Cupidon s'en fout - A promising romantic date that falls flat

This song appeared in Brassens’ album « Don Juan » in 1972.  Four years earlier, he had dealt with the problem of the inequalities of passion of partners when making love in his song:  “Quatre-vingt quinze pour cent” (on the Fernande album).  

In “Cupidon s’en fout”, he is relating a very personal story, which illustrates the same predicament. It tells how he had a flirtatious relationship with an attractive young lady and believed that they were in the early stages of a real romance.  When she accepted an invitation from him to join him on a day's outing in a forest favoured by lovers, he was sure that both of them understood the pleasures that this promised.  The song tells the complicated sequel.

CUPIDON S'EN FOUT Pour changer en amour notre amourette,(1) Il ne s’en serait pas fallu de beaucoup,(2) Mais, ce jour-là, Vénus était distraite, Il est des jours où Cupidon s'en fout(3). Des jours où il joue les mouches du coche(4), Où elles sont émoussées dans le bout,(5) Les flèches courtoises(6) qu'il nous décoche, Il est des jours où Cupidon s'en fout. Se consacrant à d'autres imbéciles, Il n'eut pas l'heur(7) de s'occuper de nous, Avec son arc et tous ses ustensiles, Il est des jours où Cupidon s'en fout. On a tenté sans lui d'ouvrir la fête, Sur l'herbe tendre, on s'est roulés, mais vous Avez perdu la vertu(8), pas la tête(9), Il est des jours où Cupidon s'en fout. Si vous m'avez donné toute licence, Le coeur, hélas, n'était pas dans le coup ;(10) Le feu sacré brillait par son absence,(11) Il est des jours où Cupidon s'en fout. On effeuilla vingt fois la marguerite(12), Elle tomba vingt fois sur "pas du tout". Et notre pauvre idylle a fait faillite, Il est des jours où Cupidon s'en fout. Quand vous irez au bois conter fleurette (13), Jeunes galants(14), le ciel soit avec vous. Je n'eus pas cette chance et le regrette, Il est des jours où Cupidon s'en fout. Album - Don Juan (1976)

To change our flirtation into real love, It would not have taken us all that much, But on that day, Venus was distracted There are days when Cupid gives not a damn. Days when he messes around, in the way, Days when worn badly blunt at the ends are The amorous darts that he shoots at us, There are days when Cupid gives not a damn. Concentrating on other imbeciles, He didn't have the time to look after us, With his bow and all his utensils There are days when Cupid gives not a damn. We tried getting  things going without him, On the soft grass, we rolled around, but you Lost your virtue, without losing your head, There are days when Cupid gives not a damn. If you gave me licence for everything, Your heart, alas, was not in the doing; The sacred fire was glaringly absent There are days when Cupid gives not a damn. Twenty times over, we plucked the daisy, Twenty times it came out "loves you not". And our poor idyll came to nothing There are days when Cupid gives not a damn. When you go to the woods for sweet loving Young lustful lads, heaven be with you.(15) I had no such luck and I'm sorry, There are days when Cupid gives not a damn.

Cupidon Translation notes

1)      notre amourette- Collins Robert translates this as “a passing fancy”/ passing love affair.

2)      Il ne s’en serait pas fallu de beaucoup – s’en falloir de faire quelque is used in expressions which say what is needed / what you are short of in order to something.  Collins Robert gives the example: « Il s’en faut de beaucoup qu’il soit heureux » = He is far from being happy/ He is by no means happy.

3)      s'en fout – “Il s’en fout” is an idiom meaning “he doesn’t care”.  So the English idiom “He doesn’t give a damn” would be “Il s’en fout complètement.  Foutre is a multipurpose verb, meaning “throw”- “put”- “do” etc. used in colloquial French – sometimes having a crude usage.

4)      il joue les mouches du coche – Literally this phrase means that Cupid acts like flies swarming around a « coche » - which in olden times was a horse-drawn coach offering public transport.  The meaning of this expression comes from the fable of La Fontaine “Le coche et la Mouche”.  In this fable, La Fontaine is showing that, in life, there are people who, behaving as though they are in a great hurry, meddle in the business of others; they act as though they are indispensable but are in the way everywhere they go..  As a result, like flies, they need to be driven away. 

5)      émoussées dans le bout- blunted at the tip.

6)     courtoises – has two meanings :1)  courteous/ polite 2) courtly.  The second sense would seem more appropriate here.  In the Encyclopaedia Britannica there is this description of a courtly lover in Medieval terms: The courtly lover existed to serve his lady. His love was invariably adulterous, marriage at that time being usually the result of business interest or the seal of a power alliance. Ultimately, the lover saw himself as serving the all-powerful god of love and worshipping his lady-saint.  - In a modern context, we would tone this down!

7)      Il n'eut pas l'heur – « l’heur » is short for le bonheur = good luck/happy chance

8)      Vertu  - Among the meanings of this word , as in the English word: “virtue”, is the sense of feminine chastity and sometimes it can mean “virginity”.  As they rolled in the grass, the couple did things that were not completely chaste, but this would not seem to be the first crossing of the bridge by either of them.

9)      Pas la tête - not her control of events - I think.

10)   N’était pas dans le coup – the idiom means "didn’t come into it".

11)   brillait par son absence _  was notable by its absence.

12)   effeuilla vingt fois la marguerite -   the international game  for lovers is for the man to pull off the petals of a daisy in turn, to see if the last petal will tell whether she loves him or she loves him not.

13)   conter fleurette – It is the word fleurette which gave the word « flirt »

L’Internaute tells me On suppose que cette expression date du 16ème siècle où le verbe "fleuretter" avait le sens de "dire des balivernes" –talk nonsense. Le mot "fleurette" signifiait alors "bagatelle", d’où le fait qu’il représente un sentiment léger ou une relation sexuelle  .

(14) Galant can mean a man who enjoys romance, but less romantically a man who runs after women 

(15) I changed "heaven be with you" to "heaven help you", as this second phrase in normal English usage has lost practically all its religious sense to mean "only something extraordinary can save you!".  It seems more suitable for Brassens, who is not known for spontaneous piety.

A report than can give a very personal understanding of this poem.

On the 23^rd June 2016, the following comment, signed by the name of Vincent was made after my translation of “Je me suis fait tout petit devant une poupée”:

“I once heard a first-hand report from a close friend of Brassens, that he was for a long, long time in love with a woman, with so much desire and tension and difficulties that when they eventually got to bed together, he was impotent.”

I have no way, of course, of confirming that this was a real event in Brassens’ life, but if this traumatic experience is read as the background to “Cupidon s’en fout”, it would give a very strong personal poignancy to this Brassens song.

My thanks go to Vincent for this insight.   -D.Y.

Pleaseclick here to return to the alphabetical list of my Brassens selection

La Prière -A devout prayer of thanks for the bad and the good life brings

In "La Priere" we see Brassens once again putting to music the verses of a French Poet.  In this case, his choice of poet is surprising. Although Brassens held strongly anti- clerical views, he has chosen the religious poetry of  Francis Jammes.

The verses chosen by Brassens for his song, come from Jammes's collection of poems of 1906: "L'église habillée de feuilles"- (The Church clothed in leaves), reflecting the link that Jammes felt between religion and the rural lifestyle.

Some feel that this song shows Brassens regaining, at least temporarily, the Catholic faith of his childhood that had been instilled in him by his mother.  This question is discussed later in this post.

La Prière Par le petit garçon qui meurt près de sa mère Tandis que des enfants s'amusent au parterre Et par l'oiseau blessé qui ne sait pas comment Son aile tout à coup s'ensanglante et descend Par la soif et la faim et le délire ardent Je vous salue, Marie. Par les gosses battus, par l'ivrogne qui rentre Par l'âne qui reçoit des coups de pied au ventre Et par l'humiliation de l'innocent châtié Par la vierge vendue qu'on a déshabillée Par le fils dont la mère a été insultée Je vous salue, Marie. Par la vieille qui, trébuchant sous trop de poids S'écrie: " Mon Dieu!"  Par le malheureux dont les bras  Ne purent s'appuyer sur une amour humaine Comme la Croix du Fils sur Simon de Cyrène Par le cheval tombé sous le chariot qu'il traîne Je vous salue, Marie. Par les quatre horizons qui crucifient le monde Par tous ceux dont la chair se déchire ou succombe Par ceux qui sont sans pieds, par ceux qui sont sans mains Par le malade que l'on opère et qui geint Et par le juste mis au rang des assassins Je vous salue, Marie. Par la mère apprenant que son fils est guéri Par l'oiseau rappelant l'oiseau tombé du nid Par l'herbe qui a soif et recueille l'ondée Par le baiser perdu par l'amour redonné Et par le mendiant retrouvant sa monnaie Je vous salue, Marie. From the album « Chanson pour l’auvergnat » (1955)

The Prayer  For the small boy who’s dying pressed to his mother While children are having fun in the yard outside And for the wounded bird that does not know how Its wing's all at once full of blood and drops down For the hunger, thirst and the raging delirium For these I Hail Mary. For kids battered by a drunk back from his night out For the ass which takes constant kicks to the belly For the mortification of abused innocence For the virgin sold off whom they have stripped naked For the son whose mother has been grossly reviled For these I Hail Mary. For the old woman who staggers overloaded And screams unto God!  For the wretched man,whose arms Could not turn for support on any human love As the cross of the Son on Simon of Cyrene. For the horse fallen under the cart that it drags For these I Hail Mary. For the four horizons that crucify the world For all those whose flesh is torn or perishes For all those without feet, for all those without hands For the sick under surgery who groan with pain And for the just man wrongly linked with murderers For these I Hail Mary. For the mother learning that her son is cured For the bird calling back the bird slipped from  the nest For the grass which is parched and gets swamped with the rain For the kiss that was lost, returned by love And for the beggar recovering his misplaced pennies. For these I Hail Mary.

The following shows that Brassens' song is a faithful copy of the text of Francis Jammes, but that  he made some adaptation of the order.

THIS IS THE TEXT OF GEORGES BRASSENS’ SONG La prière 01Par le petit garçon qui meurt près de sa mère 02Tandis que des enfants s'amusent au parterre 03Et par l'oiseau blessé qui ne sait pas comment 04Son aile tout à coup s'ensanglante et descend 05Par la soif et la faim et le délire ardent: 06Je vous salue, Marie 07Par les gosses battus par l'ivrogne qui rentre, 08Par l'âne qui reçoit des coups de pied au ventre 09Et par l'humiliation de l'innocent châtié, 10Par la vierge vendue qu'on a déshabillée, 11Par le fils dont la mère a été insultée: 12Je vous salue, Marie. Brassens chose to omit this couplet "Crowning with thorns" from his song. Within it Jammes talks of his personal torments as a poet, relating them to Christ's crown of thorns 13Par la vieille qui, trébuchant sous trop de poids, 14S'écrie : "mon Dieu ! ", par le malheureux dont les bras 15Ne purent s'appuyer sur une amour humaine 16Comme la Croix du Fils sur Simon de Cyrène 17Par le cheval tombé sous le chariot qu'il traîne: 18Je vous salue, Marie 19Par les quatre horizons qui crucifient le monde, 20Par tous ceux dont la chair se déchire ou succombe, 21Par ceux qui sont sans pieds, par ceux qui sont sans mains, 22Par le malade que l'on opère et qui geint 23Et par le juste mis au rang des assassins: 24Je vous salue, Marie	THIS IS THE TEXT OF THE POEM OF FRANCIS JAMMES Les cinq Mystères douloureux Agonie Par le petit garçon qui meurt près de sa mère tandis que des enfants s'amusent au parterre; et par l'oiseau blessé qui ne sait pas comment son aile tout à coup s'ensanglante et descend; par la soif et la faim et le délire ardent: Je vous salue, Marie. Flagellation Par les gosses battus par l'ivrogne qui rentre, par l'âne qui reçoit des coups de pied au ventre, par l'humiliation de l'innocent châtié, par la vierge vendue qu'on a déshabillée, par le fils dont la mère a été insultée: Je vous salue, Marie Couronnement d'épines Par le mendiant qui n’eut jamais d’autre couronne Que le vol des frelons, amis des vergers jaunes, Et d’autre sceptre qu’un bâton contre les chiens ; Par le poète dont saigne le front qui est ceint Des ronces des désirs que jamais il n’atteint : Je vous salue, Marie. Portement de Croix. Par la vieille qui, trébuchant sous trop de poids, S'écrie : "Mon Dieu !" Par le malheureux dont les bras Ne purent s'appuyer sur une amour humaine Comme la Croix du Fils sur Simon de Cyrène ; Par le cheval tombé sous le chariot qu'il traîne Je vous salue, Marie. Crucifiement. Par les quatre horizons qui crucifient le Monde, Par tous ceux dont la chair se déchire ou succombe, Par ceux qui sont sans pieds, par ceux qui sont sans mains, Par le malade que l'on opère et qui geint Et par le juste mis au rang des assassins : Je vous salue, Marie.
The final verse of Brassens’ song is not in fact the final verse of Jammes section: “Les cinq Mystères douloureux”.  Brassens has taken this last optimistic verse from another section of  Jammes’ study of the mysteries of the Rosary, which is entitled : “Mystères Joyeux”
25Par la mère apprenant que son fils est guéri, 26Par l'oiseau rappelant l'oiseau tombé du nid, 27Par l'herbe qui a soif et recueille l'ondée, 28Par le baiser perdu par l'amour redonné, 29Et par le mendiant retrouvant sa monnaie : 30Je vous salue, Marie Georges Brassens - 1955 -  "Album  -Chanson pour l'auvergnat"	Invention de Notre Seigneur au Temple Par la mère apprenant que son fils est guéri, par l'oiseau rappelant l'oiseau tombé du nid, par l'herbe qui a soif et recueille l'ondée, par le baiser perdu par l'amour redonné, et par le mendiant retrouvant sa monnaie : Je vous salue, Marie. Francis Jammes - 1906 -

Francis Jammes (1868 -1938) came from the Pyrenees region of France and thus had Southern French roots, similar to Brassens.  Poetry writing had been his passion while he was still working in a solicitor's office.  His plain, lucid verse with country themes gained national recognition during the last decade of the 19th Century and by 1895 he was moving in Parisian literary circles that included Gide, Mallarmé and Henri de Régnier.  Successive collections of his poems, published between 1897 and 1901 were well received.  

The famous Catholic poet, Paul Claudel, became his close friend and under his influence, in 1905, Jammes became a practising Catholic once again, growing very devout.

CONTRASTING REACTIONS TO BRASSENS' SONG: "LA PRIERE"

Many people see in this song a sincere statement of the liturgy of the Christian and more particularly of the Catholic faith.  Some suggest that this is a moment when Brassens, the firm agnostic, experiences and appreciates briefly the Catholic faith in which his mother had brought him up.

The sincerity is certainly there and of necessity, because these are, as we see above, the exact words of Francis Jammes that he wrote when he was newly re-converted to Catholicism.

Inevitably as Brassens faithfully reproduced Jammes's poem there is religious content in Brassens' song.  Line 16  talks about "the cross of the Son".  A Christian understands that in bible usage "Son" means "The Son of Man" or "The Son of God". The mention of Simon of Cyrene in the same line, reminds Christians of the man who carried the cross of Jesus, when he had become too weak to carry it to his place of execution. 

The last line of each verse is: "Je vous salue Marie".  The English prayer is to end  "Hail Mary!"  (I am uncertain how to translate this as I like my English lines to have the same number of syllables).  Catholic commentators are impressed that this ending makes Brassens's song an authentic rosary prayer.

However Non-Christian, Non-Catholic readers will probably find  the actual religious and scriptural content in Brassens' song very light and not explicit.  An indication that this may have been Brassens' conscious intention is that he omitted the third verse of Jammes's poem, where Jammes gave details of Christ's crucifixion.

The question remains, however, why Brassens was attracted to the works of a Catholic poet. 

In fact, it is perhaps misleading to give Jammes this epithet is misleading.  He had built up his reputation as a poet of the people and ths "religious" poem is still predominantly about the wrongs suffered by the ordinary people about which Brassens was equally indignant

Other commentators have said that by using this last line invocation and by including the last verse, Brassens has introduced his personal satirical viewpoint.

Some critics maintain that Brassens is not merely being neutral to religion in this song, but that he is subtly putting over his own religious viewpoint.  In their view, by transposing the final verse from a different section,  Brassens is pointing out that life does not consist only of the tragedy and disillusionment described in the first four stanzas. The fifth stanza tells us that there is also happiness and good luck. In this world of alternative possible outcomes the question is then posed why the deity who, people of religious faith believe, direct our lives, allow the cruel, destructive outcomes to be inflicted on humankind. One conclusion must be that the deity is ineffective or even indifferent in the face of the evident wrongs and the cruelties suffered by the creatures of the earth.

With this realisation,the final invocation of each verse: "Je vous salue Marie" would become purely ironical.

A poem means very different things to different people.  Those who describe in their comments under the You Tube recording the deep religious emotion that the song makes them feel are equally authentic.

A TECHNICAL REASON WHY BRASSENS CHOSE THIS POEM

In song writing , there is a tradition of devising basic melodies that can be be used in multiple songs. In 19 th Century France, these all purpose melodies on which people stuck their own words were called "Timbres".  In the previous year, Brassens had put to song the poem of Aragon "Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux".  This poem had the 12 syllable line of the Alexandrine.

In putting the alexandrines of Jammes to music, Brassens decided to experiment with the "timbre" method and put "Les cinq Mysteres douleureux" onto his previous melody. Brassens tells how he got the reaction:"Who is this lazy chap who puts two different songs on the same tune?"

Brassens never used this technique again.

Please click here to return to the alphabetical list of my Brassens selection

Like many of peasant stock, Jammes had a great love of and respect for his donkeys, which he expressed tenderly in the following poem:  "Prière pour aller au Paradis avec les ânes" (Prayer to go to paradise with the  donkeys)

Prière pour aller au Paradis avec les ânes

by

Francis Jammes

Lorsqu'il faudra aller vers vous, ô mon Dieu, faites que ce soit par un jour où la campagne en fête poudroiera. Je désire, ainsi que je fis ici-bas, choisir un chemin pour aller, comme il me plaira, au Paradis, où sont en plein jour les étoiles. Je prendrai mon bâton et sur la grande route j'irai, et je dirai aux ânes, mes amis: Je suis Francis Jammes et je vais au Paradis, car il n'y a pas d'enfer au pays du Bon Dieu. Je leur dirai: Venez, doux amis du ciel bleu, pauvres bêtes chéries qui, d'un brusque mouvement d'oreille, chassez les mouches plates, les coups et les abeilles... Que je vous apparaisse au milieu de ces bêtes que j'aime tant parce qu'elles baissent la tête doucement, et s'arrêtent en joignant leurs petits pieds d'une façon bien douce et qui vous fait pitié. J'arriverai suivi de leurs milliers d'oreilles, suivi de ceux qui portèrent au flanc des corbeilles, de ceux traînant des voitures de saltimbanques ou des voitures de plumeaux et de fer-blanc, de ceux qui ont au dos des bidons bossués, des ânesses pleines comme des outres, aux pas cassés, de ceux à qui l'on met de petits pantalons à cause des plaies bleues et suintantes que font  les mouches entêtées qui s'y groupent en ronds. Mon Dieu, faites qu'avec ces ânes je vous vienne. Faites que dans la paix, des anges nous conduisent vers des ruisseaux touffus où tremblent des cerises lisses comme la chair qui rit des jeunes filles, et faites que, penché dans ce séjour des âmes, sur vos divines eaux, je sois pareil aux ânes qui mireront leur humble et douce pauvreté à la limpidité de l'amour éternel.

When I have to go to meet you, O my God, grant That it is on a holiday when the landscape Will shimmer.   I want, just as I did here below, To choose a way to my liking, to get To Paradise, where stars shine in full light of day. I will take my stick and along the main highway I will go and I will tell my friends the donkeys: I am Francis Jammes and I’m off  to Paradise, For there is no hell in the land of the good Lord. I'll say to them: Come, sweet friends of the blue heaven, Poor much love beasts who with quick flick  of the ear Brush off the flies, the bees and the blows aimed for them... May I appear before you amidst these creatures Whom I love so much because they bow down their heads Gently and come to a stop by joining their small feet In manner most sweet, and which moves you to pity. I'll arrive followed by their thousands of ears,  Followed by those who carried baskets on each side by those pulling the wagons of travelling fair folk or carts of feather dusters and things made of tin, by those who have on their backs churns full of dinges, By she-asses pregnant as if bursting, dawdling, By those on whom they have put little pantaloons Because of the open blue wounds which are made by The stubborn flies that circle around them in swarms. God, grant that I may come to you with these donkeys. Grant that thy angels may peaceably conduct us To streams lined with bushes upon which cherries sway , Just as smooth as the pleasurable flesh of  girls, And grant that I, in this rest place for souls, gazing Over your divine waters, may be like the donkeys Whose humble and sweet poverty will be mirrored In the manifestation of love eternal.

A PERSONAL COMMENT - PET ANIMALS AND PERFECT LOVE.

My friends are for the most part not over-enthusiastic about ideas of an afterlife. Among them, however, there are quite a few who harbour a hope that, some time after death, they may come to a place where a faithful old cat or dog has been lying waiting for them all the intervening years.

FINAL FOOTNOTE

Some commentators claim that it was Brassens who wrote the final couplet of "La Priere".  They are wrong and the last verse of the following is the evidence:

Les Mystères joyeux -Francis Jammes

Annonciation
Par l'arc-en-ciel sur l'averse des roses blanches,
Par le jeune frisson qui court de branche en branche, 
Et qui a fait fleurir la tige de Jessé ; 
Par les Annonciations riant dans les rosées 
Et par les cils baissés des graves fiancées Je vous salue, Marie.

L'exaltation
Par l'exaltation de votre humilité
Et par la joie du coeur des humbles visités, 
Par le Magnificat qu'entonnent mille nids,
Par les lys de vos bras joints vers le saint-esprit 
Et par Elisabeth, treille où frémit un fruit 
Je vous salue, Marie.

Nativité
Par l'âne et par le boeuf, par l'ombre et par la paille, 
Par la pauvresse à qui l'on dit qu'elle s'en aille, 
Par les nativités qui n'eurent sur leurs tombes
Que les bouquets de givre aux plumes de colombes ; 
Par la vertu qui lutte et celle qui succombe 
Je vous salue, Marie.

Purification
Par votre modestie offrant des tourterelles, 
Par le vieux Siméon pleurant devant l'autel,
Par la prophétesse Anne et par votre mère Anne, 
Par l'obscur charpentier qui, courbé sur sa canne, 
Suivait avec douceur les petits pas de l'âne 
Je vous salue, Marie.

Invention de Notre Seigneur au Temple (Brassens' last verse)

Par la mère apprenant que son fils est guéri, 
Par l'oiseau rappelant l'oiseau tombé du nid. 
Par l'herbe qui a soif, et recueille l'ondée ; 
Par le baiser perdu, par l'amour redonné. 
Et par le mendiant retrouvant sa monnaie 
Je vous salue, Marie.

Pleaseclick here to return to the alphabetical list of my Brassens selection