s turned upside down,
History, glory, it’s all falling apart
Because, this evening, the old man
(it’s hard)
Has a stone in his shoe,
A cold that hangs on,
And then, last night, oh misery,
He dreamt that one day
The left would come back
Bonhomme qui va austère
Au milieu des landes, des bruyères
Silhouette insolites
Bloc de granit
Tonton foule la terre
Lentement
Comme le tempsLe temps qui, pourtant, emporte
Les idées, les hommes et les amours mortes
Le temps qui lui reste
Dans la même veste
Avant de n’être plus
Qu’une statue
Un nom de rueIl a son beau chapeau
Il a son long manteau
Il a son chien, le brave
Le gros qui bave
Il a le regard des sages
Il est la force tranquille, sereine
Il est comme un grand chêne
Il sait la futilité
De toute chose
La douceur et
La fragilité des rosesBonhomme qui va austère
Au milieu des landes, des bruyères
Silhouette insolite
Bloc de granit
Tonton foule la terre
En sifflotant
Comme le ventLe vent qui, pourtant, emporte
Son joli chapeau que le chien rapporte
Il est plein de bave
Ce n’est pas bien grave
Un chapeau ça se lave
Mais ça fait sale
Et tonton râleTonton est colère
Tout va de travers
L’Histoire, la gloire, tout foire
Parce-que ce soir
Le vieille homme a, c’est dur
Un caillou dans sa chaussure
Un vieux rhume qui dure
Et puis cette nuit, misère
Il a rêvé
Qu’un beau jour
La gauche revenaitTonton s’en va
A petits pas
Les Mots – Renaud Séchan
Renaud is a French singer and activist who’s songs inspired me in the early 1990s when I worked in Paris as an English teacher and a union rep. His songs were often, though not always, political. He wrote and campaigned against racism and told the stories of its victims in many of his songs. His political sympathies were, I think, with anarchism. He often grew tired and despondent, and disappeared from public view a couple of times in later years, but always came back. This is a song from a 2016 album. This one isn’t political. It is, though, about how words, whether read, or listened to, or words you write yourself, can revive your spirits and bring you back from despondency.
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