Si j'étais un charpentier

The speaker imagines being a carpenter and asks a woman, addressed as Mary, whether she would marry him and share a life with him. Their home would be modest, built by hand rather than grand or royal. The mood is tender but grows more serious: the imagined couple faces danger, flight, and the hard work of raising a child.

The carpenter’s rough, dry hands are contrasted with Mary’s fragile ones, suggesting both physical labor and tenderness. A simple handmade house stands for a humble life created through effort and love. The lines about angry men coming at night and the family escaping into the desert introduce a sense of threat; hiding the newborn makes their imagined life feel vulnerable and urgent.

The repeated “if I were” and “if you were” keep the scene conditional, like a dream or a question rather than a straightforward account. Naming the woman Mary and mentioning a son who will have “much to do” may evoke a familiar sacred story, but the lyrics do not fully explain that connection. They can also be heard more generally as a plea to begin a life together, accepting hardship as well as love.