Gee, thanks, keberoxu. I vaguely recall the Sinatra recording, but I didn't make the connection with "Sons of." It's certainly not a translation, but it does use the tune of "Sons of."

I'M NOT AFRAID
(lyrics by Rod McKuen, to the tune of "Sons of")

One afternoon I came to hear
You sing a soft song into my ear
Who would have thought quite by chance
We might engage in the loving dance?

Coming together, staying apart
Lost in diversions, dancing stars
Caught in the quiet, off on our own
Coming together, staying alone

Are you afraid?
I'm not afraid

What about you, what about me?
Two years from now where will we be?
Each of us gone our separate ways
Lost in a headlong passage of days

Maybe we might give love a try
Extending the moment before "goodbye"
And for a gentle moment in time
We'll take what pleasure people can find

Are you afraid?
I'm not afraid

What is for real, what is false?
All of us seem to be caught in a waltz
Turning around, turning again
When will the dancing ever end?

As for us, you and me
Our eyes are open, we can see
Both of us know where we've been
Why must we both go dancing again?

Are you afraid?
I'm not afraid

Come join the dance, come join the waltz
Don't look too closely at my faults
Why can't I die here in your arms,
Safe from the night and away from the dawn?

Back to the nothing from where I came
Back to the nowhere that has no name
Don't worry of me, I know what I am
Where I'm going and where I've been

I'm not afraid!
I'm not afraid! (repeat to fade)

Source: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/franksinatra/imnotafraid.html (corrected to match McKuen recording)


A recording of "I'm Not Afraid" by McKuen:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki8B7KMS04o

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Note this from http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=31866

I'm Not Afraid
One half of a Double A single along with Frank's duet with daughter Nancy Sinatra "Life's a Trippy Thing," this song flopped when it was released in 1971. However, the singer's son, Frank Sinatra Jr., told Mojo magazine that the Jacques Brel, Gérard Jouannest and Rod McKuen-penned tune is very much underrated. "This for me is a great song," he said. "The arranger was a man called Lenny Hayton. This never became a hit, unfortunately. It's a thoroughly sophisticated love song. It is not the usual mundane love song lyric. It's a very, very good piece of writing by a man who's been forgotten, named Rod McKuen. The music is by Jack Brel and Gérard Jouannest, but McEwan's lyrics."

Sinatra continued: "Years ago, the concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein said, 'Chopin's music speaks directly to the heart of the people.' Certain lyrics do exactly that and Sinatra, as an interpreter of those lyrics, did that same thing. McKuen was a poet. A beautiful sadness."