Comment Te Dire Adieu (How to Say Goodbye)
“Comment Te Dire Adieu” is a French adaptation of the English language song "It Hurts to Say Goodbye" written by Arnold Goland and Jack Gold and originally recorded by Margaret Whiting (1966) and Vera Lynn (1967). Many subsequent covers have been made in both English and French.
Françoise Hardy reportedly heard an American instrumental version of the song and her manager asked Serge Gainsbourg to write lyrics for the original melody, with Hardy recording it in 1968 as the lead song on an album of the same name. The French title shifted from “It Hurts to Say…” to “Comment Te Dire Adieu” ("How to Say Goodby”). The album carries a striking charcoal drawing of Hardy by Jean-Paul Goude as cover art. Goude later became Art Director at Esquire and much else.
“Comment Te Dire Adieu” is a French adaptation of the English language song "It Hurts to Say Goodbye" written by Arnold Goland and Jack Gold and originally recorded by Margaret Whiting (1966) and Vera Lynn (1967). Many subsequent covers have been made in both English and French.
Françoise Hardy reportedly heard an American instrumental version of the song and her manager asked Serge Gainsbourg to write lyrics for the original melody, with Hardy recording it in 1968 as the lead song on an album of the same name. The French title shifted from “It Hurts to Say…” to “Comment Te Dire Adieu” ("How to Say Goodby”). The album carries a striking charcoal drawing of Hardy by Jean-Paul Goude as cover art. Goude later became Art Director at Esquire and much else.
Jean-Paul Goude, Album Cover, 1968
Gainsbourg’s verbal fingerprints are all over this piece, as we also see with “La Javanaise” that he wrote for Juliette Greco. The extraordinary frequency of the letters and sounds of “ex” and “eu” in the lyrics are characteristic of his games with words and sounds that syncopate the music, but they don’t carry over into the English translation. One supposes that the “ex” words are a reference to a former (“ex”) lover to whom she wants to say goodbye. Gainsbourg’s gymnastics in shoehorning many “ex” and “eu” words into the lyrics is clever but hardly simplifies comprehension since the primary virtue of some words lies in their “ex,” which makes effective translation “ex”tremely challenging. Hardy does a nice job in her performance dealing with the unusual articulation of the words and the bouncy pop orchestration of the melody. I have tried below to present the French lyrics the way Françoise sings them, but it’s difficult to render the English translation side-by-side.
Gainsbourg’s verbal fingerprints are all over this piece, as we also see with “La Javanaise” that he wrote for Juliette Greco. The extraordinary frequency of the letters and sounds of “ex” and “eu” in the lyrics are characteristic of his games with words and sounds that syncopate the music, but they don’t carry over into the English translation. One supposes that the “ex” words are a reference to a former (“ex”) lover to whom she wants to say goodbye. Gainsbourg’s gymnastics in shoehorning many “ex” and “eu” words into the lyrics is clever but hardly simplifies comprehension since the primary virtue of some words lies in their “ex,” which makes effective translation “ex”tremely challenging. Hardy does a nice job in her performance dealing with the unusual articulation of the words and the bouncy pop orchestration of the melody. I have tried below to present the French lyrics the way Françoise sings them, but it’s difficult to render the English translation side-by-side.
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Sous aucun prétexte,
je ne veux Avoir de réflexes malheureux. Il faut que tu m'ex…pliques un peu mieux Comment te dire adieu Mon cœur de silex vite prend feu Ton cœur de pyrex résiste au feu Je suis bien perplexe, je ne veux Me résoudre aux adieux. Je sais bien qu'un ex…. amour N'a pas de chance ou si peu. Mais pour moi Une ex…plication vaudrait mieux Sous aucun prétexte, je ne veux Devant toi surex…poser mes yeux. Derrière un Kleenex, je saurais mieux Comment te dire adieu Comment te dire adieu Tu as mis à l'index Nos nuits blanches Nos matins gris-bleu Mais pour moi Une ex…plication vaudrait mieux. Sous aucun prétexte, je ne veux Devant toi sur…exposer mes yeux. Derrière un Kleenex, je saurais mieux Comment te dire adieu Comment te dire adieu Comment te dire adieu |
Under no circumstance,
do I want To have unfortunate responses. You've got to ex…plain a bit better to me How to tell you goodbye My flinty heart quickly catches fire Your pyrex heart resists fire I'm very confused, I don't want To resign myself to goodbyes. I do know that an ex… love Has no chance, or little. But for me An e…xplanation would be worth more Under no circumstance do I want To overex…pose my eyes before you. Behind a Kleenex, I'd know better How to say goodbye How to say goodbye You’ve banned Our sleepless nights Our grey-blue mornings But to me An ex…planation would be better. Under no circumstance do I want To over ex…pose my eyes before you. Behind a Kleenex, I'd know better How to say goodbye How to say goodbye How to say goodbye |
NB:
- “Comment te dire adieu:” the title of this song is often translated as “It Hurts to Say Goodbye,” but that is the original English title for which a French translation would be “Il Fait Mal de Dire Adieu.” The accurate translation of the French title in English is “How To Tell You/or Say Goodbye.”
- “de reflexes malheureux” is usually translated in English as “reflexes” but I prefer “responses” as more understandable in English.
- “mettre a l’index:” blacklist, forbid, exclude, ban.
- “nuits blanches:” sleepless nights.
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