Serge Gainsbourg "La Nostalgie Camarade" lyrics

La Nostalgie Camarade

Qu'est ce qui t'as pris bordel de casser la cabane,De ce panoupanou, puis sortir ton canif,Ouvrir le bide de primitif,Qui debarquait de sa savane

La nostalgie camarade, la nostalgie camaradeLa nostalgie camarade, la nostalgie camarade

Qu'est ce qui t'as fait prendre cette fille diaphane,Contre son gré, et sous ses griffes,Des regrets tu reponds negatif,Mais encore tu ricanes.

La nostalgie camarade, la nostalgie camaradeLa nostalgie camarade, la nostalgie camarade

Qu'est ce qui te prends mon sucre de canne,De te klaxonner la gueule, sombrer sur les recifs de ta memoire,Et revoir ton passif en respirant la colophanee

La nostalgie camarade, la nostalgie camaradeLa nostalgie camarade, la nostalgie camarade

Il s'en passe des choses sous ton crane rasé,C'est plein de tristesse et de kif,Tu te vois encore en tenue leopard, bourrée d'explosifs,Sauter de ton aeroplane.

La nostalgie camarade, la nostalgie camaradeLa nostalgie camarade, la nostalgie camaradeCamarade, camarade, camarade, camarade.La nostalgie camarade, la nostalgie camarade

That's nostalgia for you, buddy

What the hell got into you, bringing down the hutof this little black wog(1), then drawing your blade,slicing open the primitive bellyfresh from the savanna

That's nostalgia for you, buddy (x4)

What made you posess this delicate girl,against her will and under her claws.About regrets you answer "negative"and even still you snigger.

That's nostalgia for you, buddy (x4)

What goes into you, my cane sugar candy,Honking your horn in your face, sinking against the reefs of your memoriesReviewing your [moral] debts while sniffing pine resine(2)

That's nostalgia for you, buddy (x4)

There's so much going on inside your shaved skullIt's full of sadness and cannabisYou still picture yourself in cammo fatigues, packed with explosivesjumping out of your plane.

That's nostalgia for you, buddy (x8)

----------------------------------------(1) "panoupanou" means (phonetically) "not us ! not us !". A strongly derogative term for black Africans based on what they supposedly yell when shot at after being mistaken for apes.(2) Not sure about this one. I assume "colophane" is a substance used to make guitar strings sound better. So this could be an allusion to playing the guitar. Alternatively this could be slang for some drug...