Votre fille a vingt ans

Your daughter is 20, time flies so fast
Ma'am, just yesterday she was so small
And her first troubles are your first wrinkles
Ma'am, and your first worries

Each of her 20 years has counted double for you
You already knew everything she’s discovering
You’ve forgotten the things that confuse her
Ma'am, that confused you too

We found her pretty, and now she’s beautiful
For a guy almost as young as she is
A boy who looks like the one you
Ma'am, you once dressed up for

They’re making a garden out of a patch of weeds
Tying the flower of youth into a stunning bouquet
It’s been a long time since you were in full bloom
Ma'am, spring has forgotten you

Every night feels just like the last
While you dream your sensible dreams
Of pleasure and love, they’re guilty
Ma'am, in the same bed

But guilty ones have never had so much innocence
So few regrets and so much carelessness
That they don’t even ask for your forgiveness
Ma'am, for their tender crimes

Until the day when maybe at the first tear
At the first heartbreak of love and womanhood
It’ll be up to you to smile, ma'am
Ma'am, so she’ll smile at you
So she’ll smile at you