La Fille Damnee

(♥)

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 (♥)