For those struggling with the meaning of the lyrics for ‘Alouette’, there’s even a more bizarre Québécois nonsense song along similar lines ‘Mon Merle’.
In this case, the blackbird starts by losing a body part, then getting three back in its place. Worse, the singer asks each time ‘Comment vas-tu mon Merle’, literally ‘How’s it going blackbird.’
Here’s a rather delightful, celebrated 1958 animated short featuring the song, sung by ‘The Trio Lyrique of Montreal‘ with an English introduction . (It used an experimental cut-out animation method.)
Dr. Miglemo would be horrified.
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That was a very enjoyable watch! The animation is very good even by today's standards, let alone for 1958! Thanks for sharing this.
I do apologize that this may not translate well. I've never had a single course in French, but many people know this song without context.
