"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait
Ni le mal
Tout ça m'est bien égal
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
C'est payé, balayé, oublié
Je me fous du passé
Avec mes souvenirs
J'ai allumé le feu
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
Je n'ai plus besoin d'eux
Balayé les amours
Avec leurs trémolos
Balayé pour toujours
Je repars à zéro
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait
Ni le mal
Tout ça m'est bien égal
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Car ma vie
Car mes joies
Aujourd'hui
Ça commence avec toi
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait
Ni le mal
Tout ça m'est bien égal
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
C'est payé, balayé, oublié
Je me fous du passé
Avec mes souvenirs
J'ai allumé le feu
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
Je n'ai plus besoin d'eux
Balayé les amours
Avec leurs trémolos
Balayé pour toujours
Je repars à zéro
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait
Ni le mal
Tout ça m'est bien égal
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Car ma vie
Car mes joies
Aujourd'hui
Ça commence avec toi
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery, edited by meaning600
Non, je ne regrette rien Lyrics as written by Michel Vaucaire Charles Dumont
Lyrics © SEMI, Peermusic Publishing, Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Hi, I have created a singable English translation. I tried to keep true to the meaning of the text, while also respecting the rhyme scheme.
The effect of retaining the rhyme scheme is most evident in my version of the lines:
"C'est payé, balayé, oublié Je me fous du passé"
Obviously, there are no four rhyming words in English with those meanings. So I searched for four words that, together, could give the general sense of those lines.
I also took liberties with the rhythm. I prefer to change the number of syllables in a given line (and therefore, the details of the rhythm) rather than distort the English in order to match another language's pattern of syllables. In other words, I prefer translations that are singable and give mostly the same sense as the original, to those that try to keep the exact syllable count as in the original. To each our own priorities, huh?
You can hear the rhythms I intend on a video of me singing the song (with my English lyrics shown on-screen). It's a birthday gift to my wife, here:
pamsbirthday.com
Here are the lyrics:
No, nothing at all I regret nothing at all Not the praise I’ve received, nor the blame It’s now all the same!
No, nothing at all I regret nothing at all It’s left behind, it’s out of mind, poured-out wine; To the past I’m now blind!
My old pleasures and pains, I no longer require; My old memories and thoughts, I throw into the fire.
Swept away, my old loves With our unsteady hearts, Swept away for all time Now I make a clean start!
No, nothing at all I regret nothing at all Not the praise I’ve received, nor the blame It’s now all the same!
No, nothing at all I regret nothing at all ‘Cause my joys, my life, too: On this day are beginning with you!
Doug Lipman (StoryDynamics.com)