Grand-père
Georges Moustaki
Grandpa
It's for you that I play, Grandpa, it's for you
Everyone else listens, but you hear me
We're cut from the same cloth, we're of the same blood
And I carry your name, and you're a part of me
Exiled from Corfu and Constantinople
Odysseus who never turned back
I'm from your land, a foreigner like you
A child of the child that Penelope bore you
You were already old when I was born
Arrived just in time to take the reins
And one day I'll surely end up resembling
The photo where you posed with our ancestor
It's for you that I play, Grandpa, it's for you
That I slide my fingers along my six strings
To wake up a calm and monotone tune
It's all I know how to do with my ten fingers
Master of idleness, expert in poaching
Like you, I lived in the shadow of boats
And to make a feast, I stole the birds
That the sea wind brought back from the deep
Like you, I chased girls and dreams
Drinking from every spring I found
And never really quenched
Never tired of spreading my seed
It's for you that I play, Grandpa, it's for you
To bring back to the present all that's past
Since I only speak French now
And I write songs that you don't understand
It's for you that I play, Grandpa, it's for you
Everyone else surrounds me, but you wait for me
Even if you're far away in space and time
When it's time to die, we'll meet again.
