Belgian/french kids' song. Allouette?.what is it?

[lanamommyphd07]

Okay, I could probably search the web for this, but mdc has such an amazing collection of brains that I have to start here...My grandpa sang this song to the kids in the family -- it could be belgian, could be french, and of course I can only give it to you phonetically as I've got no clue
Anyone know this song or the real lyrics?

Allouette, oh je te allouete, allouette oh je te plume a vay.
Je te plume a vay le tet, je te plume a vay le tet,
Allouette, allavouge, allatet!
(the basic parts, not the whole thing)
There are hand motions associated with mouth and head/hat?
is there an english version?

It gets in my head and I hum it but can't sing it with my kid as I don't want to kill the language....

[HappilyEvrAfter]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alouette_(song)#History

"Alouette" is a popular Canadian[1] children's song about plucking the feathers off a skylark, a 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.

Wow. I never realized how mean the lyrics were. :-(



Ha, ha. Now I've got "are you sleeping, are you sleeping, borther john!" stuck in my head.

ROFLMAO.

[MusicianDad]

I would suggest not singing the English version to your kids. It's about plucking a skylark. The version I learned included eyes which is just greusome.

[ollyoxenfree]

Thanks, lol, it's now lodged in my head too! I think it's more persistent than "It's a Small World", which is another one of those ear worm songs.

The lyrics are pretty gruesome. It was a fairly popular song in my primary school days for learning some French. I wonder if it's still sung as often...I can just imagine some parents objecting now.

[eggplant]

Alouette, gentille alouette, alouette, je te plumerai.
Je te plumerai le..... (insert body part here)

Alouette, nice little alouette, I will pluck you.
I will pluck your.....

So yeah, a bit gruesome.

I sang it instead as "alouette, gentille alouette, alouette, je te laverai," so instead of plucking the little bird, we were washing it.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by eggplant

I sang it instead as "alouette, gentille alouette, alouette, je te laverai," so instead of plucking the little bird, we were washing it.

What a terrific alteration!! Love it!

But the song is still persistently going around and around in my head, lol!

[HappilyEvrAfter]

Ha, ah. I was still singin this song when I got home last night.

This morning my son comes walking down the hallway:

"All a wett-a, gently all a wett-a. All a wetta-a, gently wash dat dog"

:

I like his version.

[Fujiko]

According to wikipedia, the last line of the whole song means "You are a bloody little torso"! OMG. I sing this to dd all the time.

[~pi]

I love the laver/plumer switch!

To the OP, you can sing it even if you don't have a great accent. My DH (anglophone) sings along when DS and I sing French songs. His accent is awful, but it really isn't a big deal.

FYI, this is a great resource for French songs. The majority have lyrics, audio clips, and some basic translations.

Here is the full list: http://people.southwestern.edu/~prevots/songs/?p=62

Here is Alouette: http://people.southwestern.edu/~prevots/songs/?p=16

[lanamommyphd07]

you guys are awesome! love the links, as I am having a heck of a time finding the correct pronunciation for the new body parts I found looking up this song! But alas, through all the different versions on youtube and above, I'm only left with lungs (poumons) (poo-mon?), brain (cerveau) (servoh, or kervoh?) and tail (queue) (cue?) and ears to figure out. Hate to teach my kid this song and botch the french and have her be totally embarrassed later in life saying it all wrong!

[~pi]

Originally Posted by lanamommyphd07

you guys are awesome! love the links, as I am having a heck of a time finding the correct pronunciation for the new body parts I found looking up this song! But alas, through all the different versions on youtube and above, I'm only left with lungs (poumons) (poo-mon?), brain (cerveau) (servoh, or kervoh?) and tail (queue) (cue?) and ears to figure out. Hate to teach my kid this song and botch the french and have her be totally embarrassed later in life saying it all wrong!

First, please don't worry about pronunciation too much. It's great to put some effort into not botching it, but really, IMHO it's better to open her up to languages imperfectly than not do it at all.

Second, this was quicker than figuring out how to write it phonetically:

http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...nunciation.flv