Sur un prélude de Bach

When I hear this prelude by Bach
By Glenn Gould, my mind takes flight
To the port of Le Havre and the shacks
And the heavy freighters getting patched up
And the flare stacks, the rickety cranes
The diesel tanks

You who used to splash in the puddles
Me and my thick skull
I thought you were my thing, my little pet
But I was just a clingy fool

When I hear this prelude by Bach
By Glenn Gould, my mind takes flight
And all these loves that go haywire
And the heavy sorrows, the pains we cobble together
And all my zodiac mistakes
And my compass swings

You, feet in the puddles
Me, with my thick skull
I mistook tugboats for gondolas
And me, I drag my baggage

In this dump of dreams in bulk
That we sell off at the price of oil
For white-collar folks and their bullshit
Who don’t give a damn about Mozart, about Bach

I’d trade Ray Charles, Mozart on the side
Life in pink, rock 'n' roll
All these flats and all these flops
For Glenn Gould in this prelude by Bach