Les Colocs – Belzebuth (with English translation)

My translation of the song Belzébuth by Les Colocs. It’s sad not to be able to translate how poetic the original is.

I decided not to translate the name Belzebuth into Beelzebub, its litteral translation, because it is a proper name in the song, added to the fact that some lyrics would work less. I also favored feeling over litteral translations.

Belzébuth is a wonderful song about how life is either castratingly quiet, deadly dangerous, or… dead.

For additional context, André (Dédé) Fortin, the writer, composer and lead singer of the group (among other things), the guy on the final picture, killed himself by hara-kiri in 2000.

In my opinion, this song is the best of the group and never got the attention it deserved. I only hope that this translation is apt to transmit what I feel when I listen to it.

Duration : 0:9:27


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Written by rob on February 2nd, 2010 with 25 comments.
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Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com LNTxX1101
#1. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

C’est une belle …
C’est une belle chanson pour mourrir si on peut s’assurer de ne pas mourrir avant la fin…

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Ramoneur69
#2. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

Ça heurte un peu, …
Ça heurte un peu, mais c’est un bel effort de diffusion. Bonne idée !

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com brute18
#3. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

dédé fortin est mon …
dédé fortin est mon idol meme si je ne joue pas la meme muz loll cest mon surnom dans la famille pcq sa toujours été mon mentaur lol

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com maksiiiskam2
#4. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

“Pussy” does not …
“Pussy” does not precisely mean “female cat” (which is what “chatte” means), it is an affectionate word for a cat of either sex.

Perhaps you are referring to the use of “chatte” as a vulgar term for the vagina, for which the best translation is indeed “pussy”, but this is not what “chatte” means in the song.

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com kawaikurokuma
#5. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

@maksiiiskam2 , i …
@maksiiiskam2 , i know i’m a bit late to tell you but…the real translation of “chatte” is “pussy”…litteraly!

i know…i’m a quebequer.

awesome translation!!

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Iamabrawler
#6. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

…super chanson

…super chanson

Et ça rassure de savoir que les 2 dernières minutes ya rien à traduire.

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com SamaelClayman
#7. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

Do you know that …
Do you know that Dédé Fortin from the band Les Colocs was a Quebec Legend
He was…like Kurt Cobain for the States
Both are intense, and had the same ending

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com maksiiiskam2
#8. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

Alors aussi bien …
Alors aussi bien éviter de s’enfarger dans les fleur du tapis et juste entendre comme on entend, comprendre comme on comprend et aimer comme on aime.

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com maksiiiskam2
#9. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

Mais de façon plus …
Mais de façon plus générale, et pour aborder quelque peu dans ton sens, peut-être qu’on ne peut _jamais_ resentir précisément les émotions d’un artiste, parce que plus que les lieux, _toute_ leur vie entre en compte dans leur oeuvre, de leur famille jusqu’à leur éducation, de leur amis jusqu’à leurs amours. On ne comprend sans doute jamais exactement, mais ce nest pas juste à cause du lieu ou de la langue.
(cont)

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com maksiiiskam2
#10. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

Or quelle sont ces …
Or quelle sont ces villes? Les villages de Saint-Thomas-Didyme, et de Normandin suivi de Montréal. As-tu vécu dans ces trois villes? Moi dans aucune. Selon ta logique, on ne peut pas ressentir ses émotions.
(cont)

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com maksiiiskam2
#11. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

Mais, pour suivre …
Mais, pour suivre ta logique, pourquoi est-ce que la _province_ serait le point central pour comprendre les émotions d’un chanteur et non moins restreint comme le continent ou plus restreint comme la ville?

Dans ce dernier cas, ça voudrait dire que tout ceux qui n’ont pas vécu dans les même viles que Dédé ne pourrait pas comprendre.
(cont)

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com maksiiiskam2
#12. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

Je ne vois pas en …
Je ne vois pas en quoi le lieu où on vit aurais tant d’influence que tous les autres seraient incapables de comprendre les émotions: de un de connais sûrement de la musique d’ailleurs que tu comprends, et de deux, les Colocs on déjà joué en Europe et en Ontario, où ils n’ont pas été reçu dans l’incompréhension.
(cont)

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com texaspoke7
#13. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

ouin mais les …
ouin mais les émotion dun chanteur québecquoi on peut po les resentir sa paske chaque place est différente

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com maksiiiskam2
#14. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

I’m beginning to …
I’m beginning to wonder whether you know that “chatte”, in addition to the sexual sense of “vulva”, has the primary sense of “female cat”…

I’m not doing doing any metonimy when I translate “chatte” to “female”: a “chatte” _is_ a female cat, and I chose “female” because the context makes clear that a cat is meant.

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com eirelav103
#15. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

@eirelav103 hard*
@eirelav103 hard*

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com eirelav103
#16. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

:) like I said …
:) like I said before.. I respect you.
you make very good points.. I personally find it had to translate Quebecois… to.. lets say Ebonics in the states.. because I find myself having to clarify Quebecois into proper french .. into proper English.. into Ebonics… its really not all that complex.. takes a few seconds.. to do a sentence.. but.. i doubt that I could properly translate a whole song.. thus I respect you for taking on the challenge.

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com maksiiiskam2
#17. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

I can’t blame the …
I can’t blame the writers for that: customs can be very strong, and choosing between following them or setting the standards for written Québécois involves marketing choices that few publisher would risk themselves in.

And also Michel Tremblay was utter IMO. That probably makes every writer tempted to try to set a written Québécois fear to be compared to him.

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com maksiiiskam2
#18. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

Every novel out …
Every novel out there is actually written in International French, with quebecisms only when there no alternative exists (and often written in italics). Most songs are also in international French, though with notable exceptions: these exceptions, which include Les Colocs, are the entire corpus of Quebec French.
(cont)

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com maksiiiskam2
#19. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

I don’t think any …
I don’t think any language can’t be translated. And conversely, something that can’t be translated is not a language.

The difficulty, I think, is due to there being no convention: Quebec French rarely has to be translated. First, because there is no international demand for it; second, because the literary corpus in Quebec French is _very small_, since the written custom in Quebec is international French.
(cont)

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com eirelav103
#20. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

good vid. I speak …
good vid. I speak french/english… and I can never properly translate …( i think its because Quebecois doesn’t translate…. but ) I respect you for trying ..

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com eirelav103
#21. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

@texaspoke7 :)
@texaspoke7 :) vive le quebec! !

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com fausimo
#22. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

ca se traduit tres …
ca se traduit tres bien. je suis certain que tu connais des chansons anglophones, que tu connais pas les paroles pis tu ten fout, ca sonne bien, pis le jour ou tu apprend les paroles, la chanson est tellent meilleure bin c ca

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com maksiiiskam2
#23. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

Toutes les langues …
Toutes les langues sont nées quelque part et on trouve quand même des traductions de chacune d’entre elles.

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com texaspoke7
#24. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

sa se traduit pas …
sa se traduit pas les colocs ses du lanquage qui est né icite au québec !!!!!

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com SecuritySim05
#25. February 2nd, 2010, at 4:03 PM.

admetton dans un …
admetton dans un quebecois encore une fois chatte veux dire femme car femme est egale a vagin admetons , mais si tu y vas avec les gens qui vienne de la bauce ou du lac st-jean il parles de la femmme comme une plotte , par exemple : ta tu vu la plote labas la , ( comprend tu que je suis daccord avec vous sur le fait que chatte est un organnne et peux etre traduit par femmme mais pas la a dire femele non ? quand je disait admettons quellqu’un dirais bring me some , emene moi des femme

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