{"id":31458,"date":"2019-07-10T14:42:24","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T12:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=31458"},"modified":"2019-07-09T23:22:52","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T21:22:52","slug":"14-juillet-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/14-juillet-song\/","title":{"rendered":"Le 14 Juillet With A Song – Celebrate Bastille Day In French"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s almost time to start le d\u00e9fil\u00e9<\/strong> (the parade) and light up les feux d’artifice<\/strong><\/a> (fireworks)! That’s right, le 14 juillet<\/strong> (Bastille Day) is this weekend and all of France is set to celebrate.<\/p>\n

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Image<\/a> from Pixabay. Licensed by CC0.<\/p><\/div>\n

En tant qu’Am\u00e9ricain<\/strong> (as an American), July is a fun month in France. There’s 2 big f\u00eates nationales<\/strong><\/a> (national holidays) right after each other! That means it’s pretty much a whole month of celebration right before veryone gets ready for les vacances d’\u00e9t\u00e9<\/strong> (Summer vacation).<\/p>\n

To set the mood and find a nice way en fran\u00e7ais<\/strong> to share some of the excitement behind all the bleu, blanc, rouge<\/strong><\/a> (blue, white, red, the colors of the French flag<\/em>), I wanted to find a traditional song that is closely tied to le 14 juillet<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Et <\/strong>voil\u00e0<\/strong>: <\/strong>La Carmagnole<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

La Carmagnole<\/strong> <\/em>is a folk song closely tied to la r\u00e9volution fran\u00e7aise<\/strong> (the French revolution). It’s thought to have come from the south of France, gaining popularity \u00e0 Marseille<\/strong> before spreading across the whole country.<\/p>\n

The name comes the shirt les sans-culottes<\/strong> (the without-pants,<\/em> a make-shift militia of peasants and commoners), wore as their military uniform. The shirt itself was taken from a traditional piece of clothing from a small town called Carmagnola<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

All throughout la r\u00e9volution<\/strong>, la Carmagnole<\/strong> <\/em>was used as a battle cry and celebration song.<\/p>\n

In fact, la chanson<\/a> r\u00e9volutionnaire <\/strong>(the revolutionary song) actually predates the national anthem, la Marseillaise<\/a>! <\/strong>The melody behind the song is even older with traces found as far back as the 7th century.<\/p>\n

The more modern version of La Carmagnole<\/strong> <\/em>was seen as an important part of l\u2019esprit de la r\u00e9volution<\/strong> (the spirit of the revolution) and sung all around France as a new way to be proud of the freedom that came with the new France.<\/p>\n

The simple lyrics and easy melody made it strong symbol in how every common person could sing along without having to worry about any of the elitism of more difficult music.<\/p>\n

Les paroles<\/strong> (the lyrics) are dripping with French humor with the use of le second degr\u00e9<\/strong><\/a> (sarcasm) to make fun of la Reine de France<\/strong> (the Queen of France), Marie Antoinette, and le Roi de France<\/strong> (the King of France), Louis XVI. The entire song refers to the unpopular monarchs with rather silly nicknames:<\/p>\n

Madame Veto<\/strong> – Marie Antoinette
\nMonsieur Veto<\/strong> – Louis XVI<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Take a moment and prepare for le 14 juillet<\/strong> and listen to La Carmagnole<\/strong><\/em>!<\/p>\n

Voici la chanson avec les paroles et une traduction anglaise<\/strong> (here’s the song with the lyrics and an English translation):<\/p>\n