Le temps ne fait rien à l'affaire-link of age/wisdom humorously denied

A song which is a light-hearted entertainment.

In my youth I was unconvinced when adults proposed “older and wiser” as an absolute truth to me.  When I looked at the senior people in the world around me, I felt  that there were many exceptions that tested this rule. 

In this song, Georges Brassens humorously dismisses the two opposing cases based on the idea of the automatic correlation of wisdom and age.  

As a device to enliven his argument he uses one certain rude word with remarkable frequency.

Le temps ne fait rien à l'affaire Quand ils sont tout neufs Qu´ils sortent de l´œuf Du cocon Tous les jeunes blancs-becs Prennent les vieux mecs Pour des cons (1) Quand ils sont d´venus Des têtes chenues Des grisons Tous les vieux fourneaux Prennent les jeunots Pour des cons Moi, qui balance entre deux âges J´leur adresse à tous un message Le temps ne fait rien à l´affaire Quand on est con, on est con Qu´on(2) ait vingt ans, qu´on soit grand-père Quand on est con, on est con Entre vous, plus de controverses(3) Cons caducs ou cons débutants Petits cons d´la dernière averse Vieux cons des neiges d´antan Vous, les cons naissants Les cons innocents Les jeun´s cons Qui n´le niez pas Prenez les papas Pour des cons Vous, les cons âgés Les cons usagés Les vieux cons Qui, confessez-le(4) Prenez les p´tits bleus Pour des cons Méditez l´impartial message D´un type qui balance entre deux âges Le temps ne fait rien à l´affaire Quand on est con, on est con Qu´on ait vingt ans, qu´on soit grand-père Quand on est con, on est con Entre vous, plus de controverses Cons caducs ou cons débutants Petits cons d´la dernière averse Vieux cons des neiges d´antan

Time doesn’t come into it at all When they are brand new When they come from the egg The cocoon All the young newcomers Take old blokes Just for fools. When they’ve  become Hoary headed Old persons All the old stagers Take the young ones Just for fools I, balancing at middle age I’m sending them all a message Time doesn’t come into it at all When you're a fool, you're a fool Whether  twenty, or  a grandad When you're a fool, you're a fool No more arguments between you   Ageing fools or fools just starting Little fools who came with the last shower Old fools of yesteryear’s snows. You, the fools new-born The innocent fools The young fools Who - don’t deny it Take your dads Just for fools You, the fools grown old Fools who’ve had long wear The old fools Who, confess it’s true, Take the lit’le rookies Just for fools Ponder the  impartial message From a guy balancing at middle age Time doesn’t come into it at all When you're a fool, you're a fool Whether  twenty, or  a grandad When you're a fool, you're a fool No more arguments  between you  Ageing fools or fools just starting Little fools who came with the last shower Old fools of yesteryear’s snows.

TRANSLATION NOTES

1)      Con - This is a word that recurs very often in this song.  Both French and English have a monosyllabic word beginning with “c” to designate vulgarly the female genitals.  In both countries  this word is also used to refer to a fellow human being insultingly. 

Nevertheless, It is a mistake for translators to assume that the word “con” in the French text can be automatically replaced by “cunt” in the English translation.  In the cultures of the two countries, the words have different usages and also a dfferent status.

French Wikipedia clearly explains the French usage of “con”.  it tells us that the adjective “con” describes some-one who is stupid, naïve or unpleasant.  These same characteristics  are expressed in derivatives of the word.  For example, the word “connerie” describes a stupid mistake or stupidity in general. 

The word “con” can have a somewhat relaxed status and can sometimes be used humorously in everyday society, especially in the South of France. We can see that, perhaps typically, the southerner, Georges Brassens, freely bats the word around like a ping pong ball in this song.

While the essential meaning of “con” is stupidity,  this is not true of the English usage of the word “cunt”.  Its basic meaning is a very unlikeable person.  This person is not necessarily stupid and if you wish to include this defect, you have to add an adjective and say:  “He (or she) is a stupid cunt”.  

The word “cunt” has a much more offensive status than the french "con"., perhaps due to its aggressive application. It should not therefore be used flippantly in normal everyday society.  When talking about sex light-heartedly in more polite society a gentler , nicer sounding, popular word is used - for example "fanny".

Translators who use the word “cunt”in their English version of “Le temps ne fait rien à l’affaire” will find the basic meaning of the song  gets confused.  it is about getting wiser not getting nicer.

2)     Qu’on ait vingt ans, qu’on soit grand-père - Brassens has fun in choosing vocabulary  that includes the theme word of his song.

3)     Controverses  - that syllable again 

4)     confessez-le – that syllable again. 

FOOTNOTE

A photo that accompanies the Wikipedia article shows the relaxed attitude to the word in France.  The caption explains that some people enjoy the game of changing a poster or road sign to obtain the word “con”.

I am conscious that, in my translation, I have given no indication of the provocative game that Brassens was playing in composing this song. He was seeing how many times he could use the word “con” in these few lines.

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