July 10, 2009
I always have a good workout when I translate one of Renaud’s songs – they are usually long and full of slang and imagery.
Les Banlieues Rouges “Red Suburbs” is a belt of communist-dominated suburbs which surround Paris that arose during the interwar years and reached its apogee under the Fourth Republic (Source).
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May 1, 2009
This is one of the most famous French songs for people in the UK. Renaud sings the praises of all women except Margaret Thatcher of whom he thinks rather less. Renaud did record an English version of the song which is included here as a YouTube video beneath the original – it will take you a while to adjust to his accent to understand it! Naturally, his English version it’s not a direct translation because things need to be changed in order to get it to fit and rhyme where necessary.
The translation here is a more direct translation of the French – we are not slaves to poetry or cadence.
As in the previous Renaud translation, there is plenty of French slang (argot) here.
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