Adventures in Translation

French music is infinitely more lovely and poetic than American. (Perhaps this is because French music concentrates on love, while Americans like lust. Just a thought.) Carla Bruni is probably the most familiar of les femmes Francaises (besides being Carla Bruni, she is also First-Lady Mrs. Sarkozy), and Quelqu'un m'a dit is, according to iTunes, her most famous song. (The 500 Days of Summer soundtrack popularized it, I believe.) Anyway, my quite non-Francophone friend Jon asked me to translate it; armed with a Fr-Eng dictionary and four years of French classes, I commenced. These are some of my favorite song lyrics. Naturally, it rhymes in French while in English, not-so-much. My favorite French couplet from this song is: On me dit que le destin se moque bien de nous; qu'il ne nous donne rien, et qu'il nous promet tout. (That would be the first two lines of the second verse.) Anyway, voila:

It is said that our lives are not worth much;
They pass in an instant like fading roses.
It is said that Time is a bastard, making a coat of our sorrows.
Yet, somebody told me that you still loved me.
So, would that be possible?

It is said that fate mocks us,
That it gives us nothing and promises us everything.
When happiness seems at hand, we reach out and find that we are fools.
Yet, somebody told me that you still loved me.
So, would that be possible?

So, who is this that tells me that you still love me?
I can no longer remember; it was late at night.
I can still hear the voice, but have forgotten the face:
"He loves you, it's secret, don't tell him I told you."
Yes! Somebody told me that you still loved me.
Would that be possible?