{"id":18615,"date":"2013-04-03T17:27:49","date_gmt":"2013-04-03T15:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=18615"},"modified":"2017-10-20T14:49:06","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T12:49:06","slug":"vous-naurez-jamais-notre-coeur-you-will-never-have-our-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/vous-naurez-jamais-notre-coeur-you-will-never-have-our-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Vous n’aurez jamais notre c\u0153ur (You Will Never Have Our Heart)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Last week, while evoking\u00a0l’Alsace et la Lorraine<\/em><\/strong>, and raising the question of whether they were originally French or German<\/a><\/strong>, we characterized the temporary loss of these two territories as provoking to many a French person a corresponding “temporary loss of sanity.”<\/p>\n

For nearly half a century, a heavy wind of revanchisme<\/strong><\/em> (from the word “revanche<\/strong><\/em>“, meaning “revenge”) blew all over France.<\/p>\n

Freedom had to be recovered at all costs for les Alsatiens <\/strong><\/em>and les Lorrains<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the\u00a0general consensus in France seemed to be summed up in this soothing formula: “<\/span>Vous avez pu germaniser la Plaine<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/span>mais notre c\u0153ur, vous ne l’aurez jamais<\/strong><\/em>” (“<\/span>You were able to Germanize the Plaine [river],\u00a0<\/span>but our heart, you will never have.<\/span>“)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Curiously enough, however, the same freedom so feverishly demanded to Alsatians and Lorrainers was still deemed out of the question to the millions of indig\u00e8nes<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0living under an extremely repressive rule in the French colonies of\u00a0Africa<\/strong> and Asia<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even worse, a sizable number of the inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine, who were now left with no homes nor land, headed straight to the French Colonial Empire.<\/p>\n

Pourquoi<\/strong><\/em>?<\/p>\n

To seek compensation, of course.<\/p>\n

There, just like the Germans did to them, they took over vast amounts of land that were unjustly expropriated from their rightful native owners.<\/p>\n

A terrifying paradox, to say the least.<\/p>\n

In any case, a century later, and despite still fresh wounds from the Second World War,\u00a0revanchisme<\/strong><\/em> already seemed like something of the past. To the point that Coluche<\/strong>, the famous French comedian<\/strong>, poked fun<\/a><\/strong> at it in his movie “Vous n’aurez pas l’Alsace et la Lorraine<\/strong><\/em>” (“You Will Not Have the Alsace and Lorraine”), with a soundtrack music composed by Serge Gainsbourg<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2glneAu-okg<\/a><\/p>\n

“<\/strong>L’Alsace et la Lorraine<\/em><\/strong><\/span>” by Gaston-Louis Villemer. For easily understandable reasons, Villemer, who was accused by some of resorting to ghostwriters, never dared to sign his songs under his real first name: Germain<\/span><\/em>! \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

France, \u00e0 bient\u00f4t\u00a0! Car la sainte esp\u00e9rance<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

France, see you soon! Because the holy hope<\/p>\n

Emplit nos c\u0153urs en te disant\u00a0: adieu<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Fills out hearts by saying to you: Goodbye<\/p>\n

En attendant l’heure de la d\u00e9livrance<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Till comes the hour of relief<\/p>\n

Pour l’avenir… Nous allons prier Dieu<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For the future… We will pray God<\/p>\n

Nos monuments o\u00f9 flottent leur banni\u00e8re<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Our monuments where their banner flutters<\/p>\n

Semble porter le deuil de ton drapeau<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Seem to hold the mourning of your flag<\/p>\n

France, entends-tu la derni\u00e8re pri\u00e8re<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

France, do you hear the last prayer<\/p>\n

De tes enfants couch\u00e9s dans leurs tombeaux?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Of your children lying in their tombs?<\/p>\n

Vous n’aurez pas l’Alsace et la Lorraine<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

You will not have the Alsace and Lorraine<\/p>\n

Et, malgr\u00e9 vous, nous resterons Fran\u00e7ais<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

And, willy-nilly, we will remain French<\/p>\n

Vous avez pu germaniser la Plaine\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You were able to Germanize the Plaine [river]<\/p>\n

Mais notre c\u0153ur, vous ne l’aurez jamais<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But our heart, you will never have<\/p>\n

Eh quoi\u00a0! Nos fils quitteraient leur chaumi\u00e8res<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

So what! Our children left their cottages<\/p>\n

Et s’en iraient grossir vos r\u00e9giments\u00a0!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

To fill the ranks of your regiments!<\/p>\n

Pour \u00e9gorger la France, notre m\u00e8re<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

To slaughter France, our Mother<\/p>\n

Vous armeriez le bras de ses enfants\u00a0!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You could arm our children’s arms<\/p>\n

Vous pouvez leur confier des armes<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You can supply them with weapons<\/p>\n

C’est contre vous qu’elles leur serviront<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It is against you that they will put them to use<\/p>\n

Le jour o\u00f9, las de voir couler nos larmes<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The day when, tired of seeing our tears flow<\/p>\n

Pour nous venger, leurs bras se l\u00e8veront<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

To avenge us, their arms will rise<\/p>\n

Vous n’aurez pas l’Alsace et la Lorraine<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You will not have the Alsace and the Lorraine<\/p>\n

Et, malgr\u00e9 vous, nous resterons Fran\u00e7ais<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

And, willy-nilly, we will remain French<\/p>\n

Vous avez pu germaniser la Plaine<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You could Germanize the\u00a0Plaine [river]<\/p>\n

Mais notre c\u0153ur, vous ne l’aurez jamais<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

But our heart, you will never have<\/p>\n

Ah\u00a0! jusqu’au jour o\u00f9, drapeau tricolore<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Ah! Till the day when, tri-colored flag<\/p>\n

Tu flotteras sur nos murs exil\u00e9s<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You will flutter above our exiled walls<\/p>\n

Fr\u00e8res, \u00e9touffons la haine qui d\u00e9vore<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Brothers, let us stifle the hatred which consumes us<\/p>\n

Et fait bondir nos c\u0153urs inconsol\u00e9s<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

And makes our uncomforted hearts leap up<\/p>\n

Mais le grand jour o\u00f9 la France meurtrie<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

But the day when our bruised France<\/p>\n

Reformera ses nouveaux bataillons<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Will reform its new batalions<\/p>\n

Au cri sauveur jet\u00e9 par la patrie<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

To the salvaging cry uttered out by our nation<\/p>\n

Hommes, enfants, femmes, nous r\u00e9pondrons<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Men, children, women, we will answer<\/p>\n

Vous n’aurez pas l’Alsace et la Lorraine<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You will not have the Alsace and the Lorraine<\/p>\n

Et, malgr\u00e9 vous, nous resterons Fran\u00e7ais<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

And, willy-nilly, we will remain French<\/p>\n

Vous avez pu germaniser la Plaine<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You could Germanize the Plaine [river]<\/p>\n

Mais notre c\u0153ur vous ne l’aurez jamais<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

But our heart, you will never have<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Last week, while evoking\u00a0l’Alsace et la Lorraine, and raising the question of whether they were originally French or German, we characterized the temporary loss of these two territories as provoking to many a French person a corresponding “temporary loss of sanity.” For nearly half a century, a heavy wind of revanchisme (from the word…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":23711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[108,13],"tags":[274442,274444,222,13693,274443,274445,250036,274266,274441,274440,8123],"class_list":["post-18615","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-vocabulary","tag-alsace-and-lorraine","tag-chanson-de-france","tag-chanson-francaise","tag-coluche","tag-film-francais","tag-french-colonial-empire","tag-french-history","tag-histoire-de-france","tag-revanchard","tag-revanchisme","tag-serge-gainsbourg"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t