La Collectionneuse
Charlotte Gainsbourg Lyrics

I collect many things
I have a habit of gathering various things

And keep them all close to me
I cherish and hold on to everything I have collected

To the ceiling from the floor
My collection ranges from the top of the room to the bottom

I'm tripping on them constantly
I am constantly stumbling over my large collection

Pixelated faces play
I watch low-quality images of people

On the blown out TV screen
On a poor quality, malfunctioning screen

Footage from a camera,
Recordings from a camera

These days I'm fast-forwarding
Recently I've been skipping over the footage

I see a pattern start to form
I can see a recurring theme emerging

Over time it's surfacing
As time goes on, it has become more evident

Like a face I recognize
Similar to a face I know well

It never says anything
It doesn't speak or communicate in any way

I add up all these moments
I am reflecting on all these occurrences

In a long narrow ledger
In a book where I record everything

Decimals of pain
Small amounts of pain

Integers of pleasure
Larger amounts of pleasure

The sum of all these parts
The total of everything I've collected and experienced

I don't know how to measure
I cannot quantify or measure it in any way

They keep on adding up
These things keep accumulating

They just keep on adding up
And they continue to add up

The collector, la collectioneuse
I am a collector

J'ai cueilli ce brin de bruyere
I picked this sprig of heather

L'automne est morte souviens-t'en
Remember, autumn died

Nous ne nous verrons plus sur terre
We will not see each other on this earth again

Odeur du temps brin de bruyere
Smell of time, sprig of heather

Et souviens-toi que je t'attends
And remember that I am waiting for you

J'ai eu le courage de regarder en arriere
I had the courage to look back

Les cadavres de mes jours
The remnants of my past days

Que lentement passent les heures
How slowly the hours pass

Comme passe un enterrement
Like a funeral procession

Tu pleureras l'heure ou tu pleures
You will grieve for the moment you are currently grieving for

Qui passera trop vitement
That will pass too quickly

Comme passe toutes les heures.
Like all hours do

Et toi mon coeur pourquoi bats-tu?
And you, my heart, why do you beat?

Comme un guetteur melancolique
Like a melancholic watchman

J'observe la nuit et la mort
I observe the night and death

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
May the night come and the hour strike

Les jours s'en vont je demeure
The days pass, but I remain