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Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Moderators: MoniqueMaRie, dakanga

Vojtech_S.
Czech Republic

Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by Vojtech_S. »

Hi,
are there any popular French songs, that are sung around the bonfire with just guitar and group of friends?
Could you hint some (idealy including sheets with notes or accord marks).
Thank you.

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dakanga

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by dakanga »

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dakanga

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by dakanga »

Also, I would love to know how you go with this project.

Thanks for sharing this inspiration [mention]Vojtech_S.[/mention]

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Madame Sensei
Japan

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by Madame Sensei »

Vojtech_S. wrote: Tue Apr 26, 2022 1:20 pm

Hi,
are there any popular French songs, that are sung around the bonfire with just guitar and group of friends?
Could you hint some (idealy including sheets with notes or accord marks).
Thank you.

I just handed over to some of my students sheet music to Belinda par Claude François, which really deserves a honky-tonk piano, but everybody loves that song so I found guitar tabs.

I had one student perform a rockin' version of La vie en rose on her ukulele last semester.

Golly, the song Pudding à l'arsenic from one of the Asterix cartoons is a whole lot of fun.

Two good guitar songs that I often teach my students to sing are Mr. Hyde by Phillipe Chatel and Prends un enfant par la main by Yves Duteil.

Can't wait to hear what songs you are tackling!

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SweNedGuy
Belgium

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by SweNedGuy »

'Chevaliers de la table ronde' (Knights of the round table) is a popular folk song among scouts and students.
A polished version:

Speaking :netherlands: :fr: :uk: :es: Learning :de:(B2-) :it:(B1) Image :sweden: :portugal: Image (A)

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dakanga

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by dakanga »

Thanks as always for sharing these insights, as always [mention]SweNedGuy[/mention] !

I loved reading about this also on :

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevalier ... _(chanson)

To translate

The song, which appears in 18th-century peddler's books, was inspired by an earlier one, La Femme ivrogne (The Drunken Woman), which was transcribed in 1749 into the Bresse patois (dialect). Among its lyrics is the verse "Si je me meurs, que l'on m'enterre dans la cave où est le vin, les pieds contre la muraille, la tête sous le robin" (If I die, let them bury me in the cellar where the wine is, with my feet against the wall and my head under the tap fireplace). This verse is found in various variants: Catherine s'est coiffée or La maladie de la fille ivrogne ( Catherine's hair or The disease of the drunken girl) ; la Vieille Mathurine (Old Mathurine), and in a play by Eugène Labiche. Previously, the theme of the knights of the Round Table as a synonym for friends of wine was already present in the seventeenth century: in 1643, a song by André de Rosiers de Beaulieu begins with these lines :

Enfans de l'Amour et du vin, Chevaliers de la Table Ronde...
(Children of Love and wine, Knights of the Round Table...)

Le Roux, in his Dictionnaire comique, points out in 1718 that " on appelle chevaliers de la Table Ronde ceux qui aiment être longtemps à table " (one calls knights of the Round Table those who like to be long at the table)".

The text as it is known today dates from the beginning of the 20th century

And here are some "karaoke" ones - with words :

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SweNedGuy
Belgium

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by SweNedGuy »

I notice you found the complete text, including the verses omitted in the "polished version" above. :)

Just one remark on the translation that was provided:

Les deux pieds contre la muraille
Et la tête sous le robinet ;

Both feet against the wall
And the head under the tap;

To be buried underneath a barrel with your head under the tap. Makes more sense, no?

Speaking :netherlands: :fr: :uk: :es: Learning :de:(B2-) :it:(B1) Image :sweden: :portugal: Image (A)

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dakanga

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by dakanga »

le robin - YES - as you say, that means tap.

I am sorry I have daKanga moments. And I slip up. Thanks for pointing this out - especially for others benefit.

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SweNedGuy
Belgium

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by SweNedGuy »

There are several songs with easy lyrics for the young scouts (and other children) such as:

In the last year of primary school, we used to learn those songs in the French lesson.

Speaking :netherlands: :fr: :uk: :es: Learning :de:(B2-) :it:(B1) Image :sweden: :portugal: Image (A)

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EranBarLev
Israel

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by EranBarLev »

SweNedGuy wrote: Thu May 12, 2022 7:47 am

OMG, that's a terrible song! First she kills the cat, 😿 then the priest takes advantage of her.

🇮🇱N 🇬🇧C1 🇪🇸B2 🇵🇹B1 🇫🇷B1 🇸🇦A1 🇷🇺A1

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SweNedGuy
Belgium

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by SweNedGuy »

EranBarLev wrote: Sat May 14, 2022 8:44 am

OMG, that's a terrible song! First she kills the cat, 😿 then the priest takes advantage of her.

Yes indeed. In the mid 20th century, it could not be envisaged how morals and public opinion would shift over half a century later.
You now can find a version omitting the last strophes: the cat still gets killed, but the shepherdess doesn't feel sorry anymore.

Il était une bergère (version racourcie)

Speaking :netherlands: :fr: :uk: :es: Learning :de:(B2-) :it:(B1) Image :sweden: :portugal: Image (A)

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EranBarLev
Israel

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by EranBarLev »

SweNedGuy wrote: Sat May 14, 2022 10:34 am

You now can find a version omitting the last strophes: the cat still gets killed, but the shepherdess doesn't feel sorry anymore.

Il était une bergère (version racourcie)

I found a better version: here she doesn't kill the cat, she only scares it away, then instead of the priest she goes to her dad, and eventually she gives the cheese to the cat. 😻

🇮🇱N 🇬🇧C1 🇪🇸B2 🇵🇹B1 🇫🇷B1 🇸🇦A1 🇷🇺A1

Cifi

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by Cifi »

My favourite song in French actually is the national anthem, la Marseillaise. I don't know its guitar chords though, as I play it on the flute.

Last edited by Cifi on Mon May 16, 2022 8:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

Native: :de: Intermediate: :uk: Lower intermediate: :es: Beginner: :fr: Absolute beginner: 🇬🇷
(If there are errors in what I'm writing in either language, please do correct me - I'll never take it as offense or something like that.)

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dakanga

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by dakanga »

What a great choice !

Are there any others people would recommend ?

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MoniqueMaRie
Germany

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by MoniqueMaRie »

Since we recently had a French song recital and are planning more, I'm also collecting a few references to French songs here.

Here from the old forum: https://duolingo.hobune.stream/comment/54994594

Native :de: / using :uk: / learning :fr: :cn: :it: / once learnt Image / trying to understand at least a bit :poland:

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dakanga

Re: Songs and sheet music for bonfire with guitar.

Post by dakanga »

This is also a good read I suggest :

How music can help you learn a language

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