Brussels

Brussels was then a bustling city
Brussels was then oh la la and cheerful
Brussels was then a rustling city
Brussels and Brussels was free and cheerful

In the brooder churchyard it was full and mad
Men in straw hats, heavy gags
Ladies in drag dresses and lace parasol
The horse-drawn streetcar slid past old facades
On the streetcar roof two people sat talking happily
He, my late grandfather, she, my late grandmother
He was a sergeant major, she sat in an office
He didn’t think, she thought of nothing
So who expects anything from me?

Oh, Brussels was then a dashing city
Brussels was then oh la la and merry
Brussels was then a dashing city
Brussels and Brussels was free and merry On the cobblestones around St. Catherine’s
The drag dresses and the gags danced
On the cobblestones it was a dancing feast
The horse streetcar danced along the façades
On the streetcar roof two people sat happily talking
He, my late grandfather, she, my late grandmother
He had taken her, she had let him come
It was the free choice of both of them
So who expects seriousness from me

Oh, Brussels was then a dancing city
Brussels was then oh la la la and jolly
Brussels was then a dancing city
Brussels and Brussels was free and jolly

In the gaslight around the Sinte Justien
Sang the drag dresses and the gags
In the gaslight sang straw hat and crinoline
The horse streetcar grunted past the gags
And on the streetcar roof two people sat happily talking
He, my sainted grandfather, she, my sainted grandmother
For him the war came nearer, with her my father soon came
They sang like the nightingale
So who expects moral from me?

Oh, Brussels was then a bustling city
Brussels was then oh la la and jolly
Brussels was then a rustling city
Brussels and Brussels was free and jolly, corpse