Au Clair De La Lune

Album: Pour Enfantes Sages (1795)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Although it dates only from the 18th Century, "Au Clair De La Lune" is one of the most famous of French folk songs, including in England where it is particularly well known in primary schools as an elementary tune for descant recorder. Where it is sung, the French lyrics are universally preferred.

    The opening lines are especially well known:

    Au clair de la lune
    Mon ami Pierrot
    Prête-moi ta plume
    Pour écrire un mot


    The provenance of the song is not known, nor is it known if the words and music came together, or if one preceded the other. There are of course variants, especially on the words.

    Unlike many folk songs, it appears to have no particular regional, national, political or moral significance or message, but it does have one particular significance; on April 9, 1860, the Parisian inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville made what is believed to be the first-ever recording of the human voice. It was discovered in February 2008 hidden away in the archives of the French Academy Of Sciences, and the following month the 10-second clip was retrieved from the original soot-covered paper phonoautograph recording by scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. The voice was originally thought to be an unknown woman's due to a miscalculation of the playback speed that pitched the sound higher and faster. The revised version renders a male voice, possibly the inventor's, slowly singing a snippet of the song.
  • Among the many published versions is a 1925 arrangement issued by Boston Music (of Boston!) in 1925, "Variations on a French Folk Song" by Mark Wessel. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2
  • This features prominently in the 1956 thriller The Bad Seed. The murderous child, played by Patty McCormack, incessantly practices the tune on the piano.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Williamson of Iggy & the Stooges

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

Pete Anderson

Pete AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.

Charlie Daniels

Charlie DanielsSongwriter Interviews

Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all.

Who Wrote That Song?

Who Wrote That Song?Music Quiz

Do you know who wrote Patti Smith's biggest hit? How about the Grease theme song? See if you can match the song to the writer.

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?