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The Boulevardiers

I like you and you like him and he likes me
and we all love each other.
We like to sit in the cafe
and eat and drink and talk all day
and watch the sun.
We like to read the newspaper
and talk about him and her
and who is getting along with who these days,
and when the sun goes down
we walk along the cobblestone ground.

He loves the city with the bricks and broken bottles
and the pretty little flowers as they grow against the wall.
He is dark, he is tall, he is the tallest one of all of us.
You are bright and quick and fair
and seems that you have lost some hair
but this is all right.
This is OK. We do not mind.
We write and fight and sing
and this is fine.

We drink the wine if we get it free
and if he buys you a coffee
he can surely buy some for me
and one day we will work real hard
and get a job and not just sit here
writing letters on this silly boulevard.
And everyone will know our name
and we'll be rich or we'll at least
have some kind of fame.
We'll be brave, we'll be bold,
we'll come riding through
like knights of old.

The sun is like a lover's hand
as it comes down and touches you
touches me touches him touches you.
And we have all got dirty feet
from wearing sandals in the street,
and we should all go home.
But still you will insist insist
until each last one has been kissed
and each one is happy.
And when the sun goes down
we walk along the cobblestone ground.
This is OK. We do not mind.
We write and fight and sing
and this is fine.

Lyrics : Suzanne Vega
Copyright : © 1981 by Suzanne Vega
Notes:

Suzanne explaining the meaning of the term "Boulevardier":
"There was one Summer three years ago when I was unemployed, and my big hero in those days was my friend Brian, who was also... well, he was not unemployed, but he was a freelance, which to me seemed like the same thing. He got up in the morning, and sat around for a couple of hours, and drank a cup of coffee and read the paper. This seemed admirable to me, and something I wanted to do too... and his word for doing this was being a boulevardier. So during that Summer when I was unemployed I was a boulevardier, as was my other friend. So the three of us would sit around doing nothing and being very pleased with ourselvs. So this song came out of that."
In concert: Iron Horse, Northampton, MA, USA, May 17, 1984