Some who parachutes. There are various training courses to progress through before someone can become a registered parachutist - so you can't just fall out of a plane, live, and claim that you're one.

Parachutiste is a protest song from the 1970s (1972) by Maxime Leforestier. It pretty clearly refers to the Algerian Independence War, but I think it applies as well to the Viet Nam war, or the soon to come war against Iraq. See also Universal Soldier. I did the translation myself and dedicate it to George W. Bush. Translation is a difficult art, especially without a dictionary for uncommon words, so don't be to hard with me, /msg me instead.

Parachutiste

Tu avais juste dix-huit ans
Quand on t'a mis un béret rouge
Quand on t'a dit "Rentre dedans
Tout ce qui bouge"
C'est pas exprès qu' t'étais fasciste
Parachutiste

You were just eighteen
When they gave you a red beret
When they told you "Run into
Everything that moves"
Not on purpose were you a fascist
Parachutist

Alors de combat en combat
S'est formée ton intelligence
Tu sais qu'il n'y a ici-bas
Que deux engeances:
Les gens bien et les terroristes
Parachutiste

Afterwards, struggle after struggle
Your intelligence shaped itself
You know down here there's
Only two groups :
Good people and terrorists
Parachutist

Puis on t'a donné des galons
Héros de toutes les défaites
Pour toutes les bonnes actions
Que tu as faites
Tu torturais en spécialiste
Parachutiste

Then they rose your rank,
Hero of so many defeats,
For all the good deeds
That you accomplished
You tortured as a specialist
Parachutist

Alors sont venus les honneurs,
Les décorations, les médailles
Pour chaque balle au fond d'un coeur
Pour chaque entaille
Pour chaque croix noire sur ta liste
Parachutiste

Afterwards came the honours
Decorations, medals
For every bullet in a heart
For every notch
For every black cross on your list
Parachutist

Mais malheureusement pour toi
Bientôt se finira la guerre
Plus de tueries, plus de combats
Que vas-tu faire
C'est fini le travail d'artiste
Parachutiste

But unfortunately for you
Soon the war will be over
No more killings, no more fights
What are you going to do
It's done with art work
Parachutist

C'est plus qu'un travail de nana
D' commander à ceux qui savent lire
Surtout qu' t'as appris avec moi
Ce que veut dire
Le mot «antimilitariste»
Parachutiste

It's only a girlie work
Commanding those who can read
Especially when you learned with me
What means
The word "antimilitaristic"
Parachutist

T'as rien perdu de ton talent
Tu rates pas une embuscade
Mais comme on tire pas vraiment
Tu trouves ça fade
C'est p't-êt' pour ça qu' t'as les yeux tristes
Parachutiste

You lost nothing of your talent
you don't fail any ambush
But as they don't really shoot
You find it tasteless
That's maybe why your eyes look sad
Parachutist

Mais si t'es vraiment trop gêné
D'être payé à ne rien faire
Tu peux toujours te recycler
Chez tes p'tits frères
J' crois qu'on engage dans la police
Parachutist

but if you are too embarassed
To be paid doing nothing
You can always switch employers
With your little brothers
I believe they're hiring at the police
Parachutist

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