Alouette, gentille Alouette

 For those of you who have sung "Alouette, gentille Alouette" and have not known what you were singing, here is a bird hunting song obviously from another era because most people in the U.S. today might be offended by the lyrics unless they are bird hunters who eat and pluck birds. But, it does show how world cultures change, doesn't it? Though I learned French in High School I never really thought to translate this song myself so never thought about it until my daughter who is in her 3rd year of French in High School told me about it.  It is a bird hunting song while going after Larks. To go to the Wikipedia site on all this here it is:

Alouette (song) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alouette_(song)

"Alouette" is a popular French Canadian children's song originating in France about plucking the feathers from a lark. Although it is in French, it is well-known ...

History - Structure - Lyrics - In other languages

Here are the lyrics if that is what you want translated various ways both literal and a way to sing the song in English.

Lyrics

Alouette, gentille Alouette

Lark, nice lark

Alouette, je te plumerai

Lark, 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

Lark

(Alouette)

(Lark)

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 feet

• Et la queue

And your tail

La Conclusion

The Ending

O-o-o-o-oh

Alouette, gentille Alouette

Lark, nice lark

Alouette, je te plumerai

Lark, I shall pluck you

Naturally, the literal English translation does not match up well with the meter of the song, so a slightly less literal (but more singable) version would be:

Little skylark, lovely little skylark

Little lark, I'll 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 back

Off your wings

Off your feet

Off your tail

End quote from Wikipedia. If you don't know what a real Skylark looks like here it is:  Song (help·info) Or if you prefer the car: Buick Skylark

Manufacturer	General Motors
Model years	1953–1954 1961–1972 1975–1998    final end of quotes from wikipedia

So, in the end it is sort of funny that millions of people have been singing this song and not really knowing what it is about who speak only English or  only languages other than French.