in which le vent nous portera

so, here's the thing. i love foreign languages: love listening to them, love trying to figure out what the words mean, love seeing the script and writing associated with them. the only thing is, i suck at learning them.

for example, i took five years of spanish in junior high and high school, and then two years in college. can i speak it? no. do i wish i did? absolutely. and then, i went off and took three sessions of latin (yes, latin - at the time, i was hoping to be an archaeologist who studied medieval england), despite knowing i had a shaky grasp on spanish. can i remember anything? sure - vis vobiscum means "may the force be with you." anything else is lost.

and it makes me sad, because i so wish i could hold onto these languages. in fact, it's silly, but one of my goals for the next year is to learn italian. why? because i want to. do i have anyone to talk to, other than my kids' preschool teacher? nope. but i still want to try!

to make a long story short, i also have a thing for songs sung in foreign languages. i've posted a few here on the blog over the years, but i thought i'd share another one today.

for those of you who don't know, noir désir was, before their breakup, one of france's most popular bands. the following song is incredibly poetic. i've put a (rough) translation into english up (uh, no, i most certainly wasn't the one to translate) because, while i often feel it's not necessary to know explicitly what a song is about, in this instance, i really feel it enhances my appreciation of what the band is trying to do.




le vent nous portera/ the wind will carry us

i’m not afraid of the road
we must see, we must taste
meandering in the hollow of your kidneys
there, everything will be ok
the wind will carry us away

you message to ursa major
the trajectory of the race
and instant of velvet
even if it’s not useful
the wind will take it away
everything will disappear
but the wind will carry us away

the caress and the rifle
this wound that tears us apart
the palace of other days
of tomorrow and yesterday
the wind will carry them away

the genetic shoulder-belt
chromosomes in the atmosphere
taxis for galaxies
and my flying carpet
the wind will take it all away
everything will disappear
but the wind will carry us away

the perfume of our dead years
what can come knocking at your door
infinite destinies
we lay some but what do we retain?
the wind will take it away

while the tide rises
and everyone is counting their dues
i bring to the crease of my shadow
dusts of you
the wind will take them
everything will disappear
but the wind will carry us

(mp3) le vent nous portera by noir désir (via filles sourires)

and here's the beautiful video: