Vanessa Paradis

Vanessa Paradis - Joe le taxi English translation lyrics

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Joe the Taxi

Joe the taxi*
Doesn't go everywhere
Doesn't go by the soda (popstand, I believe)
His yellow saxophone 
Knows all the roads by heart
All the little bars
All the dark corners
And the Seine
And its bridges that shimmer
In his box (caisse)
The music for Joe
Is the rhumba
From old rock to mambo

Joe the taxi
That's his life
From rum to mambo
Traffic jam**
He's like that
Rum and mambo
Joe, Joe, Joe...

In his box [cha-cha-cha]
The music of Joe sounds [cha-cha-cha]
It's the rhumba [cha-cha-cha]
From old rock to fake mambo [cha-cha-cha]
Come on, Joe [cha-cha-cha]
Come on, Joe [cha-cha-cha]
Come on, darkness***
In the night, toward the Amazon [cha-cha-cha]
Joe the taxi
And Xavier Cugat
Joe the taxi
And Yma Sumac****
Joe, Joe, Joe...

Joe the taxi
That's his life
From rum to mambo
Traffic jam
Joe the taxi
And the mariachis
Joe the taxi [cha-cha-cha]
And the cha-cha-chi [cha-cha-cha]
Joe the taxi [cha-cha-cha]
And the cha-cha-chi [cha-cha-cha]
Come on, Joe [cha-cha-cha]
Come on, darkness [cha-cha-cha]
In the night, toward the Amazon [cha-cha-cha]
Joe the taxi [cha-cha-cha]
And the cha-cha-chi [cha-cha-cha]
Joe the taxi...

_____________________________
*"Taxi" here most likely means a cab driver.

**literally means "bottling"; here, it is a play on words because of the mentioning of rum.

***"Fonce" means "dark", but "fonceur" means "go-getter", or a "go-ahead type". "Fonce might have a double-entendre where it stands for both of these.

****Xavier Cugat and Yma Sumac are key figures in the spread of Latin American music.

Joe le taxi

Joe le taxi
Y va pas partout
Y marche pas au soda
Son saxo jaune
Connaît toutes les rues par coeur
Tous les petits bars
Tous les coins noirs
Et la Seine
Et ses ponts qui brillent 

Dans sa caisse
La musique à Joe
C'est la rumba
Le vieux rock au mambo
Joe le taxi
C'est sa vie
Le rhum au mambo
Embouteillage
Il est comme ca
Rhum et mambo
Joe, Joe, Joe 

Dans sa caisse
La musique à Joe résonne
C'est la rumba
Le vieux rock au mambo bidon
Vas-y Joe, vas-y Joe, vas-y fonce
Dans la nuit vers l'amazone
Joe le taxi
Et Xavier Cugat
Joe le taxi
Et Yma Sumac
Joe, Joe, Joe 

Joe le taxi
C'est sa vie
Le rhum au mambo
Embouteillage
Joe le taxi
Et les Mariachis
Joe le taxi
Et le cha-cha-chi
Joe le taxi
Et le cha-cha-chi
Vas-y Joe
Vas-y fonce
Dans la nuit vers l'amazone
Joe le taxi
Get this song at:
bol.com
amazon.com

Copyrights:

Author: Étienne Roda-Gil, Franck Langolff

Composer: Franck Langolff

Publisher: Barclay

Details:

Released in: 1994

Language: French

Translations: English , Dutch

Appearing on: M & J (1988) , Joe Le Taxi (cd Video) (1987) , Best Of (2009) , Love Songs Tour (2014) , Works (1994) , Best of & Variations (2019)

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6 Comments found

VCP

Thursday 21st of April 2022 02:20

"Umm. I think "Son saxo jaune" is a Citroen Saxo not a sax!"

Wrong lol. Its yellow saxophone.

Anonymous

Saturday 1st of August 2020 05:12

Rest in God's peace, Joe.

You and your clients also, now that the awful, fake mambo is over for you, in a much better place. The traffic jam done, the bottling which was managed - who cares anymore?
Into neath the maze on.

Still it doesn't take away the great sadness and huge, long wrong.
That you're gone.
That it was that rock and roll.
So sad. So terribly wrong.

Rest in God's peace, Joe.
You deserve it.
You always deserved it.

Anonymous

Tuesday 9th of January 2018 18:26

Thanks for the translation and thoughts...I would like to add that "caisse" is argot (slang) for voiture...Car. So "In his CAR...The music etc.

Anonymous

Wednesday 13th of September 2017 20:20

To #2: Citroen Saxo is produced in 1996, and this song is composed and released in 1987, earlier. But I kinda like your thought =)

Anonymous

Wednesday 6th of July 2016 21:03

Umm. I think "Son saxo jaune" is a Citroen Saxo not a sax!

Anonymous

Thursday 7th of January 2016 03:01

Thanks