J'attends un navire

"J'attends un navire", also known as "I Am Waiting for a Ship", is a song written in 1934 by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Jacques Deval. The song was written for the musical but later became an unofficial anthem of the French Resistance.

Background

The song was one of a number of musical numbers prepared by Weill for the stage adaptation of Deval's bestselling novel Marie Galante, about a French prostitute who becomes stranded in Panama and must work as a spy to earn enough money to return to France. Weill entered into the project enthusiastically, since he needed the work as a recent refugee from Nazi Germany, but the collaboration with Deval was contentious, with the two barely communicating. Nevertheless, after a year of writing, the play premiered at the Théâtre de Paris on 22 December 1934. Poorly received by audiences and critics, the play ran only three weeks, but the song took on a life of its own through sheet music sales and a popular recording by the show's star Florelle.
Musically, the song is part of the genre of chanson réaliste, a style of cabaret song written from the point of view of working class or otherwise abject women, popular in the first part of the 20th century in France. The lyrics are sung from the point-of-view of Marie, a prostitute, who is selling herself on the streets for two dollars. The singer goes on to say she is not waiting for a man, but for a ship to carry her away from her current life.

Notable Versions

The song enjoyed a brief vogue in the 1930s, recorded by cabaret singers like Lys Gauty. It was translated into English by the theatre critic Michael Feingold for the 1972 Broadway revue Broadway with Kurt Weill: A Musical Voyage.

Year	Title	Performer	Genre	Label	Catalog #
1934	"J'attends un navire"	Lys Gauty	Pop	Polydor	25853
1935	"Le Grand Lustecru/J'attends un navire"	Florelle	Pop	Polydor	52401
1943	Six Songs by Kurt Weill	Lotte Lenya	Pop	Bost Records	BA 8
1972	"I Wait for a Ship" on Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill	Margery Cohen	Pop	Paramount	PAS-4000
1986	Ute Lemper singt Kurt Weill	Ute Lemper	Pop	Bayer	BR 30 018

In other media

The song was used as the theme for the Edie Adams variety television show, Here's Edie.
An instrumental version of the song was used as the theme for the ITV television series Wish Me Luck, about a trio of British spies.