Pedant's moment: here is the text in proper French (i.e. spelled properly). Lorsque j'étais jeune fille, j'étais bien jolie, gai, Il n'y avait pas beaucoup de filles comme moi, gai, Mais la vieillesse, hélas, m'a beaucoup maltraitée, Maint'nant je ne suis plus la belle que j'étais. Quand arriva pour moi l'âge de me marier, gai, Il y avait bien des jeunes dont flambaient les yeux, gai, Mais la vieillesse, hélas, m'a beaucoup maltraitée-o, Aujourd'hui, jamais plus, les yeux ne vont vers moi. Ah, que je marchais donc vite allant aux pardons, gai, Toutes mes jolies parures ne me pesaient pas, gai, Mais la vieillesse, hélas, m'a beaucoup maltraitée-o, Maint'nant je ne suis plus rien qu'un pauvre débris. Lorsque j'étais jeune fille, j'étais bien jolie, gai, Il n'y avait pas beaucoup de filles comme moi, gai, Mais la vieillesse, hélas, m'a beaucoup maltraitée, Maint'nant je ne suis plus, la belle que j'étais. ... which means (more or less literally)... When I was a young girl, I was very pretty, gai* There were no many girls like me, gai, But old age, alas, treated me very harshly-o, Now I'm no longer the pretty girl I used to be. When the time arrived for me to get married, gai, There were many boys whose eyes would shine, gai, But old age, alas, treated me very harshly-o, Today, eyes don't look at me any more. Ah, how fast I would walk when going to the pardons, gai, All my pretty finary wouldn't weigh to/on me, gai, But old age, alas, treated me very harshly-o, Now I'm only a poor piece of trash. When I was a young girl, I was very pretty, gai* There were no many girls like me, gai, But old age, alas, treated me very harshly-o, Now I'm no longer the pretty girl I used to be. *"gai" in old songs had no meaning, you can find it as "gué".
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