"La Belle Dame sans merci" myth transposed in a Wild West Classic...

Translation with commentary of an archetypal Wild West Classic : " Summer Wine "

(I'd wage my bottom diamond dime future generations will re-discover and treasure this true American classic like only a few others of its kind taken from the sixties. It may have only peaked at #49 in '67 when Nancy Sinatra's " These boots are made for walking " and " Bang Bang she shot me down " topped the charts for understandably obvious reasons with its slick brillo melody and bravado sentiments backed by the maestro father and introduced by the King of Rock, yet Nancy comes of age on her own with some precious help from Lee Hazlewood's lyric compositional talents.

One can never know if Lee consciously re-modeled Keat's " La belle dame sans merci " (" The beautiful lady without pity ") myth to produce the duo with himself in the role of the medieval " Knight-at-Arms ", but the admixture of the seductively conniving in-between contralto-soprano voice with the masochistically victimized deadpan tone of the baritone leaves little doubt on what tugs at the heartstrings - the ironic display of " male " innocence being beguiled and betrayed by the enticing promise of ethereal " nectar " which, here, is " summer wine ", an euphemism for what intoxicates the senses beyond one's control.

The metre's however too irregular to make Hazlewood's " poem " fall within the common ballad measure, but the theme rests strictly transposed.

" I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful - a fairy child. "
………………………………………..

" She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild, wild eyes
With kisses four. "

………………………………………..

" I saw pale kings, and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all ;//
………………………………………..

" I saw their starved lips in the gloam
With horrid warning gapèd wide,
And I woke and found me here,
On the cold hill's side. "
John Keats (1820)

Oddly eough, in real life Hazlewood got his own back on Nancy by sailing off soon after - without a word - to make his own career in Sweden.

If only the two extant video clips could have been re-styled within an ambience of libidinous non-chalance, say, in a one-horse one-saloon town with a hay-stacked barn and a corrall with the two love-birds playing their ticklish parts… perhaps the song could have topped the charts !

Translation of " SUMMER TIME " by Lee Hazlewood

(NANCY) : Des fraises des cerises et le baiser d'un ange au printemps
Mon vin d'été est fait de toutes ces choses-là

(LEE) : Je marchais dans la ville sur des éperons en argent dont le tintement s'accordait
Avec une chanson que j'avais chanté uniquement à l'encontre de peu de gens
Elle regarda les éperons argentés et elle m'invita à passer du temps avec elle
Et elle m'a dit : " Je te donnerai du vin de l'été
Ohh-oh-oh du vin de l'été "

(NANCY) : Des fraises des cerises et le baiser d'un ange au printemps
Mon vin d'été est fait de toutes ces choses-là
Enlève-toi tes éperons en argent et aide-moi passer le temps
Et elle m'a dit : " Je te donnerai du vin de l'été
Ohh-oh-oh du vin de l'été "

(LEE) : Mes yeux s'étaient alourdis et mes lèvres ne pouvant plus formuler point mot
J'ai essayé de me lever et je ne pouvais plus rester debout (je ne pouvais plus trouver mes pieds)
Elle me rassurera en utilisant des mots peu familiers
Et puis elle me donna encore plus du vin de l'été
Ohh-oh-oh du vin de l'été

(NANCY) : Des fraises des cerises et le baiser d'un ange au printemps
Mon vin d'été est fait de toutes ces choses-là
Enlève-toi tes éperons en argent et aide-moi passer le temps
Et elle m'a dit : " Je te donnerai du vin de l'été
Mmm-mm du vin de l'été "

(LEE) : Quand je me suis levé, le soleil brilla dans mes yeux
Mes éperons en argent n'y étaient plus-là, ma tête me semblait gonflée à deux fois de sa taille
Elle avait volé mes éperons argentés (et) un dollar plus un centime
Et me laissa avec une envie pour consommer encore plus du vin de l'été
Ohh-oh-oh du vin de l'été

(NANCY) : Des fraises des cerises et le baiser d'un ange au printemps
Mon vin d'été est fait de toutes ces choses-là
Enlève-toi tes éperons en argent et aide-moi passer le temps
Et elle m'a dit : " Je te donnerai du vin de l'été
Mmm-mm du vin de l'été "

© Translation and commentary - T. Wignesan, Paris, May 21, 2019

NANCY SINATRA- "SUMMER WINE" (LYRICS)
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Ron Wells
Published on Dec 23, 2017
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"SUMMER WINE" peaked at #49 on 4-8-1967. LYRICS:

(NANCY): Strawberries cherries and an angel's kiss in spring
My summer wine is really made from all these things

(LEE): I walked in town on silver spurs that jingled to
A song that I had only sang to just a few
She saw my silver spurs and said let's pass some time
And I will give to you summer wine
Ohh-oh-oh summer wine

(NANCY) Strawberries cherries and an angel's kiss in spring
My summer wine is really made from all these things
Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time
And I will give to you summer wine
Ohhh-oh summer wine

(LEE): My eyes grew heavy and my lips they could not speak
I tried to get up but I couldn't find my feet
She reassured me with an unfamiliar line
And then she gave to me more summer wine
Ohh-oh-oh summer wine

(NANCY): Strawberries cherries and an angel's kiss in spring
My summer wine is really made from all these things
Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time
And I will give to you summer wine
Mmm-mm summer wine

(LEE): When I woke up the sun was shining in my eyes
My silver spurs were gone, my head felt twice its size
She took my silver spurs a dollar and a dime
And left me cravin' for more summer wine
Ohh-oh-oh summer wine

(NANCY): Strawberries cherries and an angel's kiss in spring
My summer wine is really made from all these things
Take off those silver spurs and help me pass the time
And I will give to you my summer wine
Mmm-mm summer wine