Sweet France by Charles Trénet

I love French songs and i will be sharing with you from time to time French songs that have marked their générations.

Here is a French song that makes me feel all is okay in the world for a few minutes. You'll find the
translation in English below. Douce France (Sweet France) is a very famous song composed by Charles Trénet, a french artiste who interpreted it for the first time in 1943, in front of French prisoners in Berlin.

Douce France is a song full of nostalgie, intended at sweetening the sufferings of the French people during the World War II. During the second World War, Trenet performed in front of a public often consisting of German officers and soldiers. The collaborationist press tried to compromise his name and published that his family name "Trenet" was the anagram of "Netter" – a Jewish name.

He was able to show his family tree to the authorities, proving that he had no Jewish origin. This acte of self-defence was held against him long after the war. Like many other artists of the time, he chose to go on entertaining the occupying forces rather than sacrifice his career. He agreed, when asked by the Germans, to go and sing for the French prisoners in Germany.

The Épuration légale (legal purge), the wave of official trials that followed the Liberation of France and the fall of the Vichy Regime, examined whether Trenet was guilty of collaboration but the inquiry resulted in a mere reprimand without any further consequences.

Sweet France by Charles Trenet

It’s coming back to my mind,
Familiar memories
I see my black smock again
When I was a school boy
On the way to school
I used to sing out loud
Romances with no lyrics
Songs from yesteryears

Sweet France
Dear country from my childhood
Lulled by sweet ‘carefreeness’
I’ve kept you in my heart!
My village with its nice church tower and houses
Where children my age
Have shared my happiness
Yes I love you
And I’m giving you this poem
Yes I love you
In joy and in sorrow

Sweet France
Dear country from my childhood
Lulled by sweet ‘carefreeness’
I’ve kept you in my heart!
I’ve seen landscapes
And marvelous suns
Along my far-away journeys
Far away under other skies
But how much do I prefer
My blue sky, my horizon
My big road and my river
My meadow and my home

Sweet France
Dear country from my childhood
Lulled by sweet ‘carefreeness’
I’ve kept you in my heart!
My village with its nice church tower and houses
Where children my age
Have shared my happiness
Yes I love you
And I’m giving you this poem
Yes I love you
In joy and in sorrow

Sweet France
Dear country from my childhood
Lulled by sweet ‘carefreeness’
I’ve kept you in my heart!

NEW WORDS

*génération - generation
*douce France - sweet France
*artiste - artiste
*nostalgie - nostalgie
*acte - act
*épuration légale - legal purge