Subject: ADD: Le Deserteur
From: McGrath of Harlow - PM
Date: 10 Feb 03 - 08:59 PM

There's another song called "The Derserter" - or rather "Le Deserteur". Peter Paul and Mary used to sing it, and a lot of other people too. It was banned by the
French government during their Indochina War.

It's by Boris Vian and it's a very good song too.
This link gets you to a page with an excellent translation, and background infiormation.

So here it is in French (lifted from that page):

Monsieur le Président,
je vous fais une lettre,
que vous lirez peut-être,
si vous avez le temps.

Je viens de recevoir
mes papiers militaires
pour partir à la guerre
avant mercredi soir.

Monsieur le Président
je ne veux pas le faire,
je ne suis pas sur terre
pour tuer de pauvres gens.

C'est pas pour vous fâcher,
il faut que je vous dise,
ma décision est prise,
je m'en vais déserter.

Depuis que je suis né,
j'ai vu mourir mon père,
j'ai vu partir mes frères,
et pleurer mes enfants.

Ma mère a tant souffert,
qu'elle est dedans sa tombe,
et se moque des bombes,
et se moque des vers.

Quand j'étais prisonnier
on m'a volé ma femme,
on m'a volé mon âme,
et tout mon cher passé.

Demain de bon matin,
je fermerai ma porte
au nez des années mortes
j'irai sur les chemins.

Je mendierai ma vie,
sur les routes de France,
de Bretagne en Provence,
et je crierai aux gens:

refusez d'obéir,
refusez de la faire,
n'allez pas à la guerre,
refusez de partir.

S'il faut donner son sang,
allez donner le vôtre,
vous êtes bon apôtre,
monsieur le Président.

Si vous me poursuivez
prévenez vos gendarmes
que je n'aurai pas d'armes
et qu'ils pourront tirer.

--------------------------------------

This is what McGrath has posted today in another thread where it didn't fit too well. I loved to be reminded of that beautiful song and did a bit of searching and found this old thread.

So here it is all together with some loose ends:

(1) Was it forbidden during the Indochina war (website on McGrath's link) or during the Algerian war (Jim Dixon and a French site I have consulted)?

(2) When was it written? If 1954 is correct (Jim Dixon) then it can hardly have been forbidden during France's Indochina war (ending 1954). If 1950 is correct (on a French site), then this is possible. The French site stated that it has been written in 1950 but first sung in 1954 which may explain the different data.

(3) The second verse in English is still missing.

I found this bit from McGrath's link particularly interesting:
It is also said that the last two verses of the song originally read, "que je serai en arme/et que je sais tirer" (that I'll be armed/and I know how to shoot) but that it was changed to reflect the pacifist and anti-militarist character of the song.

This (original?) version makes the song even stronger. The French site, however, said that the change of the two lines was a compromise necessary for publication.

Just in case, of course there is a German version

Wolfgang