Edith Piaf - Les grognards (Olympia 1958) Song (Including Lyrics n Translation)

We the grunts, the grenadiers,
Nous les grognards, les grenadiers,

Without grenades, guns or shoes,
Sans grenades, sans fusils ni souliers,

Without enemies and without army,
Sans ennemis et sans armée,

We are bored in the night of the past.
On s'ennuie dans la nuit du passé.

We the grunts, the grenadiers,
Nous les grognards, les grenadiers,

Without grenades, without guns, or shoes,
Sans grenades, sans fusils, ni souliers,

Tonight we will parade
Ce soir nous allons défiler

In the middle of your Champs-Elysées.
Au milieu de vos Champs-Elysées.

Wagram, Jena, Eylau, Arcole, Marengo... It sounds good.
Wagram, Iéna, Eylau, Arcole, Marengo... Ca sonne bien.

Quell's pretty battles.
Quell's jolies bataill's.

All this work
Tout ce travail,

It wasn't for nothing
C'était pas pour rien

Since the street names,
Puisque les noms de rues,

Avenue names
Les noms d'avenues

where you walk,
Où vous marchez,

It's with blood
C'est avec le sang

Of our twenties
De nos vingt ans

That we engraved them.
Qu'on les a gravés.

We the grunts, the grenadiers,
Nous les grognards, les grenadiers,

Without grenades, guns or shoes,
Sans grenades, sans fusils ni souliers,

Without enemies and without army,
Sans ennemis et sans armée,

We are bored in the night of the past.
On s'ennuie dans la nuit du passé.

We the grunts, the grenadiers,
Nous les grognards, les grenadiers,

We died on foreign fields.
On est morts sur des champs étrangers.

We visited Russia
On a visité la Russie

But we never saw Paris.
Mais jamais nous n'avons vu Paris.

We didn't have time
On n'a pas eu le temps

To have a spring
D'avoir un printemps

Who smiles at us.
Qui nous sourit.

Our poor loves
Nos pauvres amours

lasted a day,
Duraient un jour,

Good bye and thank you.
Au revoir et merci.

Roll, roll drums.
Roulez, roulez tambours.

In the dawn
Dans le petit jour

We were leaving.
On s'en allait.

To the sound of the bugle
Au son du clairon

And cannon,
Et du canon,

Our life was dancing.
Notre vie dansait.

We the grunts, the grenadiers,
Nous les grognards, les grenadiers,

We have been forgotten, forgotten...
On nous a oubliés, oubliés...

Since the time of our fights,
Depuis le temps de nos combats,

There were so many soldiers
Il y a eu tant et tant de soldats

But tonight you'll see us
Mais, cette nuit, vous nous verrez

Without grenades, guns or shoes,
Sans grenades, sans fusils ni souliers,

Walk in quick time
Défiler au pas cadencé

In the middle of your Champs-Elysées
Au milieu de vos Champs-Elysées

No pomegranates...
Sans grenades...

Without guns...
Sans fusils...

No shoes...
Ni souliers...

In Paris...
A Paris...

Deluxe Olympia (1958) is a French album by Edith Piaf, one of the country's most widely known international stars. She is noted as France's national chanteuse, and best female French artist. Years of alcohol abuse alongside copious amounts of medications, initially for rheumatoid arthritis and later insomnia, damaged Piaf's health, and later she died due to liver failure. Her last words were "Every damn thing you do in this life, you have to pay for."

From Piaf' Deluxe Olympia