“Alouette” (Meaning: Lark; Pronunciation: ah-lou-eht or alwɛt) is a popular Canadian folk song and is one of the most popular kids songs for learning French. The song is over one hundred years old and is said to have originated in Quebec, Canada. In this lesson, we’ll explain the vocabulary and grammar of the song’s French song lyrics.
Alouette song overview
According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, the song Alouette is considered an unofficial anthem of French Canada.
The song has French-Canadian origins as it first appeared in a McGill University students’ handbook in 1879. The song’s lyrics may have been sung by voyageurs, French-Canadian colonists who transported furs by canoe. These early colonists ate lark as it was considered a game bird.
Alouette’s French lyrics depict the plucking the feathers of a lark bird. The song’s chorus is: “Alouette, gentille alouette, alouette je te plumerai” (lark, nice lark, lark I will pluck your feathers).
For each verse, an additional body part gets added (head, wings, back and tail), somewhat similar to the English kids song, “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes”.
Listen to Alouette on YouTube & Spotify
Listen to the French kids’ song Alouette on YouTube and follow along with the lyrics above.
Here you can listen to Alouette on Spotify.
Alouette lyrics analysis
In the following section we explain the vocabulary and grammar of the song lyrics.
Alouette, gentille Alouette
This line translates to “lark, nice lark”. The French adjective gentil (gentille in the feminine form) translates to nice, kind and sweet. In the feminine form, the Ls on gentille are not pronounced.
Je te plumerai la tête
“Je te plumerai” translates directly to “I will pluck you” or “I will pull your feathers”. This line is the futur simple or future tense form of the verb plumer (to pluck).
The ‘te’ part of the phrase means ‘to you’. This is an object pronoun. The entire line, “Je te plumerai la tête” translates literally to ‘I will pluck to you the head’. The word la tête means head.
Body parts in French are referred to using the definite article (le, la, les) for “the”. This page on our site covers French body parts vocabulary in detail.
Je te plumerai le bec
This line translates to “I will pluck your beak”. The French word le bec translates to both beak and bill (of a bird).
Et le cou / Et le dos / Et les ailles
The French nouns, “le cou”, “le dos” and “l’aile” (feminine) translate to the neck, back and wing. Hence, the lark is getting the feathers plucked off of these body parts.
Et les pattes
The word “la patte” in French can translate to an animal’s legs, paws of hoofs. The word ‘la jambe’ would refer to the leg of a person. The word ‘patte’ is used when referring to frogs’ legs: les pattes de grenouille.
Et la queue
The word “la queue” has several meanings in French. In this context it means tail. The verb remuer means to swing or wave.
Hence, “remuer la queue” means “to wag your tail”. In other contexts la queue can me line, as in “wait in line”. Hence, faire la queue means to wait in line.
Alouette song lyrics in French (With English Translation)
Alouette, gentille Alouette
Alouette, je te plumerai
Je te plumerai la tête (repeat)
Et la tête (repeat)
Alouette (repeat)
Lark, nice lark
Lark, I will pluck you
I will pluck your head
And your head
Lark!
O-o-o-oh
O-o-o-oh
Alouette, gentille Alouette
Alouette, je te plumerai
Je te plumerai le bec
Lark, nice lark
Lark, I will pluck you
I will pluck your beak
Et le bec (repeat)
Et la tête (repeat)
Alouette (repeat)
And the beak
and the head
Lark!
Et le cou
Et le dos
Et les ailes
Et les pattes
Et la queue
And the neck
And the back
And the wings
And the legs
And the tail
(Ending – repeat chorus)
Alouette, gentille Alouette
Alouette, je te plumerai
Lark, nice lark
Lark, I will pluck you
Conclusion
Félicitations! Congratulations! You’ve now mastered the lyrics of Alouette! Next check our list of songs for learning French. Two other fun kids songs are Frère Jacques and Au Claire de la Lune. You may also enjoy our list of French Christmas songs!
