…and 34 seconds. I mean it, sometimes that’s all it takes: 3 minutes and 34 seconds. 

Remember last month’s blog post about the uncanny ressemblance between French president Emmanuel Macron and French artist Boris Vian?

If not, go see it and come back afterwards otherwise this blog post won’t have the same impact on you. It will be worth it I promise!

We listened to Je bois, a jazz song by Boris Vian but instead of giving you the French lyrics and the English translation as I usually do, I simply let you listen to see how much you could understand by yourself. He sings fairly simple words fairly slowly and clearly pronounced.

Here are the French lyrics and the English translation!

JE BOIS by Boris Vian

Je bois systématiquement – I drink systematically

Pour oublier les amis de ma femme – To forget my wife’s (male) friends

Je bois systématiquement – I drink systematically

Pour oublier tous mes emmerdements – To forget all my problems (emmerdement = problem in essence but if you look closely at the French word you will see merde in it. As you probably know merde means sh*t so maybe the closest translation would be sh*tty problems. Still today we use the word emmerdement all the time it’s very common.)

Je bois n’importe quel jaja – I drink any bad alcohol 

Pourvu qu’il fasse ses douze degrés cinq – As long as it’s strong enough

Je bois la pire des vinasses – I drink the worst kinds of cheap wine

C’est dégueulasse mais ça fait passer l’temps – It’s disgusting, but it’s way to kill time

La vie est-elle tellement marrante – Is life really so pleasant?

La vie est-elle tellement vivante – Is life really so lively?

Je pose ces deux questions – I ask these two questions

La vie vaut-elle d’être vécue – Is life worth being lived

L’amour vaut-il qu’on soit cocu – Is love worth being cheated on?

Je pose ces deux questions – I ask these two questions

Auxquelles personne ne répond – To which no one answers

Et je bois systématiquement – And I drink systematically

Pour oublier le prochain jour du terme – To forget the next due date

Je bois systématiquement – I drink systematically

Pour oublier que je n’ai plus vingt ans – To forget I’m no longer twenty

Je bois sans y prendre plaisir – I drink without getting any pleasure out of it

Pour être saoul – To be drunk

Pour ne plus voir ma gueule – To no longer see my ugly mug

Je bois dès que j’ai des loisirs – I drink as soon as I have free time

Pour pas me dire qu’il faudrait en finir – So as not to tell my self I should put an end to it

Boris Vian died of a heart attack at the age of 39 in a Parisian cinema while watching a movie made from one of his most famous and scandalous (at the time) books J’irai cracher sur vos tombes. It’s important to know he was absolutely against that movie, which he never approved, and had to be dragged to the cinema by his friends to go see it. He collapsed in his seat only a few minutes after the movie began…

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