La Bohème

I'm talking to you about a time
That those under twenty
Can't possibly know
Montmartre back then
Had its lilacs
Hanging right under our windows
And if the humble rooming house
That served as our nest
Didn't look like much
It's there that we met
Me, who was starving
And you, posing nude

The bohemian lifestyle, the bohemian lifestyle
It meant we were happy
The bohemian lifestyle, the bohemian lifestyle
We only ate every other day

In the neighboring cafes
There were a few of us
Waiting for glory
And even though we were poor
With empty stomachs
We never stopped believing
And when some bistro
Gave us a warm meal
In exchange for a painting
We recited verses
Huddled around the stove
Forgetting about the winter

The bohemian lifestyle, the bohemian lifestyle
It meant you were pretty
The bohemian lifestyle, the bohemian lifestyle
And we all had genius

Often it happened to me
In front of my easel
To spend sleepless nights
Retouching the drawing
Of a breast line
Or a hip curve
And only in the morning
Would we finally sit down
In front of a café au lait
Exhausted but delighted
We had to love each other
And love life

The bohemian lifestyle, the bohemian lifestyle
It meant we were twenty
The bohemian lifestyle, the bohemian lifestyle
And we lived off the times

When by chance on some days
I go for a walk
To my old address
I no longer recognize
Neither the walls, nor the streets
That witnessed my youth
At the top of a staircase
I look for the studio
Of which nothing remains
In its new setting
Montmartre seems sad
And the lilacs are dead

The bohemian lifestyle, the bohemian lifestyle
We were young, we were crazy
The bohemian lifestyle, the bohemian lifestyle
It doesn't mean anything anymore