Here's the correction to our last assignment... Enjoy the rest of vacation!

Alain Souchon's Golden Parachute


So long/Goodbye/Farewell, megaphone
So long/Goodbye/Farewell, banner
So long/Goodbye/Farewell, union reps
For me it's all sunshine and calypso
Pineapple and coconut

For me it's the trade winds
The tropical winds
And me curly-haired on a boat
So long/Goodbye/Farewell, traders
So long/Goodbye/Farewell, jogging
And on-time briefings...
Breitling! (without breaking!)
Workers, laugh!
Goodbye gray suits
In China, the factory's
Relocated
The prices have collapsed
The banks have stopped laughing
The company's gone under!
It's time to make peace!
Let's take it easy
Dip the pill in goldleaf
I've got the parachute... the golden parachute

So long/Goodbye/Farewell, megaphone
So long/Goodbye/Farewell, banner
So long/Goodbye/Farewell, union reps
For me it's all sunshine and calypso
Pineapple and coconut

So long/Goodbye/Farewell, Château Pétrus
In a Lanvin suit
So long/Goodbye/Farewell the pretty Russian hookers
In the Falcon 20s*
Threw out/chucked out/tossed out the milling machines
The tools and machinery
The overworked workers
A pretty waste
I dug, I dug
I dug us in deep (in debt!)
Instead of scratching my head
One day our stocks fell
And I took a parachute
The company's gone under
It's time to make peace!
Let's take it easy
Dip the pill in goldleaf
I've got the parachute... golden parachute..

So long/Goodbye/Farewell, megaphone
So long/Goodbye/Farewell, banner
So long/Goodbye/Farewell, union reps
For me it's all sunshine and calypso
Pineapple and coconut

So long/Goodbye/Farewell, telephone
So long/Goodbye/Farewell, office
All the tall secretaries in their high heels
For me it's the trade winds
The tropical winds
And me curly-haired on a boat
The company's gone under
It's time to make peace!
Let's take it easy
Dip the pill in goldleaf
I've got the parachute... shhh...


*[Falcon 20 is a French business jet]

Here's a photo or two, just for the fun.

Here's your new assignment...

Please send me your translations by Tuesday, April 14th.

Alain Souchon's Parachute Doré

Adieu mégaphone 
Adieu calicot 
Adieu représentants syndicaux 
A moi le soleil et le calypso 
L'ananas, la noix de coco 

A moi les alizés 
Les vents tropicaux 
Et moi bien frisé sur le bateau 
Adieu les Trad ers 
Adieu les joggings 
Les briefings à l'heure 
Breitling! ( et pas breaking!) 
Ouvriers riez 
Adieu les blouses grises 
En chine, l'usine 
Délocalise 
Les coûts ont dégringolé 
Les banques ont plus rigolé 
La boîte a coulé 
Mais pouce! 
On va se la couler douce 
La pilule on va se la dorer 
J'ai le parachute... chute doré 

Adieu mégaphone 
Adieu calicot 
Adieu représentants syndicaux 
A moi le soleil le calypso 
L'ananas, la noix de coco 

Adieu Château Pétrus 
En costard Lanvin 
Adieu les jolies put's Russ' 
Dans les Mystère 20 
Balancées les fraiseuses 
Les machines outils 
Vrillés ouvriers 
Joli gâchis 
J'ai creusé, creusé 
J'ai creusé la dette 
Au lieu de me creuser la tête 
Un jour les cours ont chuté 
Et moi parachuté 
La boîte a coulé 
Mais pouce! 
On va se la couler douce 
La pilule on va se la dorer 
J'ai le parachute... chut doré 

Adieu mégaphone
Adieu calicot 
Adieu représentants syndicaux 
A moi le soleil et le calypso 
L'ananas, la noix de coco 

Adieu téléphone 
Adieu le bureau 
Secrétaires aux haut talons hauts 
A moi les alizés 
Les vents tropicaux 
Et moi bien frisé sur le bateau 
La boîte a coulé 
Mais pouce! 
On va se la couler douce 
La pilule on va se la dorer 
J'ai le parachute... chut...

 

Here's the correction of last week's translation...!

Transcript of « Pauline’s Weather Report »

 

Pauline :
Good evening, everybody !

Good evening, sir.

Good evening, Catherine.

 

As you may all (already) know, Barack Obama has written a letter to Jacques Chirac in which he says he’s certain/sure to be able to collaborate/work with him in order to build a safer world.  (safer, not safest)

 

Wouldn’t you know it, Barack Obama also wrote me a sweet little letter—thanks, Barack!  Hugs and kisses!

 

And he also included/attached a certain number of missives/letters, asking me to forward them/pass them on.  (to forward=faire suivre, dans ce cas)

So, (here’s) a letter for you, Michelle; one for Jean-Michel—it’s a little heavy…

 

Jean-Michel :

Is there money inside ?

 

Pauline :

... I don’t know, I didn’t open it, obviously… it’s a post card/this is a post card, I don’t know, one for Lisa, our production assistant…

 

Man :

Good evening, good evening.  Excuse me/Pardon me, I work for the mail room of the Elysée Palace… I was asked to check if there was a (little) letter from Barack Obama for the President of the Republic.

 

Pauline :

Wait/Hold on a second… this one’s for Valéry Giscard d'Estang, and this one’s for Laurie…

 

Man :

That one’s written “Nicolas Sarkozy”…

 

Pauline :

Indeed it is, it’s for the President, but it’s not from the White House, it’s from the Conseil General of the Hauts de Seine… ah well, it says “for Daddy” in parentheses, I think it’s for you.

 

(applause)

 

With neither transition nor arrival confirmation, we’re moving on to the weather.  For the sixth day in a row (=consecutive), the weather will be gorgeous all across France… (yippie!)… I’m exhausted! 

The proof—I haven’t been able to find temperatures exceeding/that exceed -5 C (negative five) in Aurillac and -2 C (negative two) in Paris, I’m really sorry.

 

In the afternoon, sunshine everywhere everywhere everywhere, and then the temperatures will continue to curl up in their little thermometers, but nevertheless it’ll be 12 in Rouen and 16 in Perpignan.  Tomorrow is Saturday, March 21^st, and the Goddess of spring is going to take a rest…

 

 

(Le Grand Journal, March 20, 2009, http://player.canalplus.fr/#/225557)

Cours libres under the sign of the Kite

The sun is shining, people are playing Celebrity/Time's Up, flying a kite & engaging in linguistic exchanges...


It looks like we'll start having classes again next week, but I plan on continuing the BLOG at the same time.


I'll post the correction to Pauline's Weather Report this weekend, and you can get started on the next assignment, too. To Be Announced.

Brooke


Big Bonus Question:

What does "I'll take a rain check" mean in French?

One more time...

Natacha pointed out a small mistake from the transcript:

It's not...

L'homme :

Il a écrit à Nicolas Sarkozy ?

It's... 

"il y a écrit Nicolas Sarkozy?" 

Thanks again!

Pour Papa not Pourquoi Pas

Dear everybody,

Thanks for sending your translations of Pauline's Weather Report.  It has been brought to my attention that there was a mistake in the transcript: indeed, Pauline says that "Pour Papa" was written on the envelope addressed to Sarkozy, not "Pourquoi pas," as I'd thought.  

Thanks for the correction!  

Speaking of corrections, I'll post my English version of the text this week, for you to compare with your translation.  If you haven't taken the time to send me your translation, please do so!

--Brooke

PS The photo is an image of my own "papa" the day after the elections... pourquoi pas.