Si J'avais su

I had a bad night, restless, pissed off, yesterday on TV
I saw a woman in her forties
Crying in front of a camera, apologizing for stealing
To eat, but it was that or the blue bags on the pavement
What year is it? So, how come?
That someone breaks their principles out of dignity, trapped, cornered
No time or space to turn around
So we play dramas to a closed audience
Evil counts its layoffs
Laid off, no more job, hard times with friends turning on each other
Reduced to under-the-table work, gotta keep the stoves hot
Newspapers checked, nothing new, scarce jobs
Always the subway, very early, but not towards the office
The job center like an executioner welcomes the victims, poor suckers
Becoming useless like an oversized mannequin
Morale at zero, ending up at work
While women in the parishes pray
Some call it bad luck, others call it life

Shurik'n-Akhenaton-Freeman:
If I had known, all my troubles, I didn't want
If I had known, I would have drunk the cup to the dregs
If I had known, how precious a father is, I would never have disappointed him
Some call it bad luck, others call it life

Desire is like a grain in the eye
Only saints remove it and calmly think about tomorrow
In a place infested with sharks
Good loses ground, young people lose their way in the downpour
It sucks, but within a swarm, power is divine
Some try to work in vain, exhausted
The spirit fades like morning smiles
Already disgusted, the mess searches every corner
Kids bother, mothers reek of hugs
All this to end up full of worries
Bitter, forget Kinder Surprises since the night of the first offense
Breaking a window, acting in a movie, stealing a car
What future for a ten-year-old?
Jail comes quickly, worse, at twenty, taking a last breath
Taking risks to survive, do you think guys do that for fun?
Growing up and crossing the line out of necessity
Running to not fall, not running to escape
Running to no longer endure, running to get out
With pride, pride, last line of defense, fuel, black gold
Silence means consent so for her I speak up it's never too late
Cries echo in the stomach, hope crosses the threshold
Heart full of ambitions, Bring a tiger in your arms
Fathers come home exhausted, eat and go to bed
No time to talk, the night shifts show no mercy
Neglected, a child's life is like a candle flame
In a draft, the candle burns
In the name of the father, the sons survive as best they can
Here, we must act, so be it
A passerby lingers, God bless him
The grayness weighs, you have to show a clean slate for an apartment
Otherwise, sorry, you're too late
Already rented, hurt, you just have to leave, humiliated
People wonder why there's so much aggression
They wouldn't handle half of it
For their children, women, havens of peace in the parishes pray
Some call it bad luck, others call it life