Lyrical Poetry

Have you ever had a song touch your heart? So poetic that it was moving? I never understood the lyrics, but Complainte de la Butte did that for me the first time I heard it on the Moulin Rouge soundtrack... Rufus Wainright sings it and I think it's beautiful. You can watch it here, and while they lyrics aren't the same as I thought they might mean, I still think there is very much a beauty to them. I have them listed below with their translation... Enjoy!




Complainte de la Butte Lyrics
Artist(Band):Rufus Wainwright

La lune, trop bleme, (the moon, too white)
pose un diadème (puts a tiara)
sur tes cheveux roux. (on your red hair)
La lune, trop rousse, (the moon, too red)
de gloire éclabousse (with glory splashes)
ton jupon plein de trous. (your ragged underskirt)
La lune, trop pâle, (the moon, too pale)
caresse l'opale (caress the opal)
de tes yeux blasés. (of your indifferent eyes)
Princesse de la rue, (princess of the street)
sois la bienvenue (be welcome)
dans mon coeur brisé. (in my broken heart)

The stairways up to la butte
can make the wretched sigh.
While windmill wings of the Moulin
shelter you and I.

Ma petite mandigotte, (my little beggar)
je sens ta menotte (I feel your hand)
qui cherche ma main. (searching for mine)
Je sens ta poitrine (I feel your chest)
et ta taille fine, (and your slim waist)
j'oublie mon chagrin. (I forget my sorrow)
Je sens sous tes lèvres (I smell on your lips)
une odeur de fièvre, (a scent of fever)
de gosse mal nourrie, (of an underfed kid)
et sous ta caresse, (and under your caress)
je sens une ivresse (I feel a drunkeness)
qui m'anéantit. (that kills me)

The stairways up to la butte
Can make the wretched sigh
While windmill wings of the Moulin
Shelter you and I

et voilà qu'elle trotte, (and there she goes strutting about)
la lune qui flotte, (the floating moon)
la princesse aussi. (along with the princess)

lalala....

Mes rêves épanouis. (my thriving dreams)

Les escaliers de la butte (The stairways up to la butte)
sont durs aux miséreux. (are tough on the poor)
Les ailes du Moulin (the wings of the Moulin)
protègent les amoureux. (shelter those who love)