[Orelsan - Manifeste/ English Translation]
[Intro]
When my boy Mickey arranged to meet me in Paris
He forgot to tell me for a fucking demo
What the hell am I doing in a fucking demo?
I’m not concerned by the society, I’m a fucking artist
[Verse 1]
I haven’t protest since high school, I only demonstrated in order to skip classes
And if you want the truth, I think demos are lame
I think about that while I walk next to a nurse’s flash mob
Surrounded by hicks a bit politically aware
Who use megaphones to shout banalities
I think that if hanging in groups and singing was enough
I would have changed the world for a long time
I don’t manage to find Mickey who only tеxted me once
It says “I’m at Républiquе, near the subway”
Between parenthesis, “I’m with France, Fredo’s sister”
Between parenthesis, “Don’t tell anyone, I’m trying to pick her up”
After a big game of “Where’s Wally?”
I find Mickey wearing a “Wish” Spider-man costume
His pockets are full of big Heineken
He offers one, I refuse because it’s only 11AM
He blinks discretely at me, shows me a smoke grenade
He’s excited by the demo and the mood around
The police, the barricades, the big Parisian streets
It excites him, he feels like if he was appearing on BFM
I tell him that I don’t understand why he watches this channel
While he always tells me that they lie and they make him angry
He tells me that he listens to it in the background, so he’s not alone
And anyway, he always does something else meanwhile
Like sharing bottom-end conspiracy stuff
To which I answer “ah ah” while in reality I don’t watch it
I persuade myself that in reality he doesn’t believe in it
It’s just that his life is less dull with a bit of drama
Anyway, the cortege is about to leave
And I’m about to leave the cortege
Except that France introduced us her hot friend Mathilde
Mickey don’t believe in the COVID, so he tries “la bise”
She just dodges him, we walk following the drums beat
Samba do Brazil mood, performed by hippies with no rhythm
There are employees, teachers, like in my family parties
They shout lame slogan about ministers or I don’t know who
[Bridge]
I’m in the demo
I’m in the demo
[Verse 2]
I’m taking advantage of the event to get closer with Mathilde
She says she knows France because she lived in Caen but then she fled
Half blogger, half journalist
Exactly the kind of girl that annoy me and attract me
That gives herself airs of demonstrator with a tiny “whore” vibe
If I have to describe her: “2021”
She says that if her career goes well she could be at “Quotiden”
For now, she reads “Pure People” everyday
I don’t know if it’s the “demo” mood
But Mathilde and I are soon starting to debate
About a mix of “gender fluid”, “Ouighours” and “vegans”
So, basically, a lot of topics I know nothing about
That she recites by heart
Not only I don’t have any arguments, she’s more intelligent than I am
I feel attacked, I am hypocritical
I say two or three reactionary things, she ignores me, she takes snaps
Anyway, I have a girlfriend, anyway, I don’t belong here
I catch Mickey, tell him I’m leaving
He’s disappointed, we never see each other’s anymore
He offers a beer, 1PM, I start to drink
Fifteen minutes later, I start having fun
What’s nice about Mickey is that he’s always himself
It’s like we are 18 again, we never split
We’re telling lame jokes, the kind you can’t tweet
We’re next to the “Olympia” when I’m thinking about something
I ask Mickey “Why are we protesting again?”
He answers “Ask France, I’m mostly here to pick her up”
I go toward France whom I know a bit, she’s Fredo’s sister
Out of politeness, I ask her how she’s doing
She says she’s doing well
I directly understand she’s not doing well
I haven’t seen her for 10 years, she looks 20-years older
She says that she stays in Caen because her parents are there
She’d gladly leave, but it’s better for her son to stay
Her husband left with another girl from another unit
It’s better like that, he was really possessive
And anyway, she works all the time, she doesn’t have the time to be sad
It’s crazy how she’s open
She tells me that she barely sees anyone new so she enjoys the moment
She tells me about her days, she feeds people, she cleans bed
She’s a nurse, a maid and a psychologist at the same time
In the end, wash elderly, it’s not that hard
Because it makes her happy to make people happy
At first, it’s weird to be with senile people
That you get used of the fact death could be a part of your life
She says she’s not working at night anymore, she’s exhausted
The problem with temporary work is to take a loan
She explains that to be a mother with a SMIC
It’s an art, you have to switch to “Survival” mode
It takes time and effort to be broken
To calculate your budget down to the last penny
To be captive of stress
The threat of the court bailiff on the shoulders
The overdrafts, the debts, the fear of letterboxes
She tells me her life wasn’t perfect
But now she has to worry about her pension on top of that
And that’s why we’re here
That’s why we’re protesting against those sons of bitches in the government
[Bridge]
I’m in the demo
Wow, ho, hey
[Verse 3]
I think Mickey is really high as he lays into a scooter
Mathilde make a story out of it “Congrats France, your new boyfriend”
4PM, a “brats that haven’t had a nap” kind of mood
We shuffle along, we run around (who, oh)
I don’t know if it’s the smoke of if the atmosphere became thick
Nothing progress, people start losing their nerves
Insults replaces songs, that have nothing to do with France’s pension
Of course no one respects the preventive measures anymore
Just some dudes that make big gestures and throw fences
One lands in a Franprix behind
Some guys wearing balaclavas rush the window to destroy it
Mickey dive into the breach
He comes back a minute later full of beers, like in Fort Boyard
I just have the time to shout “cops are coming”
A cop wearing plain clothes tries to tackle him, Mickey dodges him gorgeously
The cop falls like a shit against an electric pole
Stumbles over his baton, it becomes a comedy
The cop rolls up
Mickey throw a beer in his face, we hide in the crowd
Mathilde exults because she filmed it all
And by the way people are already retweeting
It doesn’t sound good; I think it’s the moment to flee
The problem is: we lost France, she must regret taking a day off
One hour after, everything went mad
Cars on the back, tear gas starts to sting
I still don’t know where France is
I have to handle Mickey, who is drunk, that tries his best to appear on TV
When I see Mathilde, crying, who looks terrified
I bring her somewhere calm so she can explain
She mumbles stuff about her image and her career
Her tweet buzzed, but not in the right way
Used by assholes like Valeurs Actuelles
So the opposite of Mathilde and her moral
In fact, as Mickey is a bit tanned
They used the tweet to report the wrongdoings of people from ghettos
Where he never went, if I have to clarify
They say that’s what the journalist wanted to denounce
She was unlucky about the end of the video
Because we can see two white girls, one saying “Thanks France”
It became a racist hashtag, #ThanksFrance
In reality, I think it’s a bit funny when I- huh
I get hit in the hips, and – huh – I get hit in the leg
I’m facing two cops, including the one from the video
Mickey catches my arm and shout “Go away, now”
I run, limping, walk five meters, fall flat on my stomach
I look back, panting, I saw Mickey, his smoke grenade
Facing the cop from the video, who draws his Flash-Ball
There’s like space-time hole
[Verse 4]
I see the cop’s face deformed by hatred
I think that he’s thinking of the meme where Spider-Man swept him like a shit
He’s probably thinking that he works for France, not to be humiliated by it
I’m telling to myself that maybe the beer in the face wasn’t mandatory
I see Mickey with his smoke grenade who feels ten feet tall, he must imagine himself on BFM
Or maybe he imagines nothing as he drank fifteen Heineken
I hear a gunshot
Mickey stumble right on time, the shot comes within a meter
His shitty smoke grenade puts out before he even threw it
A body falls on the floor near me, blood comes out of the head
I recognize France, she won’t have her pension
