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But at least the ceiling's very pretty
I wonder if I can use the fact that I had to be ready at eight o'clock this morning for the pest control people to come and look around my apartment for potential mice—as of this post, no one has yet arrived; that includes mice—as leverage for my landlords to spot me a cat.
(Cut for further Jacques Brel. I am too tired for anything original.)
La cathédrale (The Cathedral)
Take a cathedral
And offer it some masts
A bowsprit, a vast hold
And shrouds and stays
Take a cathedral
High in the sky and big in the belly
A cathedral rigged
With a foremast and mainsails
Take a cathedral
From Picardy or Flanders
A cathedral sold
By priests without a star
This cathedral of stone
Will be desanctified
Haul it all the way over
To where the sea flowers
Hoist the sails laughing
And make for England
England is sweet to see
From high up in a cathedral
Even if the tea makes it rain
Some trouble on the ports
Cornwall is for the taking
When it gives birth to the day
And floats between the loving
The loving and the love
Take a cathedral
And offer it some masts
A bowsprit, a vast hold
Just don't wake up
Draw all the sails out
And hoist them high, sailors
To chase the whales
Who lead you to the Azores
Then Madeira with its girls
The Canaries and the ocean
That leads you on laughing
Laughing all the way to the Antilles
Take a cathedral
Hoist the little flags
And make the sails sing
Just don't wake up
Fuck, the Antilles are beautiful
They crunch you in their teeth
People sleep well there
Just give yourself a head start
Because all the bells are in an uproar
Your cathedral sets sail
It will cross the canal
The Panama Canal
Take a cathedral
From Picardy or Artois
Go and pluck stars
Just don't wake up
And here's the Pacific
The long swell that rolls to the wind
And purrs its music
All the way to the islands ahead
And you would be forgiven
If there rather than elsewhere
You happened to dissolve
Among the flowers and the flowers
Take a cathedral
Hoist the little flags
And make the sails ring
Just don't wake up
Take a cathedral
From Picardy or Artois
Go and fish for stars
Just don't wake up
This cathedral is stone
Haul it all the wood over
To where the sea flowers
Just don't wake up
Just don't wake up
La chanson des vieux amants (The Song of Old Lovers)
Of course we have had storms
Twenty years of love is crazy love
A thousand times you took your bags
A thousand times I took my leave
And in this room without a cradle
Each piece of furniture remembers
Splinters of the old tempests
Nothing looked like anything anymore
You lost your taste for water
And I mine for conquest
But my love
My sweet, my tender, my marvelous love
From the clear dawn to the end of day
I love you still, you know I love you
I know all your spells
You know all my witchcraft
You have held me in trap after trap
I have lost you from time to time
Of course you took a few lovers
One must pass the time
The body must exult
Finally, finally
We needed talent
To grow old without growing up
But my love . . .
And the more time escorts us
The more time torments us
But isn't it the worst trap
For lovers to live in peace?
Of course you cry a little less quickly
I tear myself up a little more slowly
We guard our mysteries less
We leave less to chance
We mistrust the line of water
But this is still the tender war
But my love . . .
Jef
No, Jef, you're not the only one
Just stop crying
Like this in front of all the world
Because some halfway old woman
Because some fake blonde
Dropped you again
No, Jef, you're not the only one
But you know you're embarrassing me
Sobbing like this
Like an idiot in front of all the world
Because some practically a whore
Slapped you on the wrist
No, Jef, you're not the only one
But you make me ashamed to see you
People are making fun of us
Let's get off this sidewalk
Come on, Jef, come on, come on, come on
Come on, I've still got three sous
Let's go drink them away
At Mother Françoise's
Come on, Jef, come on, I've still got three sous
And if that's not enough
I'll put it on my tab
Then we'll go eat
Mussels and then fries
Fries and then mussels
And wine from Moselle
And if you're still sad
We'll go see the girls
At Madame Andrée's
It seems there are some new ones
We'll sing like we used to
The two of us, we'll be happy
Like when we were young
Like it was in the days
When I had money
No, Jef, you're not the only one
Just stop making those faces
Pick up those hundred kilos
Move your carcass
I know your heart is heavy
But you have to pick it up, Jef
No, Jef, you're not the only one
Just stop sobbing
Stop blaming yourself
Stop repeating
That you just want to throw yourself in the water
That you just want to hang yourself
No, Jef, you're not alone
This isn't a sidewalk anymore
It's become a cinema
Where people come to store
Come on, Jef, just come on, come on
Come on, I've still got my guitar
I'll tune it up for you
And we'll be Spanish
Jef, come on, come on
Like when we were kids
Even though I hate it
You'll imitate the nightingale, Jef
Then we'll find a bench
We'll talk about America
Where we plan to go, you know
When we're rich, Jef, come on
And if you're still sad
Or you just want to hear the story
I'll tell you about how
You will become Rockefeller
The two of us, we'll be happy
We'll sing like we used to
Like when we were beautiful, Jef
Like it was in the days
Before we were drunks
Come on, Jef, come on
That's it, Jef, come on
Mathilde
Mother of mine, now's the time
To pray for my salvation
Mathilde's come back
Vintner, hold on to your wine
Tonight I'll drink my despair
Girls, girls
Perhaps you'd better change the sheets
Mathilde's come back
My friends, don't leave me
Tonight I return to the fight
Now that damned Mathilde's here
My heart, my heart, don't get excited
Behave as though you didn't know
That Mathilde's come back
My heart, stop telling me
How she's more beautiful than she was before the summer
Mathilde, who's returned
My heart, stop hammering
Remember she once tore you apart
Mathilde, who's returned
My friends, don't leave me
No, tell me, tell me it's not necessary
Now that damned Mathilde's here
And you, my hands, keep still
Only a dog has come back from the city
Mathilde's come back
And you, my hands, don't strike
This doesn't concern you
Mathilde's come back
And you, my hands, don't shake
Remember when you caught my tears?
Mathilde's come back
You, my hands, don't open up
You, my arms, don't reach out
Now that blessed Mathilde's here
Mother of mine, give up your prayers
Your Jacques is going right back to hell
Mathilde's come back to me
Vintner, bring us wine
The kind for weddings and festivals
Mathilde's come back to me
Girls, girls
Make up my best bed with sheets
Mathilde's come back to me
Friends, count on me no more
One more time I'll spit into the sky
Now that my beautiful Mathilde's here, she's here
(Cut for further Jacques Brel. I am too tired for anything original.)
La cathédrale (The Cathedral)
Take a cathedral
And offer it some masts
A bowsprit, a vast hold
And shrouds and stays
Take a cathedral
High in the sky and big in the belly
A cathedral rigged
With a foremast and mainsails
Take a cathedral
From Picardy or Flanders
A cathedral sold
By priests without a star
This cathedral of stone
Will be desanctified
Haul it all the way over
To where the sea flowers
Hoist the sails laughing
And make for England
England is sweet to see
From high up in a cathedral
Even if the tea makes it rain
Some trouble on the ports
Cornwall is for the taking
When it gives birth to the day
And floats between the loving
The loving and the love
Take a cathedral
And offer it some masts
A bowsprit, a vast hold
Just don't wake up
Draw all the sails out
And hoist them high, sailors
To chase the whales
Who lead you to the Azores
Then Madeira with its girls
The Canaries and the ocean
That leads you on laughing
Laughing all the way to the Antilles
Take a cathedral
Hoist the little flags
And make the sails sing
Just don't wake up
Fuck, the Antilles are beautiful
They crunch you in their teeth
People sleep well there
Just give yourself a head start
Because all the bells are in an uproar
Your cathedral sets sail
It will cross the canal
The Panama Canal
Take a cathedral
From Picardy or Artois
Go and pluck stars
Just don't wake up
And here's the Pacific
The long swell that rolls to the wind
And purrs its music
All the way to the islands ahead
And you would be forgiven
If there rather than elsewhere
You happened to dissolve
Among the flowers and the flowers
Take a cathedral
Hoist the little flags
And make the sails ring
Just don't wake up
Take a cathedral
From Picardy or Artois
Go and fish for stars
Just don't wake up
This cathedral is stone
Haul it all the wood over
To where the sea flowers
Just don't wake up
Just don't wake up
La chanson des vieux amants (The Song of Old Lovers)
Of course we have had storms
Twenty years of love is crazy love
A thousand times you took your bags
A thousand times I took my leave
And in this room without a cradle
Each piece of furniture remembers
Splinters of the old tempests
Nothing looked like anything anymore
You lost your taste for water
And I mine for conquest
But my love
My sweet, my tender, my marvelous love
From the clear dawn to the end of day
I love you still, you know I love you
I know all your spells
You know all my witchcraft
You have held me in trap after trap
I have lost you from time to time
Of course you took a few lovers
One must pass the time
The body must exult
Finally, finally
We needed talent
To grow old without growing up
But my love . . .
And the more time escorts us
The more time torments us
But isn't it the worst trap
For lovers to live in peace?
Of course you cry a little less quickly
I tear myself up a little more slowly
We guard our mysteries less
We leave less to chance
We mistrust the line of water
But this is still the tender war
But my love . . .
Jef
No, Jef, you're not the only one
Just stop crying
Like this in front of all the world
Because some halfway old woman
Because some fake blonde
Dropped you again
No, Jef, you're not the only one
But you know you're embarrassing me
Sobbing like this
Like an idiot in front of all the world
Because some practically a whore
Slapped you on the wrist
No, Jef, you're not the only one
But you make me ashamed to see you
People are making fun of us
Let's get off this sidewalk
Come on, Jef, come on, come on, come on
Come on, I've still got three sous
Let's go drink them away
At Mother Françoise's
Come on, Jef, come on, I've still got three sous
And if that's not enough
I'll put it on my tab
Then we'll go eat
Mussels and then fries
Fries and then mussels
And wine from Moselle
And if you're still sad
We'll go see the girls
At Madame Andrée's
It seems there are some new ones
We'll sing like we used to
The two of us, we'll be happy
Like when we were young
Like it was in the days
When I had money
No, Jef, you're not the only one
Just stop making those faces
Pick up those hundred kilos
Move your carcass
I know your heart is heavy
But you have to pick it up, Jef
No, Jef, you're not the only one
Just stop sobbing
Stop blaming yourself
Stop repeating
That you just want to throw yourself in the water
That you just want to hang yourself
No, Jef, you're not alone
This isn't a sidewalk anymore
It's become a cinema
Where people come to store
Come on, Jef, just come on, come on
Come on, I've still got my guitar
I'll tune it up for you
And we'll be Spanish
Jef, come on, come on
Like when we were kids
Even though I hate it
You'll imitate the nightingale, Jef
Then we'll find a bench
We'll talk about America
Where we plan to go, you know
When we're rich, Jef, come on
And if you're still sad
Or you just want to hear the story
I'll tell you about how
You will become Rockefeller
The two of us, we'll be happy
We'll sing like we used to
Like when we were beautiful, Jef
Like it was in the days
Before we were drunks
Come on, Jef, come on
That's it, Jef, come on
Mathilde
Mother of mine, now's the time
To pray for my salvation
Mathilde's come back
Vintner, hold on to your wine
Tonight I'll drink my despair
Girls, girls
Perhaps you'd better change the sheets
Mathilde's come back
My friends, don't leave me
Tonight I return to the fight
Now that damned Mathilde's here
My heart, my heart, don't get excited
Behave as though you didn't know
That Mathilde's come back
My heart, stop telling me
How she's more beautiful than she was before the summer
Mathilde, who's returned
My heart, stop hammering
Remember she once tore you apart
Mathilde, who's returned
My friends, don't leave me
No, tell me, tell me it's not necessary
Now that damned Mathilde's here
And you, my hands, keep still
Only a dog has come back from the city
Mathilde's come back
And you, my hands, don't strike
This doesn't concern you
Mathilde's come back
And you, my hands, don't shake
Remember when you caught my tears?
Mathilde's come back
You, my hands, don't open up
You, my arms, don't reach out
Now that blessed Mathilde's here
Mother of mine, give up your prayers
Your Jacques is going right back to hell
Mathilde's come back to me
Vintner, bring us wine
The kind for weddings and festivals
Mathilde's come back to me
Girls, girls
Make up my best bed with sheets
Mathilde's come back to me
Friends, count on me no more
One more time I'll spit into the sky
Now that my beautiful Mathilde's here, she's here