La Foule

I see the city in celebration and frenzy
Suffocating under the sun and joy
And I hear in the music the shouts, the laughter
That burst and bounce around me
And lost among these people who jostle me
Dizzy, bewildered, I stay there
When suddenly, I turn around, he steps back,
And the crowd comes to throw me into its arms...

Carried away by the crowd that drags us
Pulls us
Crushed against each other
We form only one body
And the flow effortlessly
Pushes us, linked to each other
And leaves us both
Blossoming, intoxicated and happy.

Swept away by the crowd that rushes
And dances
A crazy round dance
Our two hands remain clasped
And sometimes lifted
Our two bodies entwined soar
And both fall back
Blossoming, intoxicated and happy...

And the joy splashed by his smile
Pierces me and springs back deep within me
But suddenly I cry out among the laughter
When the crowd comes to tear him away from my arms...

Carried away by the crowd that drags us
Pulls us
Takes us away from each other
I struggle and fight
But the sound of his voice
Is drowned out in the laughter of others
And I cry out in pain, fury, and rage
And I cry...

Swept away by the crowd that rushes
And dances
A crazy round dance
I am carried away far
And I clench my fists, cursing the crowd that steals from me
The man it had given me
And whom I never found again...