Demi-Tarif (Half Price) (2003)

We were happy
I don't know if we were happy
We felt pain
We felt pain
without knowing exactly where
We were seven, eight and nine
She'd always done it that way
That's the way
she'd always wanted to do it
We managed
We managed pretty well anyway
We didn't miss her
We'd wait for her
We'd wander around
We'd do what we want
It's summertime
Eating was not a problem
We had fun going that way
We had to go farther and farther
from home
Not to go back
to the same restaurants
We loved each other
We loved each other too much
One person in three bodies
We'd quarrel, we'd fight
Hard
As hard as we can
She'd call us sometimes
to tell us she loved us
Glad to know it
Glad to hear it
She didn' t come home
School started again
She called to wish us luck
We felt happy
Not about starting school
School we didn't like. We'd wait...
We'd wait all day long for it to end
To be by ourselves at night,
after school
Time would go by
Winter would come
We'd wait for her
Each of us had a speciality
Romeo made pasta
Leo did the washing-up
and Louna made yoghurt cakes
At night, we'd go out
In summer, for water fights
In winter, to catch cold
To have a fever
Not to go to school
When we were ill, we'd cry
Or even when we weren't
For nothing, for everything
We got over it anyway
On the phone,
we shouldn't say we were alone
Never
It was a secret
Our secret
We were magicians
We could make anything
appear and disappear
Our home,
our home was our home
Nobody'd come
But her, sometimes
We wouldn' t see our dads,
hardly ever
She didn't want them
to come to our home
Us to go to theirs
She didn't want us to split up
Louna's dad had wanted
to take her for a holiday
She didn't want to
He had to take all three of us
or none
We dressed up
We dressed up all the tIme
to try to escape ourselves
We'd become kings,
princesses and queens
When I grow up, I'll be an astronaut
When I grow up, I'll be a princess
When I grow up,
I'll have lots of elephants
that will be my friends
We were aIways talking about
when we'd be big. It wouldn't come
We were still there. We stayed
She didn't come
She'd pop in
She'd stay
She'd stay a little bit sometimes
Sometimes not
She'd do some shopping
She'd take us to restaurants
We'd get presents
Note-books too, for school
She'd tell us stories
The story of the sea
The water boiling, steaming away...
It makes clouds
clouds bumping into hills, bursting
rain
into the ground, the rivers
and into the sea
In the morning, she'd be gone
It hadn't aIways been easy
We didn't need any sleep
We were never tired
Small hours made long days
We had a face. A doll
Her gIft to us
Doll would watch us
love us
listen to us
He'd wake us up
For fun, for nothing
To tell us we had to go to school
Then we'd go back to sleep
In the morning, we wouldn't wake up
We'd wait
We'd wait to see her,
to be in her arms
We did turn off the meter
She didn't pay
She didn't pay attention
to these things
She'd pay attention to nothing
Before, it wasn't the same thing
She was there a bit more
We wouldn't want to stay in the dark
So when the night fell, we'd go out
Our small heater wouldn't work
The power company
had taken the meter away
We'd sleep together, huddled up
Huddled up and dressed
Huddled up agaInst one another
We had no pals
We had Ali. We'd been to his house
a few tImes for his birthday
Could you close the door, please ?
I've asked you to come
because there's a problem
You're always late,
I'd like to know why
It's the subway
We take the subway every morning
and there are problems
Every morning?
Can't your parents bring you over?
And there's another little problem
It's the lice problem
Could you do something about it?
We always use anti-lice shampoo
but it never works
Then if it never works
it means it's not a good shampoo
So you should tell your parents
to treat you, otherwise
you might give them
to the other children
and that's not right
And why are you always dressed
this way?
Your clothes are not very clean
In fact we've got very nice things
but we don't feel like showing off
You prefer to keep them for Sundays
Then from time to time you should
put your Sunday clothes on
to wash these
And then they'll be cleaner
But the washing machine broke down
Couldn't I see your parents
some time?
Our mother works
from morning 'til evening
And our father,
he's on a business trip
Then you'll have to tell them
to contact the school social worker
because it's not normal
that little children like you
should have all these problems
Well, we pay half a dollar each time
Fine but school meals
aren't half a dollar
You're brother and sisters
It's rather expensive
for three children
Here we pay the meal, the food
Or if you really have problems,
I can help you, something can be done
No we're fine
Because otherwise I'm here for that
From now on try to get up earlier
l'll check this out
with your mom and dad
Have a good day
And try to be on time
We'd steal, we'd steal, we'd steal
We had great fun
working it out that way
When school was over
she came to pick us up
She took us
where she had said she'd take us
for the summer holidays
She didn't stay
She had booked for us
for all the holidays
Louna got ill
She had a fever
She said she had stayed too long
in the cold water
of the swimming pool
She treated herself
Romeo and Leo
kept going to the circus
Sometimes we'd play
we'd stop talking
It would go on for days