L'alcool

My illusions overlook the yard
I don't have much in the way of horizons
After working all day long
I have nothing left to dream
But the ugly flowers in my room
My illusions overlook the yard
I've crossed out my loves
To touch the little ladies
You first gotta lay them down
Otherwise, it's cold like December
When evening comes, I return from the site
After a thousand struggles and a body worn out
I have a dull look and filthy hands
Enough to make the pretty ones grimace
Of course, there are girls of the night on the way back
Those who chew gum during sex
But what would I find in their battered bodies
Except indifference and melancholy
In my rags the color of a wall
I play the scarecrow
But for God's sake in my soul
There still burned that flame
Where my loves lit up
And my brief engagements
Where my loves burned out
Like so many straw fires
Today I walk my lonely path
All my ambitions have disappeared
I've let myself be overwhelmed by nettles
By the thorns of this damn life
My illusions overlook the yard
But in the bars of the neighborhood
I have tabs of daydreams
And a sense of irony
I let myself go to tenderness
I forget my room at the back of the yard
The commuter train at dawn
And in the fumes of alcohol
I see my Spanish castles
My studs and all my duchesses
To me, the little ladies, the pretty dolls
Let the little mice come to me
I spend whatever I want at baccarat
I hit the bellies of Maharajas
To me, the South American nightclubs
Where we dance with empty heads and full hands
To me, these cuties with dizzying gazes
That you have to shake before using
In my checkered pants, my prince of Wales
Gently, I rinse my thirst
And for God's sake in my soul
Here I feel that flame
Where my loves lit up
And my brief engagements
Where my loves burned out
Like so many straw fires
And when the bars have turned off their neon lights
And there's not a watering hole in sight
So I let myself be rocked by the calvados
And the god of drunks guides my steps