Sunday, May 2, 2010

La Fille Damnee

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One of my new favourite artists is Cécile Corbel. Thanks to Ms Corbel, I think I am finally recovering from my hatred of the French language. Allow me to elaborate, living in the bilingual country of Canada, French is offered in school, and I was required to take it from grade 6 until the end of high school. I was not happy about this, and hence French has always been my enemy. Having been out of high school for some time now, I have had time to get over my dislike of the French language, just in time to enjoy the songs of Cécile.

Her instrument of choice is the harp, giving her songs a Celtic sound to them. She sings in both English and French. Her song “La Fille Damnee” is hauntingly beautiful. It is from her album, Songbook Vol 2. There is also a music video for the song, which can be found on YouTube (and I’ve posted it below). One of the things that irritated me about the comments for the video was that people kept asking for the lyrics and yet the lyrics were there in the comments section! This is why before you ask anything in a YouTube video check the video description and the comments section. Your question may have already have been answered. Such was the case in the music video for “La Fille Damnee”.

As for what the song is about, user PoirotAndCo () explained in the comments: “Its the story about a [man] who goes to a blacksmith to shoe his horse. As the blacksmith starts working, the horse starts speaking with the voice of the man's dead daughter Jeanne. She tells her father that she was damned because she met every night with a strange man in the moor. She [begs] her father to take "her body, her heart and her dress", to burn them and to throw the ashes into the wind...”

User BugBug81 () provided the French lyrics...




Dis moi combien, combien de deniers
Forgeron, pour ferrer mon coursier
C'est cinq sols, pour vous mon prince
Seulement cinq sols et un dernier

J'etends chanter, j'entends chanter
La fille damnée, j'entends chanter
A la lune montante, j'etends l'oiseau chanter
Ma jolie, ma si jolie, file dans la nuit

Au premier fer que tu mettras
Mon bon père, il va t'appeler
Au premier clou que tu poseras
Il va t'appeler "mon père"

Qui est ce diable qui m'appelle père
Dis moi qui est-il sur le champ
C'est ta fille, ta chère fille Jeanne
Ta fille, morte et enterrée

Dis moi, ma fille, qui t'a damnée
Là bas sur la lande et les blés
C'est cet homme le long de la mer
Chaque jour Il venait me trouver

Prenez mon corps mon coeur et ma robe
Sous la lune il faut les brûler
A la brune vous jetterez mes cendres
Au vent, au vent vous les jetterez



With the aid of Babelfish () I am able to offer you a rough, a very rough English translation of the French lyrics.



NOTE: A better translation can be found on this updated blog post, RE: La Fille Damnee ()



Dis moi combien, combien de deniers

Say me how much, how much sums of money

Forgeron, pour ferrer mon coursier

Blacksmith, to shoe my dispach rider

C'est cinq sols, pour vous mon prince

They are five grounds, for you my prince

Seulement cinq sols et un dernier

Only five grounds and the last


J'etends chanter, j'entends chanter
I extend to sing, I intend to sing
La fille damnée, j'entends chanter

The damnée girl, I intend to sing

A la lune montante, j'etends l'oiseau chanter

To the rising moon, I extend the bird to sing

Ma jolie, ma si jolie, file dans la nuit

My pretty, my so pretty, girl in the night


Au premier fer que tu mettras
With the first iron which you will put
Mon bon père, il va t'appeler
My good father, it your will call
Au premier clou que tu poseras
With the first nail which you will pose
Il va t'appeler "mon père"
It will call you "my father"

Qui est ce diable qui m'appelle père
Who is this devil which calls me father
Dis moi qui est-il sur le champ
Say me which is it at once
C'est ta fille, ta chère fille Jeanne
It is your daughter, your dear Jeanne daughter
Ta fille, morte et enterrée
Your daughter, died and buried

Dis moi, ma fille, qui t'a damnée
Say me, my daughter, who your damnée
Là bas sur la lande et les blés
There low on the moor and corns
C'est cet homme le long de la mer
It is this man along the sea
Chaque jour Il venait me trouver
Each day It came to find me

Prenez mon corps mon coeur et ma robe
Take my body my heart and my dress
Sous la lune il faut les brûler
Under the moon they should be burned
A la brune vous jetterez mes cendres
To brown you will throw my ashes
Au vent, au vent vous les jetterez
To the wind, to the wind will throw them to you



If any of you know French and would be able to offer us some more insight into the song, please leave a comment!

Until next time my dear guests, take care,


Links:
Cécile Corbel's Official Site ()
Cécile Corbel's Last.FM Profile ()

11 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recommendation! I have been listening to french music lately and feel like I've picked up a bit here & there. I never took a language class in school. I want to study German but my school doesn't offer it. Alas, I will probably end up taking french, as they're next-door neighbors anyway...

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  2. I think I'm a little jealous :P I would have loved to have gone through school and not have to take a second-language courses.
    German's not too bad, I took two courses in German last year. I was so nervous in class though, I had no confidence to speak in German in class. Aside from that, the language itself is not too difficult, very close to English in many ways, as is French.

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  3. if you want, I could send you the right translation, as yours is a bit incorrect =) Give me here your e-mail and I'll send the english translation

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  4. Yes, the translation leaves something to be desired, doesn't it? Haha!
    Thank you, however someone has already sent me the proper French lyrics, I will be posting them this week.

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  5. Thank you very much for posting the translation and the legend! I've been looking for it for a very long time!

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  6. Thank you very much for the song and translation...I love this music:)

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  7. I love this song! Thanks for sharing the translated lyrics!!

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  8. Hello!
    I discovered this artist few months ago, although I'm French and living in Brittany...
    If you permit, I add few things that might be helpful to understand this song. I do know that french is a very difficult language to learn. And humbly I hope you'll forgive my own mistakes in english writing.
    I'm writing all the words below with few changes. If any question left, I'll be glad to answer.

    « Sol » and « denier » are money from the Middle Ages (so it is not "ground" and "last").
    “A la brune” is an old expression meaning dusk or twilight
    "j'entends"-> I hear
    "file dans la nuit" is different from "fille dans la nuit"...it's "to spin" and not " daughter"

    Dis moi combien, combien de deniers
    Say me how much, how much sums of money
    Forgeron, pour ferrer mon coursier
    Blacksmith, to shoe my dispach rider
    C'est cinq sols, pour vous mon prince
    They are five ……, for you my prince
    Seulement cinq sols et un denier
    Only five …… and ……

    J'entends chanter, j'entends chanter
    I hear singing, I hear singing
    La fille damnée, j'entends chanter
    The damned girl, I hear singing
    A la lune montante, j'entends l'oiseau chanter
    To the rising moon, I hear a bird sing
    Ma jolie, ma si jolie, file dans la nuit
    My pretty, my so pretty, spins in the night

    Au premier fer que tu mettras
    With the first iron which you will put
    Mon bon père, il va t'appeler
    My good father, it will call you
    Au premier clou que tu poseras
    With the first nail which you will pose
    Il va t'appeler "mon père"
    It will call you "my father"

    Qui est ce diable qui m'appelle père
    Who is this devil which calls me father
    Dis moi qui est-il sur le champ
    Say me which is it at once
    C'est ta fille, ta chère fille Jeanne
    It is your daughter, your dear Jeanne daughter
    Ta fille, morte et enterrée
    Your daughter, died and buried

    Dis moi, ma fille, qui t'a damnée
    Say me, my daughter, who damned you
    Là bas sur la lande et les blés
    There low on the moor and wheats
    C'est cet homme le long de la mer
    It is this man along the sea
    Chaque jour Il venait me trouver
    Each day It came to find me

    Prenez mon corps mon coeur et ma robe
    Take my body my heart and my dress
    Sous la lune il faut les brûler
    Under the moon they should be burned
    A la brune vous jetterez mes cendres
    At dusk you will throw my ashes
    Au vent, au vent vous les jetterez
    To the wind, to the wind you  will throw them 

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