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Translation
The house where I grew up
When I turn to my memories
I see again the house where I grew up
A million thoughts comes back to me:
I see roses in a garden
There, where the trees used to live,
now the city is there
and the house, the flowers I loved so much, no longer exists
they knew how to laugh, all my friends
they knew so well how to take part in my games
but everything must come to an end in life
and i had to leave, tears in my eyes
my friends ask me "why do you cry?"
and "traveling the world is better than staying.
You'll find everything here you cannot see,
an entire city that sleeps at night under the lights"
When I left this part of my childhood,
I knew already that I was leaving my heart
All of my friends envied my luck,
but i still think of their happiness,
of the carefree way that made them laugh
and it seems that I hear myself telling them:
"I'll come back one day, one fine morning amid your laughter,
yes, one day I'll take the first train of memory".
Time passes and here I am again,
searching in vain for the house I loved.
Where are the stones, where are the roses,
all of the things I held dear?
Of them and of me, no trace remains.
Other people, other houses have stolen their place.
There, where the trees live, now the city is there
and the house, where is the house where I grew up?
I don't know where my house is,
the house where I grew up.
Where is my house?
Who knows where my house is?
My house, where is my house?
Who knows where my house is?
famouswhendead✕
Collections with "La maison où j'ai ..."
| 1. | il Ragazzo della Via Gluck - Covers and Adaptations |
Françoise Hardy: Top 3
| 1. | Le temps de l'amour |
| 2. | Tous les garçons et les filles |
| 3. | Comment te dire adieu ? |
Comments
Eric Rose
Wed, 12/08/2020 - 21:02
Dear Michealt:
Thank you so much for your corrections concerning the errors in translation to English from the French of the song "La Maison ou j'ai grandi". I have read other translations from other artist's songs (as well as hers), and noticed a 'laisse faire' attitude on the part of the translator, perhaps this is from a need to avoid overcrowding a sung line, as in too many words per line, which would require a change in phrasing, that might lose the magical flow of the way she sings? I don't know. I wonder if she has an English version, although the sound of Francoise singing in her native language, such an undeniable signature, that transports the listener to that wonderful place that only she is able to provide.
Azalia Russia is waging a disgraceful war on Ukraine. Stand With Ukraine!
About translator
Some grammatical errors in the English, various little bits of the French omitted (not terribly important), some rather loose translation, and some serious carelessness: for example "Là où vivaient les arbres" means "where the trees used to live" not "where the trees live" the second time it occurs as well as the first; "D'elles et de mes amis" doesn't mean "Of them and of me", it means "Of them and of my friends"; one of the meanings of "quitter" is "cesser d'habiter" and for "Quand j'ai quitté ce coin de mon enfance ... jý laissais mon coeur" it is natural not to take "coin" in its sense of "morceau, parcelle" but in its ordinary sense (a location or corner) (else to what does "y" refer?) which clearly requires that sense of quitter, so the beginning of the phrase means "When I left the (or this) home of my childhood" and not "When I left this part of my childhood"; "partager" means "share" or "divide" so "partager mes jeux" doesn't mean "take part in my games" it means "share my games" and "share" has overtones that "take part in" doesn't so the difference isn't trivial.