Mieux vaut n'penser à rien que n'pas penser du tout. Stacey Kent. Ces Petits Riens. These Little things . Serge Gainsbourg . In Paris. In Love . Full of sound and Fury, signifying Nothing

 I am at a farm just a few miles out of Miami. It is absolutely quiet here, no traffic , no noise, surrounded by parcels of fields cultivating mainly decorative plants attended by migrants from Mexico and Central America, with some very distinct Indian faces. So different is this slow paced life from the aggressive, Cuban dominated, noisy life of Miami, only 25 minutes away by car.

Even in this isolation, wifi is available and Spotify to listen to, and spending this lazy afternoon, listening to songs, old and new, selected for me by the streaming service, whose algorithm seem to know my brain!

Ces Petits Reins

I have had heard this song before 

Stacey Kent 

very good French pronunciation (makes me feel jealous!)(she is American but very popular in France, Germany and other parts of Europe)

I read the lyrics in English, an extraordinary talent of love, luck and desperation should have written these lyrics, I thought

Who wrote the lyrics 

50 years ago 

Serge Gainsbourg

French man of arts..

20 years after his death, he is larger than ever in France. English speaking music lovers in the periphery of the English speaking world (think of us in the Antipodes) heard of him through a song he had recorded with his muse, above, Jane Birkin. 

Ces petits riens

Stacey Kent

Better not to think of anything than not to think at all.
Mieux vaut n'penser à rien que n'pas penser du tout.

Nothing is already, nothing is already a lot.
Rien c'est déjà, rien c'est déjà beaucoup.

We remember nothing, since we forget everything.
On se souvient de rien, puisqu'on oublie tout.

Nothing is much better, nothing is much better than everything.
Rien c'est bien mieux, rien c'est bien mieux que tout.

Better to think of nothing than to think of yourself.
Mieux vaut n'penser à rien que de penser à vous.

It's not worth anything, it's not worth anything to me at all.
Ça ne vaut rien, ça ne m'vaut rien du tout.

As if nothing had happened, I think of all
Comme si de rien n'était, je pense à tous

These little things that came to me from you.
Ces petits riens qui me venaient de vous.

If it was three times nothing, three times nothing between us
Si c'était trois fois rien, trois fois rien entre nous

Obviously, that's not a lot.
Evidemment, ça ne fait pas beaucoup.

These are the little things that I put end to end
Ce sont ces p'tits riens que j'ai mis bout à bout

These little things that came to me from you.
Ces petits riens qui me venaient de vous.

Better to cry at nothing than to laugh at everything.
Mieux vaut pleurer de rien que de rire de tout.

Crying for nothing is already a lot
Pleurer pour un rien, c'est déjà beaucoup

But you, you have nothing in your heart and I confess
Mais vous, vous n'avez rien dans le cœur et j'avoue

I envy you, I hate you a lot.
Je vous envie, je vous en veux beaucoup.

These are the little things that came to me from you.
Ce sont ces p'tits riens qui me venaient de vous.

Do you want them?
Les voulez-vous ?

Hold !
Tenez !

What do you want ?
Que voulez-vous ?

Me, I do not want anything in the world, nothing more from you.
Moi, je n'veux pour rien au monde, plus rien de vous.

To be yours, you have to be half crazy.
Pour être à vous, faut être à moitié fou.

These are the little things that came to me from you.
Ce sont ces p'tits riens qui me venaient de vous.

Do you want them?
Les voulez-vous ?

Hold !
Tenez !

What do you want ?
Que voulez-vous ?

Me, I do not want anything in the world, nothing more from you.
Moi, je n'veux pour rien au monde, plus rien de vous.

To be yours, you have to be half crazy.
Pour être à vous, faut être à moitié fou.