La pince à linge - French rescue

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"LA PINCE À LINGE"
de Francis Blanche

You should listen to this song if : You think Beethoven 5th symphony deserves some lyrics...

About this song : Francis Blanche makes fun of this famous symphony. The "lightness" of the lyrics is well contrasted with the "solemnity" of the music.

About the author : Francis Blanche is a famous French author, actor and humorist of the 50's."La pince à linge" and "la truite de Schubert" are his two most famous parodical songs. To knowm more about him, please follow Francis Blanche (en français).

Here's another interpetation (with a better video), by the group "Les 4 barbus".

Les paroles (for Francis Blanche version), and their approximate translation :

La pince à linge ! The clothes peg !

Lapin Lapin sa-linge (rabbit rabbit) the cloth the cloth –es peg.

La pince à linge fut inventée en 1887 The clothes peg was invented in 1887

4 et 3 four plus three

par un nommé, Jérémie-Victor Hopdebecq by a man called Jérémie-Victor Hopdebecq

5 et 2 five plus two

Fils de son père, et de sa mère                                   Son of his father and his mother
neveu de son oncle et de sa tante                               nephew of his uncle and his aunt
et petit-fils de son grand-père                                       and grandson of his grandfather
frère de sa soeur                                                        brother of his sister

et frère de lait d'un marchand de beurre. and foster brother of a merchant of butter.

La belle histoire!                                                        The great story !
Déjà lorsqu’il était enfant                                         Already as a child
il montrait à tous les passants                                   he was showing to all passers-by
son cu-                                                                       his cu-
-rieux esprit compétent                                              -rious competent mind
Il inventait des appareils                                             he was inventing devices
pour épépiner les groseilles                                        to remove pips from redcurrant
des muselières pour les fourmis                                 and muzzles for ants
Et bien qu'il fut encore petit                                         and though he was still small
c'était un mec, Hopdebecq                                           he was a guy Hopdebecq
c'était un mec, un drôle de mec, un fameux mec           he was a guy, a strange guy, a famous guy
et de Lubeck jusqu'à la Mecque il n'y avait                    and from Lübeck to Mecca there was only
qu'un si chouette mec                                                one such nice guy
Jérémie-Vic                                                               Jérémie-Vic

tor Hopdebecq ! tor Hopdebecq!

Dans les champs, près de chez son père                    In the fields, close to his father
le linge blanc dans la brise légère                                the white linen in the soft breeze
semblait lui dire avec le vent :                                     seemed to tell him with the wind :
Pince à linge...                                                           clothes peg…
Pince à linge...                                                           clothes peg…
Il faut au linge fin et trop léger                                     The thin linen too light
une pince, pour le pincer                                            needs a peg to pinch it
pour le pincer, pour le pincer, le pincer...                     to pinch it, to pinch it, to pinch it
Et dès lors dans sa tête                                              and therefore in his head
l'obsession qui l'inquiète                                              the obsession that worries him
Le pincer, le pincer...                                                 to pinch it, to pinch it…
Puis un jour... il avait trouvé !                                       And then one day…He had found it !

C'est ainsi que Jérémie-Victor Hopdebecq                          Thus Jérémie-Victor Hopdebecq
dans un éclair de son génie a su doter                          in a flash of genius was able to provide
les lavandières, les blanchisseuses du monde entier        the washerwomen, the laundresses around the world
d'une pince à linge qui protégera la liberté de l'humanité       with a clothes peg that will protect freedom of mankind
Pince à linge, pince à linge, grâce à toi maintenant               clothes peg, clothes peg thanks to you now
nos chemisettes, nos chaussettes résistent au vent                our shirts, our socks are resistant to wind
et nos caleçons à présent répondront « présent »                  and our boxer shorts will answer « present »

Et l'ouragan peut tonner                                                       And the hurricane can thunder
l'orage se déchaîner                                                               the storm can rage
nous grâce à la pince à linge                                                  we with the clothes peg
on est protégés, parés, sauvegardés                                      we are protected, prepared, safe
on aura toujours de quoi espérer                                           we’ll always have something to hope for

Amis chantons chantons en chœur                                       Friends let’s sing in chorus
la louange et l'honneur                                                          the praise and the honor
de notre bienfaiteur                                                               of our benefactor
Jérémie-Victor Hopdebecq
Jérémie-Victor Hopdebecq
Jérémie-Victor Hopdebecq
Becq, becq, becq, becq
Becq, becq, becq, becq
Becq, becq, becq, becq
Becq, becq, becq,....

Et oh là ça suffit ! Hey that’s enough !

Mais j’avais encore 22 Becq à faire M. Calvi But I had still 22 more Becq to say Mr Calvi

Beeeeeeeeeeeeecq ! Becq. Beeeeeeeeeeeeecq ! Becq.

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