A la claire fontaine

"À la claire fontaine" ("By the clear fountain") is a traditional French song, which has also become very popular in Canada - especially the French-speaking areas such as Québec.

History

The song may have appeared as early as 1604 when the first permanent French settlement was established in Québec. As with all traditional songs, numerous versions of both music and lyrics can be found, and versions known in France vary from those known in Canada.^[1]

Modern usage

The song can be heard at the end of the 2006 film "The Painted Veil", sung by a children’s choir.

It inspired the title of the 2008 French film Il y a longtemps que je t'aime and appears as a recurring theme.

It has been performed by (among others) Dame Emma Albani, Nana Mouskouri and Kate & Anna McGarrigle, who regularly used it as an encore in their live performances.^[2] It has been adapted and arranged, notably a choral arrangement by the French composer Jean Langlais, and a jazz version by the English arranger Bob Chilcott.^[3]

Sung by Henri (Andrew Moodie), Thomas Durant's butler, in Jamais Je Ne T'oublierai - Episode 4, Season 1 of AMC's Hell On Wheels.

Michael Tippett inscribed his String Quartet No. 5 (1990-1) with a verse from the folk song.^[4] It lends the quartet a symbolic significance and adds a strong conceptual dimension to the composition.

Musicality

The melody is pentatonic, and uses only four notes of the scale. The verse employs an alternating 7- and 6-syllable metre, with the refrain adding an extra syllable to each line.

Meaning

Like another famous children's song, "Au clair de la lune", it has an adult theme - in this case, one of lost love. The song speaks of a lover bathing in a fountain, hearing a nightingale singing, and thinking about her long lost lover whom she lost after failing to give her rosebud. The nightingale's heart laughs but hers weeps. The rosebud is a euphemism for maidenhood, and thus she wishes it were still intact and could still be given to her long lost lover.

The refrain is repeated at the end of each verse:

“Il y a longtemps que je t’aime, Jamais je ne t’oublierai.”

“I've loved you for a long time, I will never forget you.”

Complete lyrics

The lyrics are:

À la claire fontaine m’en allant promener J’ai trouvé l’eau si belle que je m’y suis baigné. (refrain) Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, jamais je ne t'oublierai Sous les feuilles d’un chêne, je me suis fait sécher. Sur la plus haute branche, un rossignol chantait. (refrain) Chante, rossignol, chante, toi qui as le cœur gai. Tu as le cœur à rire… moi je l’ai à pleurer. (refrain) J’ai perdu mon amie sans l’avoir mérité, Pour un bouton de rose que je lui refusai… (refrain) Je voudrais que la rose fût encore au rosier, Et que ma douce amie fût encore à m'aimer.

By the clear fountain, going for a walk I found the water so clear I had to bathe. (refrain) I've loved you for a long time, I will never forget you Under the oak's leaves, I lay and dried. On the highest bough, a nightingale sang. (refrain) Sing, nightingale, sing, you of the joyous heart. Your heart is to laugh, mine is to cry. (refrain) I lost my friend, which I didn't deserve, To a rosebud I kept from her... (refrain) I wish the rose still on the bush, And my sweet friend still loving me.

References

1. The collected reprints from “Sing out!”: the folk song magazine, vols.1-6. United States: Sing Out Magazine. 1990. ISBN 0962670405.
2. http://www.mcgarrigles.com/uncategorized/odditties-☆-kate-anna-mcgarrigle
3. Jazz folk songs for choirs. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. 2008. ISBN 0193359243.
4. Michael Tippett, String Quartet No. 5 (London: Schott & Co. Ltd, 1992) ED 12400.