Translation of La cause from French to English
They told me, "Why don't you talk about it, why don't you get involved?
You can see there's an emergency, why don't you join the debate?
So that's it, artists, huh, they pretend, they question
But as soon as it's time to take a stand, that's it, there's no one left"
They call me to put my name on a bunch of petitions
They force me to put a bunch of good causes in competition
And why in the elections, didn't you choose your candidate?
Don't complain when you see what kind of world your son will grow up in
They told me, "But who are you to give us your opinion?
Go ahead, don't break our balls, stop telling your life story
You've sold a few albums, you feel strong and you feel hot
And you give your little opinion of a bourgeois-leftist artist
So that's it, comment on the news for us, do your little monthly sound
Give us your knowledge on a few not too consensual subjects"
They told me, "Let those who know speak, don't invent a use for yourself"
I get lost in all these questions of legitimacy
I know a bit about love, I can talk about it, I've experienced a few things
I know a bit about children, a bit about children
I know a bit about death, I can talk about it, I've experienced a few things
I spent 10 years, I spent 10 years
Sleeping more in the hospital than in my house
(Sleeping more in the hospital than in my house)
And of course, I know what we're talking about when it's about song
When it's about song but
That's all I know, that's all I'll say
That's all I know, yeah, all I know
In everything I do, I try to work on the subject
There's nothing I like less than someone who allows himself
To talk about what he has skimmed over
Who points the finger, who condemns and who knows
There are the bad guys over there, the good guys, we know them (know-know-know)
No song transforms the world, but
I'm an artist, I'm not an ornament
So even if I don't live under bombs, I can denounce, sincerely indignate
Between the cold winds of the ice floe and the eiderdown of our cowardice
Often I hesitate, reconsider
Turn my tongue seven times, beware of my own stupidity
To speak is to take a stand, to be silent is to take a stand
I believe in dreams, not revolutions
I want answers, so I make questions
What are we waiting for to cause a ruckus
I want to sing, I want to rap, alert, testify
I want to spit storms, light fires (ah-ah)
I think therefore I am, I dance therefore I prime
I sing therefore I flee, I invent therefore I press
I think therefore I am, I dance therefore I prime
I sing therefore I flee, I invent therefore I press
I think therefore I am, I dance therefore I prime
I sing therefore I flee, I invent therefore I press
I think therefore I am, I dance therefore I prime
I sing therefore I flee, I invent therefore I press
No, I won't have time, I already know I don't have time
I just have time to get angry
I didn't tell myself one day, "Hey, I'm going to write engaged songs"
So when they come to talk to me about engaged songs at the moment
French commitment is not martyrdom, let's not exaggerate
But, I'll tell you, the term engaged has always bothered me
30 years ago, we would never have imagined that musicians
Would have so much to say and get so involved in politics
I'll have time for a minute to get angry
I wrote songs about what I wanted to say