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about

They have knocked me on the head. I cannot even remember why because I am dead. A song that questions why humans kill other humans, other species. Words by Gébé, Music by Philippe Gérard)

lyrics

(ENGLISH BELOW)

Ils m’ont tape sur la tête
Je ne me rappelle plus pourquoi
Ni meme si ça m’a fait mal
Parce que j’en suis mort.

Qu’est-ce que j’étais déjà
Travailleur, émigré, philosophe
Resistant cache, dissident notoire
Ou bien animal à fourrure.
Je m’appelais comment déjà
José, Abdel, Argentino
Arabica, Yan Patochka
Ou bien alors Bébé phoque.

Ils m’ont tape sur la tête
Je ne me rappelle plus pourquoi
Ni meme si ça m’a fait mal
Parce que j’en suis mort.

M’a-t-on assommé pour mes idées
Ou pour faire de moi un manteau
Pour de l’argent ou la couleur de ma peau
J’ai un bout d’os dans la mémoire.
Quand leurs pieds chaussés m’ont cerné
Étais-je allongé dans des draps
Ou bien couché sur la banquise
Ou est-ce que je sortais d’un café.

Je suis mort dans la rue de l’Ouest
Sur la glace du Nord
Ou chez les flics de l’Est
Ou dans la Pampa des casquettes
À coup de trique noire.

Est-ce que je rêve de vengeance
De têtes policières éclatées
De têtes de chasseurs sanglantes
De têtes de racistes en purée
Ou bien est-ce que je vois des têtes
Émerveillées d’elles-mêmes
Émerveillées de leur dedans
Se découvrant un nouveau monde.

Je suis mort répondez pour moi.
Je m’appelais Jan Patochka argentin
Et bébé phoque arabe
Maintenant ça me revient.


ENGLISH (Translated by Jean Brassard & David Krueger)

HEADBLOWS

They have knocked me on the head
I still cannot remember why
Or even if I felt the pain
Because I am dead.

Please tell me who I was
Working man, immigrant, philosopher
Gorilla fighter or famous dissident
Or just an animal with fur.
What was my name, please do reveal
Jose, Abdel, Argentino
Arabica, Jan Patochka
Or was it simply Baby Seal?

They have knocked me on the head
I still cannot remember why
Or even if I felt the pain
Because I am dead.

Did they beat me for my ideas
Or to turn me into into a coat
Money, the color of my skin
I have a bone stuck in my memory.
When all those boots surrounded me
Was I lying wrapped up in sheets
Or sound asleep on an ice-floe
Or coming out of a café.

I was killed out in the West End
On the ice up North
Or by the Eastern block
In the Pampas …
By means of sticks and stones.

Am I dreaming of sweet revenge
Of heads of policemen blown out
Of hunters heads bleeding about
Or heads of racists in a purée.
Or are my eyes filling with heads
Marveling at being themselves
Marveling at what is inside
Discovering a whole new life.

I am dead, please answer for me.
My name I know was Jan Patochka, argentino,
And muslum Baby Seal. Now at last I can recall.

credits

from Le gamin de Paris - Jean Brassard chante Montand, released July 19, 2014
Keyboards - Alexandre Racine; bass - Alexandre Blais; accordion - Richard Maheux; percussions - Pierre-Emmanuel Beaudoin
Vocals: Jean Brassard

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Jean Brassard New York

Bistro Award winner singer-actor Jean Brassard recently seen in The Fault In Our Stars hails from both Quebec & New York. Brassard provides an exquisite updated tribute to Yves Montand, one of France's most pioneering stars and pillar of French chansons. A first rate tribute to the man as well as select composers and lyricists from Montand's sparklingly eclectic catalogue. New songs to come soon! ... more

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