Alouette (song)
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"Alouette" is a popular Canadian[1] children's song about plucking a skylark, a kind of small bird. It originated with the French Canadian fur trade.[citation needed] Although it is in French, it is well known among speakers of other languages; in this way it is similar to "Frère Jacques". Many American doughboys learned the song while serving in France during World War I and brought it home with them.
The French ate skylarks, which they considered a game bird. The song was first published in A Pocket Song Book for the Use of Students and Graduates of McGill College (Montreal, 1879). However, Canadian folklorist Marius Barbeau was of the opinion that the song's ultimate origin was France.[1]
The songs of the French fur trade were adapted to accompany the motion of paddles dipped in unison. Singing helped to pass the time and made the work seem lighter. In fact, it is likely that the Montreal Agents and Wintering Partners sought out and preferred to hire voyageurs who liked to sing and were good at it. They believed that singing helped the voyageurs to paddle faster and longer. "Alouette" informs the lark that the singer will pluck its head, nose, eyes and wings and tail. En roulant ma boule sings of ponds, bonnie ducks and a prince on hunting bound. Many of the songs favored by the voyageurs have been passed down to our own era.
It was parodied by Allan Sherman as "Al and Yetta", which is about an older couple watching television according to a strict routine.
A modified version of the song, referring to "lightning (fast) French alopecia, from the song of the same name", appears in "Call of the West", an episode of The Goon Show, sung by Hercules Grytpype-Thynne and Count Jim Moriarty.
An update of the song, written by French-American Eric Beteille, revisits the Chicken or the egg dilemma by replacing alouette with omelette: Omelette, gentille omelette, omelette, je te mangerais ... Je te mangerais les oeufs ... Je te mangerais fromage ... Je te mangerais jambon ... etc.
In cartoons, Pepé Le Pew and Loopy de Loop sing or hum the tune.
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[edit] Structure
"Alouette" usually involves audience participation, with the audience echoing every line of each verse after the verse's second line. It is a cumulative song, with each verse is built on top of the previous verses, much like the English carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas".
[edit] Lyrics
- Alouette, gentille Alouette
- Skylark, nice skylark
- Alouette, je te plumerai
- Skylark, I shall pluck you
- Je te plumerai la tête
- I shall pluck your head
- (Je te plumerai la tête)
- (I shall pluck your head)
- Et la tête
- And your head
- (Et la tête)
- (And your head)
- Alouette
- Skylark
- (Alouette)
- (Skylark)
- O-o-o-oh
- Alouette, gentille Alouette
- Alouette, je te plumerai
- Je te plumerai le bec
- I shall pluck your beak
- (Je te plumerai le bec)
- Et le bec
- (Et le bec)
- Et la tête
- (Et la tête)
- Alouette
- (Alouette)
- O-o-o-oh
The song continues in this fashion, with the italicized phrase (a part of the bird) in each verse being substituted with a new one, with the previous items being recited at the end:
-
- Et le cou
- And your neck
- Et le dos
- And your back
- Et les ailes
- And your wings
- Et les pattes
- And your legs
- Et la queue
- And your tail
Naturally, the literal English translation does not match up well with the meter of the song (the first line in English has five syllables instead of ten), so a slightly less literal (but more singable) version would be:
- Little skylark, lovely little skylark
- Little lark, I will pluck your feathers off
- I’ll pluck the feathers off your head
- I’ll pluck the feathers off your head
- Off your head - off your head
- Little lark, little lark
- O-o-o-o-oh
And adding:
- Off your beak
- Off your neck
- Off your wings
- Off your back
- Off your legs
- Off your tail
