| HISTORY |
The
lyrics for this old song were transcribed from memory by my maternal grandmother,
Marie Vaillancourt Dube Trudelle when she was 67 years old. Memere wrote
the lyrics (in pencil) into one of my mother's song books while she was
visiting with us on 17 November 1954. This was one of the songs that she
learned from her grandmother (she lost her mother at a very young age)
and that she, in turn, would later sing to her children after the turn
of the century which included my dear Mother, Elsie Dube Theriault. During
the fall of 1997 during one of Mother's visits with us, I asked her if
she could remember the music for these lyrics. At first, she did not think
that she could remember them. It had been too long. But she persevered
and alas after trying again and again, she was able to recover the melody
piece by piece. We were overwhelmed with joy that we had retrieved this
nearly lost but cherished song from the past and brought it back to life.
Now, I am equally delighted to be able to share this old French song with
you through the magic of computer-based composers (called sequencers) and
the Internet. But I must give special credit and heart-felt thanks to my
new Internet friend and musician, Barry Taylor who sequenced this song.
I gave him the basic melody in a Sequencer MIDI file and he produced the
music as you will hear it. Although we are on opposite sides of this great
North American continent, he was able to play a most important role in
reviving and making this very ancient song available to you. For those
of you who know Memere Trudelle and for those of you who appreciate music
and music history, please send Barry a thank-you note. He is a most generous
and talented man. Just click on his e-mail address bntaylor@home.com
and tell him "Thanks Barry for L'Enfant d'Alsace!"... |
| INTERPRETATION |
The
song is a story of history; this one of the ancient French province of
Alsace which borders Germany. Over its history, Alsace has been taken like
a pawn by the Germans, recovered later by the French, taken again by the
Germans, etc. It was written from the French viewpoint and it is a story
of a young Alsacian couple and their young son, Louis. The father's allegiance
is to Germany and is thus depicted as a traitor in the song. The mother
remains true to France and teaches their son her love of France. Upon discovering
this, the husband literally crucifies his young son (in the fourth verse)
as a lesson for all. To help in the interpretation of the song, let me
offer the following notes: in the first verse, the song refers to Germany
as 'l'aigle noir'... the black eagle (Germany's national symbol) who 'discolored/decouleurez'
the colors of the French flag from red, white and blue to black, red and
gold. Reference is also made to the 'infamous/infame' husband who had accepted
the 'joug Allemand'... the German yoke (of an oxen) to do their work. The
reference in the second verse to the 'Marseillaise', the French National
Anthem, means that the mother was teaching her love of France to her son. |
| LYRICS |
C'e-tais
toutes au fond de l'Al-sac-es
Sous
le toit d'un pauv-re ham-eau,
Ou l'aig-le
noir a pris la plac-e
De-cou-leur-ez
not-re drap-eau,
La vi-vais
l'e-poux et la fem-me
Av-ec
leur fils be-be char-mant,
Mais
le pere com-me un in-fam-e
Ac-cep-tais
le joug Al-le-mand.
Mais
mal-gre son en-fan-ce
En de-pit
du vain-queur,
L'en-fant
aim-ais la Fran-ce
Dans
sont tout pet-it coeur.
Mais
mal-gre son en-fan-ce
En de-pit
du vain-queur,
L'en-fant
aim-ais la Fran-ce
Dans
sont tout pet-it coeur.
Sa mere
a-vais l'am-e fran-cais-e,
A son
en-fant en le ber-cant
Lui
ap-pre-nais la Mar-seill-ais-e.
Lors-que
le pere e-tais ab-sent
el-le
lui di-sais d'une voix fi-ere:
'Quand
tu se-ra grand mon Lou-is
Tu tra-vers-er-a
la fron-tier-e
Pour
ser-vir ton anc--ient pa-ys.'
'Ah
oui, Me-re che-ri-e',
Dis-ais
t'il tend-re-ment,
j'aim-e
bien ma pa-tri-e
Et aus-si
ma Ma-man.
'Ah
oui, Mer-e che-ri-e',
Dis-ais
t'il tend-re-ment,
j'aim-e
bien ma pa-tri-e
Et aus-si
ma Ma-man.
Le pere
ren-trant a l'imp-rov-ist-e
L'en-fant
dans un pe-tit ob-scur,
Vit
son fils en pe-tit art-ist-e
Tra-cent
des des-sein sur le mur.
C'e-tais
des brav-es et des brav-es
Que
des-sin-ais le cher en-fant
Des
sold-ats, des Turc et des Zou-aves.
Lui
dit 'Que fais tu la, bri-gand?'
L'en-fant
re-pond au trait-re
'Des
sol-dats tri-om-phant.
C'est
ca que je veut etr-e
Lors-que
j'au-rez vingts ans.'
L'en-fant
re-pond au traitr-e
'Des
sol-dats tri-om-phant.
C'est
ca que je veut etr-e
Lors-que
j'au-rez vingts ans.'
Le trait-re
al-ors lui re-pond-is
'Mon
cher en-fant lors-que tu sais,
Tu va
voir com-ment je cha-ti-e
Ce lui
qui ose (aime) les fran-cais.'
L'at-tach-ant
av-ec un-e cor-de
Ce vil
ser-vit-eur des bri-gand,
Sur
le mur sans mi-se-ri-cord-e
Lui
clou-ant les pieds et les mains.
L'en-fant
dans ses souf-franc-es,
L'en-fant
mal-gre ses pleurs
Dis-ais
'Viv-e la Franc-e,
Pour
toi, Franc-e, je meurs.'
L'en-fant
dans ses souf-franc-es,
L'en-fant
mal-gre ses pleurs
Dis-ais
'Viv-e la Franc-e,
Pour
toi, Franc-e, je meurs.'
En-fin,
a ses ap-pels su-prem-e,
La foule
ac-cour-ut en stu-peur,
Les
sol-dats al-le-mand eux-mem-e,
S'emb-lais
tous pe-trif-iee d'hor-reur.
Le couv-rant
de bais-er, sa me-re
Dans
ses bras l'em-porte en pleur-ant.
Et l'en-fant
ferm-e s'a pau-pier-e
Re-dis
en-core en es-pir-ant:
'A-dieu,
Franc-e que j'aim-e
A-dieu
je va mour-ir.
Mais
je t'aim-e quand mem-e
Jus-quau
der-nier sou-pir.'
'A-dieu,
Franc-e que j'aim-e
A-dieu
je va mour-ir.
Mais
je t'aim-e quand mem-e
Jus-quau
der-nier sou-pir.' Fin. |