HUMOR IN TRANSLATION: Voyoucrates send up Sarkozy & Bruni in song
Written by Mark Jensen
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
Immediately following a five-day spectacle that many thought humiliating for France — the visit of Libyan dictator and "Brother Guide" Muammar al-Gaddafi to France to sign contracts amounting to 10 billion euros and lecture the French about the meaning of human rights — recently divorced French President Nicolas Sarkozy changed the subject in short order by visiting Disneyworld on Sat., Dec. 15, in the company of Carla Bruni, the heiress, former model, and pop star whose "Quelqu'un m'a dit" (2002) received air play even on American radio stations usually closed to French-language popular music. -- The moment, ripe for satire and parody, was seized by the Voyoucrates, whose well crafted music video parodying Carla Bruni's hit song has been posted on YouTube.[1] -- A slightly bowdlerized translation is posted below.[2] -- The original French is also posted.[3] -- This satire expresses the exasperation felt by many in France because of the hyper-mediatization of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency....
Ce que Clara a appris de Cécilia... ('What Clara learned from Cécilia...')
2.
[Translation]
PARODY SARKOZY BRUNI by the Voyoucrates
Someone told me Nicolas Sarkozy He's got a big one You should be with him What's more, with Nico You'll only get good reviews On your next albums In pages of Le Figaro And Cécilia [1] told me He still gets it up And Cécilia told me He still gets it up —Could it really be?
He talked about an opening Me, I got it right away Coming off his break-up He was getting together With Parisot [2] Lagarde [3] and Dati [4] There was no photo It's me who wanted that And Cécilia told me He still gets it up And Cécilia told me He still gets it up —Could it really be?
Vacations on a yacht [5] A trip to Libya [6] With his super pals Putin [7] and Gaddafi [8] He takes me to Mickey's The first thing out of bed It's the American dream His megalomania And Cécilia told me He still gets it up And Cécilia told me He still gets it up —Could it really be?
Make us forget about the cold That's killing the homeless And the cost of living All that's so boring Thank you Jacques Séguéla [9] Free advertising like that Is as good breaking records At "La Nuit des publivores" [10] And Cécilia told me He still gets it up And Cécilia told me He still gets it up —Could it really be?
Together! Everything is possible then All together! [11]
NOTES
[1] Cécilia Sarkozy (b. November 12, 1957, Boulogne-Billancourt, France) is a former wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy. The Sarkozys started divorce proceedings on October 10, 2007 and eight days later, the Élysée Palace announced that the couple had separated. Later that day, the palace corrected that announcement by stating that the couple had officially divorced. (Wikipedia)
[2] Laurence Parisot (born on the 31st of August 1959 in Luxeuil-les-Bains, France) has been the head of the French MEDEF employers' union since the 5th of July 2005. She also directs the IFOP poll institute. She became the 276th wealthiest French person after she inherited the Parisot group (first furnishing retail group in France). She is single and has no children. (Wikipedia)
[3] Christine Lagarde (born January 1, 1956) is the current Minister of Finance of France, appointed in June 2007. She was previously Minister of Agriculture and Fishing and Minister of Trade in the government of Dominique de Villepin. Lagarde was the first woman ever to ever become finance minister of a G8 economy. Previous to her appointment as Minister of Finance, Lagarde was ranked the 30th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes Magazine[1]. A noted antitrust and labour lawyer, Lagarde made history as the first female chairman of the international law firm Baker & McKenzie. (Wikipedia)
[4] Rachida Dati (born November 27, 1965, in Saint-Rémy, Burgundy) is a French politician. She holds two nationalities, French and Moroccan (French by jus soli and Moroccan by Jus sanguinis) although she calls herself "a French woman of French origins." She was appointed Minister of Justice on the 18th of May 2007 by Nicolas Sarkozy. She was Nicolas Sarkozy's spokeswoman during the 2007 French presidential election. Rachida Dati is the first woman having a non-European immigrant background and the first Arab to enter a key ministerial position in the French Cabinet. (Wikipedia)
[5] No sooner was Sarkozy elected in May than he left for a two-day vacation on the yacht "Paloma" belonging to French businessman Vincent Bollore.
[6] On July 25, 2007, Sarkozy visited Libya, promising to upgrade relations and increase dealings with Libya in the aftermath of the release of Bulgarian nurses who had been sentenced to death for infecting children with HIV that his then-wife Cécilia helped orchestrate.
[7] Sarkozy has already met with the increasingly dictatorial Russian President Vladimir Putin (born October 7, 1952) twice as president, in June at the G8 summit and in October in Moscow.
[8] Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (born c. 1942) has been the de facto leader of Libya since a 1969 coup. Although Gaddafi holds no public office or title, he is accorded the honorifics "Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" or "Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution" in government statements and the official press. In the days prior to Sarkozy's visit to Eurodisney with Carla Bruni, he was embarrassed by the fallout from the visit to France of Gaddafi making his first official visit to a Western country since his rapprochement with the international community.
[9] Jacques Séguéla (born in Paris on February 23, 1934), is a French publicist who in 1970 founded the advertising agency RSCG, which merged with Eurocom and is now knowns as Havas-Advertising; Séguéla is now its vice president. Séguéla has been well-known in France since his 1979 best-seller * dites pas à ma mère que je suis dans la publicité… elle me croit pianiste dans un bordel* ('Don't tell my Mom I'm in advertising -- she thinks I play the piano in a brothel')
[10] "La Nuit des Publivores," is a montage of commercials from around the world, including Belgium, Switzerland, Lebanon, Canada, French-speaking Africa, and France itself.
[11] "Ensemble tout devient possible" ('Together everything becomes possible') was the official title of Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign.
-- Translated by Mark K. Jensen Associate Professor of French Department of Languages and Literatures Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA 98447-0003 Phone: 253-535-7219 Web page: http://www.plu.edu/~jensenmk/ Email: jensenmk@plu.edu
3.
PARODIE SARKOZY BRUNI par les VOYOUCRATES
[Original]
Il y a quelqu'un qui m'a dit : Nicolas Sarkozy Il a un gros kiki Tu devrais être avec lui En plus avec Nico T'auras que de bonne critiques Sur toutes tes prochaines disques Dans les pages Figaro Et Cécilia m'a dit Qu'il bandait encore Et Cécilia m'a dit Qu'il bandait encore —Serait-ce possible alors ?
Il parlait d'ouverture Moi j'ai tout de suite compris Que de sa rupture Il s'etait déjà mis Entre la Parisot Lagarde et la Dati Il n'y avait pas de photo C'est moi qui l'a choisi Et Cécilia m'a dit Qu'il bandait encore Et Cécilia m'a dit Qu'il bandait encore —Serait-ce possible alors ?
Les vacances sur un yacht Un voyage en Libye Avec ses super potes Poutine et Kadhafi Il m'amène chez Mickey Dès la sortie du lit C'est le rêve américain Sa mégalomanie Et Cécilia m'a dit Qu'il bandait encore Et Cécilia m'a dit Qu'il bandait encore —Serait-ce possible alors ?
Faire oublier le froid Qui tue les sans-abri Et le pouvoir d'achat Tout cela nous ennuie Merci Jacques Séguéla Un coup de pub comme ça Ça vaut tous les records La nuit des publivores Et Cécilia m'a dit Qu'il bandait encore Et Cécilia m'a dit Qu'il bandait encore —Serait-ce possible alors ?
Ensemble ! Tout est possible alors Tous ensemble !
-- Transcribed by Mark K. Jensen Associate Professor of French Department of Languages and Literatures Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA 98447-0003 Phone: 253-535-7219 Web page: http://www.plu.edu/~jensenmk/ Email: jensenmk@plu.edu
