Calling You / L’appel du large
Calling You: The song describes a dilapidated station in the middle of the desert, from which a call of love is sent out. It resonates with the hope of change, of better times experienced together.
L’air du large (the air of the open sea): giving this song a new life in French was first and foremost a matter of finding words for the vibrant call “I-I-I am calling you”. I settled on « L’air du large manque à ma vie »/“The air of the open sea is missing from my life”, the French word « large » being evocative of the vastness of the ocean, of the infinite horizon. From these words flowed the text of the verses: the love call is now sent, in French, from a deserted seaside resort, during off-season; it is carried by the powerful winds of the ocean rather than the scorching winds of the California desert. A different setting for expressing the same solitude, the same longing.
Calling You
Written by
JD Steele, Bob Telson
A desert road from Vegas to nowhere / Someplace better than where you've been / A coffee machine that needs some fixing / In a little café just around the bend
I am calling you / Can’t you hear me? / I am calling you
A hot dry wind blows right through me / The baby's crying so I can't sleep / But we both know the change is coming / Come in closer, sweet release
I am calling you / Can’t you hear me? / I am calling you
I am calling you / Can’t you hear me? / I am calling you
A desert road from Vegas to nowhere / Someplace better than where you've been / A coffee machine that needs some fixing / In a little café just around the bend
A hot dry wind blows right through me / The baby's crying so I can't sleep / But we both know the change is coming / Come in closer, sweet release
I am calling you / Can’t you hear me? / I am calling you
L’air du large
French kiss by
François Godin
Salut, je t’écris d’une station balnéaire / La plage est vide, on est hors-saison / Y a un paquebot perché sur l’horizon / Qui me fait des signes, qui m’envoie la main
​
L’air du large manque à ma vie / Si tu savais comme / L’air du large manque à ma vie
Où t’as appris que c’est pas mieux ailleurs / Et qu’on n’est jamais trop prudents / Ici le vent se rit de nos peurs / On est vastes comme l’océan
L’air du large manque à ma vie / Si tu savais comme / L’air du large manque à ta vie
L’air du large manque à ma vie / Si tu savais comme / L’air du large manque à ta vie / (ajouté :) À notre vie
Salut, je t’écris d’une station balnéaire / La plage est vide, on est hors-saison / Y a un paquebot perché sur l’horizon / Qui me fait des signes, qui m’envoie la main
​
Où t’as appris que c’est pas mieux ailleurs / Et qu’on n’est jamais trop prudents / Ici le vent se rit de nos peurs / On est vastes comme l’océan
L’air du large manque à ma vie / Si tu savais comme / L’air du large manque à ta vie / (ajouté :) À notre vie
Song of the Open Sea
Translation of the
French adaptation
Hey, I’m writing from a seaside resort / The beach is empty, it’s off-season / There’s a liner perched on the horizon / Sending me signals, waving at me
​
I pine for the open sea / If you only knew how / I pine for the open sea
Who told you that it’s not better somewhere else? /And that you can never be too careful / Here the wind laughs at our fears / We are as vast as the ocean
I pine for the open sea / If you only knew how much / I pine for the open sea
I pine for the open sea / If only you knew how much / I pine for the open sea / (added :) Don’t you?
Hey, I’m writing from a seaside resort /The beach is empty, it’s off-season / There’s a liner perched on the horizon / Sending me signals, waving at me
​
Who told you that it’s not better somewhere else? / And that you can never be too careful / Here the wind laughs at our fears / We are as vast as the ocean
I pine for the open sea / If you only knew how / I pine for the open sea / (added :) Don’t you?
The voice/piano demos of the French versions were recorded for the strict purpose of presenting my adaptation work. No public broadcasting or public sharing on social networks, media or any other platform is authorized.
Any recording or public presentation by third parties of the songs in their French version is subject to my authorization as well as that of the rights holders of the original song.
