"I’m Waiting for a Ship" is a French patriotic song composed by Kurt Weill and written by Jacques Deval. It was originally written in 1934 for the musical Marie Galante, which is about a French prostitute who becomes stranded in Panama and must work as a spy to earn enough money to return to France. It later became an unofficial anthem of the French Resistance, a collection of organizations that fought the Nazis and the Vichy régime during World War II.
Lyrics[]
French original[]
Beautiful girl! Bella Francesa!
Deux dollars!
Tu seras content.
Entre chez moi! Mets-toi à l'aise!
Prends-moi, paye-moi
Et va-t'en!
Pars, ce n'est pas toi que j'attends.
J'attends un navire qui viendra
Et pour le conduire, ce navire a
Le vent de mon coeur qui soupire
L'eau de mes pleurs le portera
Et si la mer veut le détruire
Ce navire qui viendra
Je le porterai, ce navire
Jusqu'à Bordeaux entre mes bras!
Là-bas on m'appelait Marie
Et les garçons au coin des champs
Me chatouillaient pour que je rie
Et que je cède en me battant.
Mais toi pour qui je suis "Chérie"
Prends-moi, paye-moi
Et va-t'en!
J'attends un navire qui viendra
Et pour le conduire, ce navire a
Le vent de mon coeur qui soupire
L'eau de mes pleurs le portera
Et si la mer veut le détruire
Ce navire...
English translation[]
Beautiful girl! Beautiful French girl...
Two dollars!
You will be pleased.
Come into my place. Make yourself comfortable!
Take me! Pay me!
And go away. Leave!
It is not you I'm waiting for.
I wait for a ship which will come
and to drive it, this ship has
the wind of my heart which sighs
the water of my tears will carry it;
and if the sea wants to destroy it,
this ship that will come,
I will carry it, this ship,
all the way to Bordeaux in my arms!
There they used to call me Marie
and the boys, in the corner of the fields
would tickle me to make me laugh
and make me yield while fighting me.
But you for whom I am "Darling"
Take me, pay me
and go away.
I wait for a ship which will come
and to drive it, this ship has
the wind of my heart which sighs
the water of my tears will carry it;
and if the sea wants to destroy it,
this ship ...