Romeo digs Juliet - Grand Corps Malade

Romeo lives on the ground floor of building 3
Juliet, in the building opposite, on the top floor
Both are 16 and every day, when they see each other
There grows in their eyes a desire to share things
It’s on their first date that they take that step
Under a sad autumn sky that rains on their bodies
They kiss like crazy, unafraid of the wind or the cold
For love has its reasons that the seasons don’t understand

Romeo digs Juliet, Juliet digs Romeo
And if the sky is not clement, too bad for the weather
A love in the storm – that of the gods, that of men –
A love, courage and two unconventional kids

Juliet and Romeo often meet each other in secret
They’re not the only ones who could get made fun of

Because Juliet’s father wears a kippa on his head
And Romeo’s father goes to mosque every day
So they lie to their families, they plan it all like pros,
If there’s no place for their love, they make themselves a setting
They love each other in the cinema, at friend’s, on the metro,
For love has its houses which parents don’t understand

Romeo digs Juliet, Juliet digs Romeo
And if the sky is not clement, too bad for the weather
A love in the storm – that of the gods, that of men –
A love, courage and two unconventional kids

Romeo’s father is angry and suspicious
“Juliet’s family is Jewish, you mustn’t go near her”
But Romeo argues back and stands up to the pressure
“Dad, who cares if she’s a Jew–look how beautiful she is”
So their love remains secret behind his father’s back,
He gives her all he can with whatever he has
For her it’s sandwiches at the Kebab shop and cheeseburgers at MacDo
For love has its bonds which money doesn’t understand

Romeo digs Juliet, Juliet digs Romeo
And if the sky is not clement, too bad for the weather
A love in the storm – that of the gods, that of men –
A love, courage and two unconventional kids

Things get complicated when Juliet’s father
Comes across messages he should never have read
A text on her iphone and an instant message chat
The sentence is passed: she’s not allowed out.
Romeo struggles in the hall of buiding 3
Despite his mate Mercutio, his happiness is fading
His princess is very close, but detained under her roof
For love has its prisons which Reason dishonours
But Juliet and Romeo change the story and get out of there
Like they loved each other more in life than in death
No vials of cyanide, whether Shakespeare likes it or not
For love has its horizons which poisons don’t understand

Romeo digs Juliet, Juliet digs Romeo
And if the sky is not clement, too bad for the weather
A love in the storm – that of the gods, that of men –
A love, courage and two unconventional kids

Romeo digs Juliet, Juliet digs Romeo
And if the sky is not clement, too bad for the weather
A love in a reactionary and contemptuous storm
A love and two children ahead of their time.

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Grand Corps Malade (Fabien Marsaud) (born 1977) France
Translated by Emily
Source: A Poem For Every Day