This song is about the Paris terrorist attacks on Friday, November 13, 2015. This is a spoken word piece, backed by Serafina Steer. The song starts with Jarvis's mom's birthday and what he was doing when he heard about the attacks, then how he was worried about his son. At the end, he describes some people on the street and he loves them.
Jarvis debuted the full English version on his BBC Radio 6 Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service. This version was later excerpted and published on Rough Trade YouTube.
10 years after the terror attacks, Jarvis performed this track in French, "Vendredi le Treize", for the ceremony commemorating on 13th November 2025. The video can be watched on TF1. Details about the French version, please see "Vendredi le Treize".
It was my mother's birthday
I was listening to the academy in ???
We've been in the police station for the third time that week
Because my son had got his mobile phone stolen
He had to look at ???
Then he caught the Metro to his friend's house to watch a football ???
I went home and ran a very hot bath
And listened to some songs I just recorded
I had a toothache
I was going to bed when a friend rang and told me to turn on the TV
I was worried about my son
I rang the friend's house
But his parents were not home yet
They'd gone to the theatre
I didn't want to panic
Then I listened to the radio through the night
In the morning
I rang the friend's house
And my son had left to catch a Metro half an hour earlier
I worried
He arrived back safely
We went to get a new phone and some trainers
But all the shops were closed
I ended up buying a book about Kate Bush
A Joan Didion book
A Michelle Welbeck book
And a music magazine
We came home and watched the second half of Ben ???
I tried to explain ???
I bought a rotisserie chicken
There were still people on the streets
Though the Terrace of the bar
Where the police fence was parked was the busiest
Next morning
We went to a playground in Montmartre with friends
They were looking after a dog called ???
It was a beautiful sunny day
A friend said
The strongest statement of resistance is to just keep going
So
Transvestic with blond hair, red boots and slight 5:00 Shadow
I love you
And girls with their legs in fake tan
I love you
Girls with hand painted "Beware of the cat" sign
I love you
Asian guy in elaborate shades
I love you
Man in the playground father for the first time at 46
I love you
We're all free
Free to mess up or get trashed
But free to do it in our own way
And I love the way that you are doing it
And I love the way that you are free
Woman alone in the bakery
I love you
Man in peppermint slacks
I love you
Shopkeeper constructing a tower of clementines
I love you
Dad smoking a pushing ???
I love you
Leaves of Grass growing beneath the cobblestones on a side street
I love you
Blonde cyclist with flowers in her hair
I love you
Googly eyes and discount shop window
I love you
Damaged ???
I love you
I love you
Teenagers listening to portable speaker outside the waffle shop
I love you
Student reading a book whilst texting at the same time
I love you
I love you all
There are three holes in the window of a cafe called Casa Nostra
Someone has painted a pink heart below them and the word courage
A tour bus with the words "Beat the Street" written on the side is still parked outside the Bataclan
The ground is covered in messages written in coloured chalk
Middle-aged stamp collector
I love you
Dark head girl with heavy gold chain
I love you
Former great ??? jacket
I love you
Tall black guy in yellow and taupe
I love you
??? stick
I love you
I love you all
I love you all
Paris, I love you