Manhattan Kaboul Lyrics in English Renaud , Axelle Red

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Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Manhattan Kaboul by Renaud from French to English.

Little Puerto Rican

Well integrated, almost New Yorker

In my building all glass and steel

I take my job, a line of coke, a coffee

Little Afghan girl

On the other side of the earth

Never heard of Manhattan

My daily life is misery and war

Two strangers at the end of the world, so different

Two unknowns, two anonymous ones, and yet

Pulverized, on the altar, of eternal violence

A 747

Exploded into my windows

My sky so blue turned stormy

When the bombs leveled my village

Two strangers at the end of the world, so different

Two unknowns, two anonymous ones, and yet

Pulverized, on the altar, of eternal violence

So long, goodbye my American dream

Me, never again the dogs' slave

They forced on you the tyrants' Islam

Have those guys ever read the Koran

I became dust again

I won't be master of the universe

This country I loved so much, could it be

After all a colossus with feet of clay

The gods, the religions

The wars of civilization

The weapons, the flags, the homelands, the nations

Always turn us into cannon fodder

Two strangers at the end of the world, so different

Two unknowns, two anonymous ones, and yet

Pulverized, on the altar, of eternal violence

Two strangers at the end of the world, so different

Two unknowns, two anonymous ones, and yet

Pulverized, on the altar, of eternal violence

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SONG MEANING

Manhattan Kaboul paints a vivid double portrait of two strangers who will never meet: a young Puerto Rican man living the fast-paced New York dream and a little Afghan girl caught in the harsh reality of war. Their daily routines could not be more different—skyscrapers, coffee and cocaine versus dust, poverty and prayers—yet one violent chain of events links them forever. The September 11 attacks shatter his glass tower, while the retaliatory bombings wipe out her village, showing how global conflicts can erase borders in the worst way possible.

The song flips between their voices to expose a powerful message: innocent people are always the first casualties of fanaticism, nationalism and blind revenge. Renaud and Axelle Red question the weight of religions, flags and political rhetoric that turn ordinary lives into “cannon fodder.” By the final chorus, their shared fate feels universal, reminding us that behind every headline are countless unnamed victims whose dreams turn to dust when violence speaks louder than humanity.

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Renaud Manhattan Kaboul Lyrics