“Amsterdam” (Also called “The Port of Amsterdam) is one of Belgian singer Jacques Brel’s (1929 – 1978) most famous songs after “Ne me quitte pas”. The song’s lyrics recount the exploits or sailors on shore leave in Amsterdam.
The port of Amsterdam
Amsterdam lyrics (original French with English translation)
Lyrics translated by: David Issokson
Dans le port d’Amsterdam
Y’a des marins qui chantent
Les rêves qui les hantent
Au large d’Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who sing
Dreams that haunt them
Off the coast of Amsterdam
Dans le port d’Amsterdam
Y’a des marins qui dorment
Comme des oriflammes
Le long des berges mornes
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who sleep
Like banners
Along the gloomy banks
Dans le port d’Amsterdam
Y’a des marins qui meurent
Pleins de bière et de drames
Aux premières lueurs
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who ide
Full of beer and drama
At the first light of dawn
Mais dans le port d’Amsterdam
Y’a des marins qui naissent
Dans la chaleur épaisse
Des langueurs océanes
But in the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who are born
In the thick heat
Of the dreaminess oceans
Dans le port d’Amsterdam
Y’a des marins qui mangent
Sur des nappes trop blanches
Des poissons ruisselants
Ils vous montrent des dents
A croquer la fortune
A décroisser la Lune
A bouffer des haubans
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who eat
On white table clothes
Dripping fish
They show you their teeth
That can bite into fortune
That can twist off the moon
That can eat shrouds
Et ça sent la morue
Jusque dans le cœur des frites
Que leurs grosses mains invitent
A revenir en plus
Puis se lèvent en riant
Dans un bruit de tempête
Referment leur braguette
Et sortent en rotant
And you can smell the codfish
Until the heart of the French fries
That their big hands invite
To comeback for more
Then they stand up laughing
In the noise of the storm
Zipping up their flies
And walking out burping
Dans le port d’Amsterdam
Y’a des marins qui dansent
En se frottant la panse
Sur la panse des femmes
Et ils tournent et ils dansent
Comme des soleils crachés
Dans le son déchiré
D’un accordéon rance
Ils se tordent le cou
Pour mieux s’entendre rire
Jusqu’à ce que tout à coup
L’accordéon expire
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who dance
And rub their stomachs
On the stomachs of ladies
And they turn and they dance
Like spitting suns
In the torn sound
Of a rancid accordion
They twist their necks
To better hear themselves laughing
Until suddenly
The accordion dies
Alors le geste grave
Alors le regard fier
Ils ramènent leur batave
Jusqu’en pleine lumière
Then with a solemn movement
Then with a proud look
They bring back their Dutch girl
Into the open light
Dans le port d’Amsterdam
Y’a des marins qui boivent
Et qui boivent et reboivent
Et qui reboivent encore
Ils boivent à la santé
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who drink
And who drink and drink again
And who still drink again
They drink to health
Des p*tains d’Amsterdam
De Hambourg et d’ailleurs
Enfin ils boivent aux dames
Qui leur donnent leur joli corps
Qui leur donnent leur vertu
Pour une pièce en or
The wh*res of Amsterrdam
Of Hamburg and elsewhere
In the end they drink to ladies
Who give them their pretty bodies
Who give them their virginity
For a piece of gold
Et quand ils ont bien bu
Se plantent le nez au ciel
Se mouchent dans les étoiles
Et ils pissent comme je pleure
Sur les femmes infidèles
And when they’ve really drank
They stand with their noses to the ski
Blow their noses to the stars
And pee like I’m crying
On the unfaithful ladies
Dans le port d’Amsterdam
Dans le port d’Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam
Vocabulary and grammar of the French lyrics
In the song’s lyrics, Brel sings about sailors visiting the port of Amsterdam. He describes the way they eat, drink, dance and carouse with the women. In the following paragraphs, we’ll look at select lines of the song lyrics vocabulary and grammar.
Dans le port d’Amsterdam
Each verse of the song starts with “Dans le port d’Amsterdam” (in the port of Amsterdam). Apparently, the original lyrics to the song used Antwerp, a port in Belgium.
Y’a des marins qui chantent
This line translates to “there are marines who sing”. Y’a is a shorted or oral form of il y a, which means both “there is” and “there are”.
Les rêves qui les hantent
This line means “the dreams that haunt them”. The les in this line is a direct object pronoun (them in this case) and not a definite article meaning “the”.
Au large d’Amsterdam
This line translates to “off the coast of Amsterdam”. Au large de is an expression that means “off the coast of”.
Y’a des marins qui dorment, Comme des oriflammes
These two lines translate to “There are sailors who sleep like banners. An orniflamme is a pointed red banner used in the Middle Ages. Dormir means “to sleep” in French.
Le long des berges mornes
This line translates to “along the gloomy banks”. Morne translates to gloomy, bleak and dreary.
Aux premières lueurs
This line translates to “at the first light of dawn”. The word lueur translates to glow or gleam.
Dans la chaleur épaisse
This line was difficult to translate. Dans la chaleur épaisse translates to “In the thick heat”. The adjective épais means thick.
Des langueurs océanes
This line translates to “Of the dreaminess oceans“. Langeur has multiple translations including languor, dreaminess, sluggishness and slowness.
Des poissons ruisselants
This interesting line translates to “Dripping fish”. The adjective ruisselant has several translations including streaming, running, free-flowing, dripping, covered in and soaked in.
A décroisser la Lune
This was another difficult line to translate. We translated it to “That can twist off the moon”. We were actually unable to find the verb décroisser on any online dictionary. Décroiser with a single -s. means to uncross or unfold (the arms).
A bouffer des haubans
This line translates to “That can eat shrouds”. Hauban translates to sailing shrouds, which are cables and riggings.
Et ça sent la morue
We translated this line to “And you can smell the codfish”. Sentir means both to feel and to smell. The literal translation of ça sent is “that smells”.
Jusque dans le cœur des frites
This line translates to “Until the heart of the French fries”. Cœur means heart. It was difficult find the exact meaning of the word in the context of this line.
Puis se lèvent en riant
This line means “Then they stand up laughing”. En rian is the gerund of the verb rire (to laugh) and translates to “while laughing”.
Referment leur braguette
This line translates to “Zipping up their flies”. Braguette means zipper. This line underscores the perceived crudeness of the sailors in Amsterdam.
Et sortent en rotant
This line translates to “And walking out burping”. This is an other example of the gerund. Roter means to burp or belch.
En se frottant la panse, Sur la panse des femmes
These two lines describe the sailors dancing in Amsterdam. The lines translate to “And rub their stomachs, On the stomachs of ladies”. Frotter means to rub and panse is slang for belly or stomach.
Comme des soleils crachés, Dans le son déchiré
This line translates to “Like spitting suns, In the torn sound”. The lyricist is describing how the sailors danced. We are not sure of the imagery which he is trying to suggest. Cracher means to spit and déchirer means to rip.
D’un accordéon rance…L’accordéon expire
These two lines translate to “Of a rancid accordion…The accordion dies”. Again, we believe the lyricist is describing the crudeness of the music to which the sailors danced.
Ils ramènent leur batave
This line translate to “They bring back their Dutch girl”. Here, the lyricist is describing the sailors’ behavior with the working women of Amsterdam. The word batave describes being Dutch, or from the Netherlands.
Y’a des marins qui boivent, Et qui boivent et reboivent, Et qui reboivent encore
These three lines translate to “There are sailors who drink, And who drink and drink again, And who still drink again”. Here, the lyricist is describing the sailors excessive drinking by playing with words. Reboire means “to drink again”. Then, he adds encore, which also means again.
Qui leur donnent leur vertu
We translated this line to “Who give them their virginity”. This line is talking about the women of Amsterdam giving their bodies to the sailors. Vertu translates to virtue and property. However, in Old French it translates to virginity.
Se plantent le nez au ciel, Se mouchent dans les étoiles, Et ils pissent comme je pleure
These three lines translate to “They stand with their noses to the sky, Blow their noses to the stars, And pee like I’m crying”. Again, the lyricist is describing the sailors crude drinking behavoir.
Discover more French song lyrics:
- Ne me quitte pas (Jacques Brel)
- C’est si bon (Yves Montand)
- La vie en rose (Edith Piaf)
- Non, je ne regrette rien (Edith Piaf)
- La Bohème (Charles Aznavour)
- Les Feuilles Mortes (Yves Montand)
- La mer (Charles Trenet)
- Les Champs Élysées (Joe Dassin)
- Je n’aime…moi non plus (Serge Gaisbourg, Jane Birkin)
French songs | Lessons by David Issokson
