Nana Mouskouri — Mississippi Blues song lyrics and translation
The page contains the lyrics and English translation of the song "Mississippi Blues" by Nana Mouskouri.
Lyrics
Quand le blues était vivant
A la Nouvelle-Orléans,
Qu’on chantait la Terre promise
Dans le calme des églises
Sur le Mississippi, des noirs, dans un orchestre,
Jouaient du banjo pour amuser leurs maîtres
Ni grands virtuoses ni vrais chanteurs
Mais c'était quelque chose et ça venait du c ur
Dos qui casse à force de creuser des trous
Le maître a le maïs et l’esclave le bambou
Le soleil est si chaud qu’il t’a marqué le cou
Tu vis courbé mais tu chantes debout
Quand Sarah avait trois ans,
Son papa lui chantait souvent
Les vieux gospels du pays
Et Sarah chantait avec lui
«Swanee River», «Susannah don’t you cry»,
«Old Kentucky home», «Louisiana good bye»
Ni grands virtuoses ni vrais chanteurs
Mais c'était quelque chose et ça venait du c ur
Moi, je pense quelquefois
A ces mille et mille voix
Qui pour toujours se sont tues
Mais qui chantent encore. Entends-tu
L'âme du Sud
Dans la chorale de Saint- Louis
La servitude,
Le coton et l’autre vie?
Lyrics translation
When the blues were alive
In New Orleans,
That we were singing The Promised Land
In the quiet of the churches
On the Mississippi, Blacks, in an orchestra,
Played banjo to amuse their masters
Neither great virtuosos nor real singers
But it was something and it came from the heart
Back that breaks through digging holes
Master has corn and slave bamboo
The sun is so hot that it has marked your neck
You live bent but you sing standing
When Sarah was three years old,
Her dad often sang to her
The old gospels of the country
And Sarah sang with him
"Swanee River", " Susannah don't you cry»,
"Old Kentucky home", " Louisiana good bye»
Neither great virtuosos nor real singers
But it was something and it came from the heart
I sometimes think
To these thousand and Thousand Voices
Who have forever killed themselves
But still singing. Do you hear
The soul of the South
In the choir of Saint-Louis
Easement,
Cotton and the other life?