The Deserter

Soundcloud. My translation of the original, militant and anti-militarist version, of the song Le Deserteur by Boris Vian. 


C Em Edim7 DM 
Mister President, I'm writing you a letter,
G7 Am7 C D7 G7
that you might know me better, With these verses that I’ve sent
C Em Edim7 DM 
This morning through my door there fell the orders telling me
G7 Am D7 G7 C
Where I must go, where I must be to serve you in your war.
F Am B7 Em
Dear sirs who rule the earth this war is not for me
Edim7 Dm7 D9 G7
Your killing cannot be the purpose of my birth.
C Em A#dim Dm
I bear you no ill will but you should know that men like me
Fm C D7 G7 C
Think war is just stupidity and man has had his fill.

I've felt the pains of war: my father followed orders
And died, just like my brothers. Their kids they hardly saw.
Mothers with swollen eyes weep while the rich, not hearing,-
Too busy profiteering! - grow fat on crimes and lies.
When I was in the hole my wife, she found another,
She who was my children’s mother, and it tore away my soul
So now I'll slam my door, on all those years of sorrow,
And starting from tomorrow, I'll sleep at home no more.

I'll beg my way around and tell all people that I find
Until I've told all human kind that life is ours to live.
"Refuse to go to war, refuse to obey orders,
Do not commit their murders, desert and fight no more."
And if you have lust for blood then let the blood be yours
For yours are all the bloody wars, dear sirs who rule the earth.
And if send out your jackboots, it’s fair that they be warned
That I have kept my arms, and that I know how to shoot. 
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