Jacques Brel - The Lock Keeper

jacques brel - l'éclusier
Original Title: "L'éclusier"
Year: 1968

The bargemen see me getting older
I see the bargemen getting older
We play the game of the stupids
Where the motionless is the oldest
In my craft even during the summer
You have to travel eyes closed
It's not a small task to be a lock keeper

The bargemen know my mug
They tease me and they are in the wrong
Half sorcerer half drunkard
I cast a spell to everything that sings
In my craft, it's during the fall
You pick the apples and the drowned
It's not a small task to be a lock keeper

In its basket, a child squints
to see the fly that is on his nose
Mom purrs the time sighs
The cabbage sweats, the fire grumbles
In my craft, it's during the winter
That you think of the father who drowned himself
It's not a small task to be a lock keeper

Towards the spring, the bargewomen
Put on airs for me from their barge
I'd enjoy their games without this war
That roughed me up a little too much
In my craft, it's during the spring
One takes the time to drown oneself.

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