Chanson / Rock
Album: La rockeuse de diamants.
Wikipédia:
Catherine Lara (born Catherine Bodet; 29 May 1945) is a French violinist, composer and singer.
Catherine Baudet was born in Poissy, near Paris, the daughter of a doctor (and amateur violinist). Her mother brought up Catherine, her sister and two brothers in a musical household. Catherine started playing the violin at age 11 and entered the conservatoire at Versailles, leaving two years later with a first prize in 1966.
She played and composed for famous singers before starting to sing herself. Her first album, Ad libitum was released in 1972. Since her 1979 album Coup d'feel, her songs are more influenced by rock music. The 1983 album La Rockeuse de diamant provided a major success with the single "La Rockeuse de diamant", and a daring song with "Autonome", in which she says : "[I'm] free to love a woman or a man". In 1986, she made a breakthrough with the single "Nuit magique" written by Luc Plamondon, her biggest hit that brought her fame and made her win a Victoires de la Musique (French Grammy Awards) for best female singer of the year. She published her autobiography in 1987, L'Aventurière de l'archet perdu. She was named Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 1990.
Still with Plamondon, she worked on a rock opera where she embodied female writer George Sand, titled Sand et les Romantiques in 1991. As a part of the show, she released a duet with her friend Véronique Sanson, entitled "Entre elle et moi".
She takes part in charity tours for Les Restos du coeur, alongside French rock stars Johnny Hallyday, Eddy Mitchell and Jean-Jacques Goldman, as well as Sidaction and Sol En Si. In 2002, she composed a song for the France national football team, to be sung by Johnny Hallyday. The same year Lara was named Officer of the Ordre de la Légion d'honneur.
Ils sont ma Mecque, ma seule folie
Quand j'les vois sous toutes leurs facettes
Taillés en roses ou en navettes
J'ai comme un frisson dans le dos
C'est mon point faible, c'est mon crédo
Je suis la rockeuse de diamants
Au fond du cuir noir de mon gant
Je suis la rockeuse de diam
Je suis la rockeuse de diam
Je suis la rockeuse de diamants
J' passe ma vie chez les diamantaires
Qui brillent de Paris à Anvers
Sur ma poitrine coulent des rivières
Mais je m'préfère en solitaire
Je roule mon caillou dans mon gant
C'est mon piment, mon élément
Je suis la rockeuse de diamants
Au fond du cuir noir de mon gant
Je suis la rockeuse de diam
Je suis la rockeuse de diam
Je suis la rockeuse de diamants
À moi les carrières du Congo
Attention, drageuse de joyaux
Gare aux carats des pierres précieuses
Je prendrai l'âme cambrioleuse
La kallista, l'étoile polaire
C'est mon combat, mon univers
Je suis la rockeuse de diamants
Au fond du cuir noir de mon gant
Je suis la rockeuse de diam
Je suis la rockeuse de diam
Je suis la rockeuse de diamants
Diamond digger rocker girl
I sleep with them, I dream of them,
they are my Mecca1, my only extravagance.
When I see them with all their facets,
in their rose or navette cuts,
it sends shivers down my spine.
That's my soft spot, that's my credo.
I am the diamond digger2
clasped in the black leather of my glove.
I'm the diamond digger
I'm the diamond rocker
I'm the diamond digging rocker girl
I spend my life in diamond shops
that sparkle from Paris to Anvers.
necklaces like rivers3 on my chest,
but I look best when wearing solitaires.
I roll my stone between my gloved fingers4,
That's my spice, my element.
I am the diamond digger
clasped in the black leather of my glove.
I'm the diamond digger
I'm the diamond rocker
I'm the diamond digging rocker girl
Quarries of the Gongo, here I come!
Watch out, jewel digger in sight
Beware of the precious stones' carats5
The kallista6, the North Star
That's my struggle, my universe
I am the diamond digger
clasped in the black leather of my glove.
I'm the diamond digger
I'm the diamond rocker
I'm the diamond digging rocker girl
Translator's comments:
1. that sounds like a feminine version of "mon mec" (my guy/boyfriend)
2. "croqueuse"(muncher) and "rockeuse"(rocker [girl]) sound exactly the same except for the initial 'c'. A "croqueuse de diamant"(diamond muncher) is a "gold digger", but changing diamonds for gold would have required a bit too much adaptation. The pun does not extend beyond the catch phrase anyway, the song has noting to do with seduction for money.
3. diamond necklaces are called "rivers" in French
4. at least that's how I picture this strange metaphor...
5. whatever that might mean...
6. apart from the first name meaning "most beautiful", I have no idea what she means by that
Thanks to Petitélève on LyricsTranslate.