Willie McBride
Renaud Lyrics

Content de te voir, mon vieux Willie McBride
Renaud is happy to see Willie McBride, despite him being dead.

J'ai marché longtemps pour arriver jusqu'à toi
Renaud had to walk for a long time to reach Willie's grave.

Permets que je m'assoie un instant sur ta tombe
Renaud asks permission to sit on Willie's grave for a moment.

Il fait chaud, fatigué, et le soleil me plombe
Renaud is hot, tired, and feels weighed down by the sun.

Je lis sur la pierre que tu n'avais pas vingt ans
Willie died at a young age, before he was even twenty years old.

Quand en mille neuf cent seize tu as rejoint en chantant
Willie died in 1916 during World War I, while singing.

La grande hécatombe, celle qui t'a volé
Renaud is referring to the large number of deaths that occurred during the war that took Willie's life.

Ta jeunesse et ta vie dans l'immense charnier
Willie's youth and life were lost in the massive grave of military casualties during the war.

A-t-on joué du tambour
Renaud wonders if they played the drums.

Du fifre, au petit jour
Renaud wonders if they played the flute at dawn.

Comme marche funèbre
Renaud imagines a funeral march being played.

Lorsqu'ils t'ont mis en terre ?
Renaud is asking if this music was played when Willie was buried.

Ont-ils joué "The last post" pour tes restes
Renaud wonders if they played "The Last Post", a song played to signify the end of a soldier's day, at Willie's funeral instead.

Et puis les cornemuses "Flowers of the forest"?
Renaud is asking if they played the Scottish lament "Flowers of the Forest" on bagpipes as well.

Es-tu resté vivant dans le cœur d'une belle
Renaud asks if Willie is still remembered and loved by someone in his hometown.

Quelque part au pays des vertes vallées ?
Renaud imagines a romanticized version of Ireland, where Willie might have been from.

As-tu toujours vingt ans pour ce cœur si fidèle
Renaud wonders if the person who remembers Willie still thinks of him as young and full of life.

Qui te pleure chaque jour et t'aimera à jamais ?
Renaud imagines someone who still mourns Willie's death and will always love him.

Ou bien n'es-tu plus qu'un très lointain souvenir
Renaud suggests that Willie might not be remembered at all.

Qu'une photo jaunie, abîmée, oubliée
The only thing left of Willie might be a faded, damaged photograph.

Accrochée dans un coin dans un vieux cadre en cuir
This photograph might be tucked away in a leather frame in someone's home.

Recouvert de poussière depuis tant d'années ?
The photograph might have been forgotten and covered in dust for many years.

À présent le soleil se couche sur les prés
The sun is setting over the fields.

Et une douce brise fait se plier les fleurs
A gentle breeze is causing the flowers to bend.

Les rouges coquelicots, rouges du sang versé
The red poppies symbolize the blood shed in the war.

Envahissent les tombes en tapis de couleurs
The flowers are covering the graves like a colorful carpet.

Oubliés la mitraille, les gaz, les barbelés
Renaud reminds us to forget about the fighting that took place during the war.

Que des milliers de croix à perte d'horizon
Instead, Renaud wants us to pay attention to the thousands of graves that stretch out as far as the eye can see.

Des milliers de nos frères décimés et damnés
These graves belong to thousands of young soldiers who were killed and damned by the war.

Par la folie des hommes amoureux des canons
These soldiers were killed because of the foolishness of leaders who loved war and violence.

Je dois te quitter, mon vieux Willie McBride
It's time for Renaud to say goodbye to Willie.

Mais je voudrais encore te demander ceci
But before he leaves, Renaud has one more question for Willie.

Pensais-tu vraiment que cette folle guerre
Renaud wonders if Willie believed that the war was crazy and pointless.

Mettrait fin pour toujours à toutes les guerres ?
Did Willie hope that this war would be the last of all wars?

Croyais-tu qu'elle serait la dernière de toutes ?
Did Willie believe that this war would end all wars?

Savais-tu que les hommes en suivant cette route
Renaud suggests that Willie might not have known that this war was just the beginning of more fighting to come.

Ont continué les tueries, la barbarie, la mort
The violence and death continued, even after the war was over.

Que le feu a tonné encore et encore ?
The sound of gunfire and explosions continued to echo long after Willie's death.