"Alouette" (pronounced [alwɛt]) is a popular Quebecois children's song, commonly thought to be about plucking the feathers from a lark. Although it is in French, it is well known among speakers of other languages; in this respect, it is similar to "Frère Jacques". Many US Marines and other Allied soldiers learned the song while serving in France during World War I and took it home with them, passing it on to their children and grandchildren.
The song's origin is uncertain, but the most popular theory is that it is French-Canadian. It was first published in A Pocket Song Book for the Use of Students and Graduates of McGill College (Montreal, 1879). Canadian folklorist Marius Barbeau thought that the song came from France, though the first printed copy in France came 14 years after the original Canadian (McGill) publication.
The Canadian theory links the song to the North American French fur trade. Canoes were used to transport trade goods in exchange for furs through large trade routes consisting of interconnected lakes, rivers, and portages in unknown of present-day Canada and United States. 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 (precursor to the North West Company of fur traders) 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. French colonists ate horned larks, which they considered a game bird. "Alouette" informs the lark that the singer will pluck its head, beak, eyes, wings and tail. En roulant ma boule sings of ponds, bonnie ducks and a prince on hunting bound. Many of the songs favoured by the voyageurs have been passed down to the present era.
"Alouette" has become a symbol of French Canada for the world, an unofficial national song. Today, the song is used to teach French and English-speaking children in Canada, and others learning French around the world, the names of body parts. Singers will point to or touch the part of their body that corresponds to the word being sung in the song.
Ethnomusicologist Conrad LaForte points out that, in song, the lark (l'alouette) is the bird of the morning, and that it is the first bird to sing in the morning, hence waking up lovers and causing them to part, and waking up others as well, something that is not always appreciated. In French songs, the lark also has the reputation of being a gossip, a know-it-all, and cannot be relied on to carry a message, as it will tell everyone; it also carries bad news. However, the nightingale, being the first bird of spring, in Europe, sings happily all the time, during the lovely seasons of spring and summer. The nightingale (i.e., rossignol) also carries messages faithfully and dispenses advice, in Latin, no less, a language that lovers understand. LaForte explains that this alludes to the Middle Ages, when only a select few still understood Latin. And so, as the lark makes lovers part or wakes up the sleepyhead, this would explain why the singer of "Alouette" wants to pluck it in so many ways if he can catch it, for, as LaForte notes, this bird is flighty as well.
The lark was eaten in Europe, and when eaten was known as a "mauviette", which is also a term for a sickly person.
The tune has been used in Season 3 of the television series Evil, possibly because the dark side of the lyrics could be seen as demonic influence/possession for the psychiatrist, a recurring character played by Kurt Fuller.
In the 1952 American one-reel animated cartoon "The Two Mouseketeers" (which was the 65th Tom and Jerry short), Jerry's friend Nibbles makes a ham sandwich while singing "Alouette" to himself.
To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!
Lyrics:
French translation
- Refrain
- Alouette, gentille alouette,
Alouette, je te plumerai.
1.
- Je te plumerai la tête. ×2
- Et la tête! ×2
Alouette! ×2
A-a-a-ah- Refrain
2.
- Je te plumerai le bec. ×2
- Et le bec! ×2
Et la tête! ×2
Alouette! ×2
A-a-a-ah- Refrain
3.
- Je te plumerai les yeux. ×2
- Et les yeux! ×2
Et le bec! ×2
Et la tête! ×2
Alouette! ×2
A-a-a-ah- Refrain
4.
- Je te plumerai le cou. ×2
- Et le cou! ×2
Et les yeux! ×2
Et le bec! ×2
Et la tête! ×2
Alouette! ×2
A-a-a-ah- Refrain
5.
- Je te plumerai les ailes. ×2
- Et les ailes! ×2
Et le cou! ×2
Et les yeux! ×2
Et le bec! ×2
Et la tête! ×2
Alouette! ×2
A-a-a-ah- Refrain
6.
- Je te plumerai les pattes. ×2
- Et les pattes! ×2
Et les ailes! ×2
Et le cou! ×2
Et les yeux! ×2
Et le bec! ×2
Et la tête! ×2
Alouette! ×2
A-a-a-ah- Refrain
7.
- Je te plumerai la queue. ×2
- Et la queue! ×2
Et les pattes! ×2
Et les ailes! ×2
Et le cou! ×2
Et les yeux! ×2
Et le bec! ×2
Et la tête! ×2
Alouette! ×2
A-a-a-ah- Refrain
8.
- Je te plumerai le dos. ×2
- Et le dos! ×2
Et la queue! ×2
Et les pattes! ×2
Et les ailes! ×2
Et le cou! ×2
Et les yeux! ×2
Et le bec! ×2
Et la tête! ×2
Alouette! ×2
A-a-a-ah- Refrain
- English translation
- Refrain
- Lark, nice lark,
Lark, I will pluck you.
1.
- I will pluck your head. ×2
- And your head! ×2
Lark! ×2
O-o-o-oh- Refrain
2.
- I will pluck your beak. ×2
- And your beak! ×2
And your head! ×2
Lark! ×2
O-o-o-oh- Refrain
3.
- I will pluck your eyes. ×2
- And your eyes! ×2
And your beak! ×2
And your head! ×2
Lark! ×2
O-o-o-oh- Refrain
4.
- I will pluck your neck. ×2
- And your neck! ×2
And your eyes! ×2
And your beak! ×2
And your head! ×2
Lark! ×2
O-o-o-oh- Refrain
5.
- I will pluck your wings. ×2
- And your wings! ×2
And your neck! ×2
And your eyes! ×2
And your beak! ×2
And your head! ×2
Lark! ×2
O-o-o-oh- Refrain
6.
- I will pluck your legs. ×2
- And your legs! ×2
And your wings! ×2
And your neck! ×2
And your eyes! ×2
And your beak! ×2
And your head! ×2
Lark! ×2
O-o-o-oh- Refrain
7.
- I will pluck your tail. ×2
- And your tail! ×2
And your legs! ×2
And your wings! ×2
And your neck! ×2
And your eyes! ×2
And your beak! ×2
And your head! ×2
Lark! ×2
O-o-o-oh- Refrain
8.
- I will pluck your back. ×2
- And your back! ×2
And your tail! ×2
And your legs! ×2
And your wings! ×2
And your neck! ×2
And your eyes! ×2
And your beak! ×2
And your head! ×2
Lark! ×2
O-o-o-oh- Refrain
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