In front of the green gate of his primary school
We recognize him right away
Always the same look with his wool sweater
We know he's a teacher
He mourns the future closure
Of his last two classes
They say the reason is lack of staff
But we know what's going on

We are the forgotten ones
The countryside, the lost ones
Those too far from Paris
The least of their worries

Wanting to group the neighboring cantons into 30 students per room
The same philosophy that turns the country into a shopping center
It wasn't enough that we no longer have a grocery store
That the doctors are leaving
There's no one left in town, only the banks shine on the main street

We are the forgotten ones
The countryside, the lost ones
Those too far from Paris
The least of their worries

How sad the town is with all these roundabouts
That make heads spin
How sad the playground is without the children's screams
The balls in the windows
Even the little baker wonders what she's going to do
With her sticky candies
Even the neighbor across the street is scared, it worries her
This silence in the school

We are the forgotten ones
The countryside, the lost ones
Those too far from Paris
The least of their worries

When in the highest spheres corridors of the ministry
Students are just numbers
There are people on the ground, with chalk-filled hands
Who are taken for underlings
Those who close schools, the tie-wearing ones
Are often those
Those who will never see, neither from afar nor up close
A child in the eyes

We are the forgotten ones
The countryside, the lost ones
Those too far from Paris
The least of their worries

We are third knife
The last piece of the cake
The countryside, the lost ones
We are the forgotten ones

In front of the green gate of his primary school
There's the village teacher
All his life, kids
Building them a future
He has to turn the page
We are the forgotten ones

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