Ah! vous dirai-je, maman Facts for Kids

"Ah! vous dirai-je, maman" (which means "Oh! Shall I tell you, Mama" in English) is a very famous children's song from France. It has been around since the 1700s and has had many different words written to its tune. This song became even more famous because of a piece of music called "Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman"" by the well-known composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The Nursery Rhyme Version
The Original Poem: "La Confidence naïve"
Where You Can Hear the Melody
Images for kids

The Nursery Rhyme Version

\header { tagline = ##f } \score { \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } << \new Voice = "melody" \relative c { \key c \major \time 4/4 \tempo 4 = 135 \override TupletBracket #'bracket-visibility = ##f \autoBeamOff \repeat volta 2 { \partial 2

c,4 c g' g a a g2 f4 f e e d d c2 \bar "

The French words for this nursery rhyme have a few different versions. The one below is one of the most common. It's about a child who prefers candy over being sensible!

Ah ! Vous dirai-je maman
Ce qui cause mon tourment?
Papa veut que je raisonne
Comme une grande personne
Moi je dis que les bonbons
Valent mieux que la raison.

Oh! Shall I tell you, Mama,
What is causing my torment?
Daddy wants me to reason
Like a big, big person,
But I say that candies,
Are worth more than the reason!

The Original Poem: "La Confidence naïve"

Did you know the nursery rhyme words are actually a funny version of an older poem? The original poem was an anonymous (meaning no one knew who wrote it) love poem called "La Confidence naïve" (which means "The Naive Confidence").

This older poem tells a story about someone's feelings. It shows how the same tune can be used for very different kinds of songs!

Ah ! vous dirai-je, maman,
Ce qui cause mon tourment ?
Depuis que j'ai vu Silvandre,
Me regarder d'un air tendre ;
Mon cœur dit à chaque instant :
« Peut-on vivre sans amant ? »

L'autre jour, dans un bosquet,
De fleurs il fit un bouquet ;
Il en para ma houlette
Me disant : « Belle brunette,
Flore est moins belle que toi ;
L'amour moins épris que moi.

Étant faite pour charmer,
Il faut plaire, il faut aimer ;
C'est au printemps de son âge,
Qu'il est dit que l'on s'engage.
Si vous tardez plus longtemps,
On regrette ces moments. »

Je rougis et par malheur
Un soupir trahit mon cœur.
Le cruel avec adresse,
Profita de ma faiblesse :
Hélas, maman ! un faux pas
Me fit tomber dans ses bras.

Je n'avais pour tout soutien
Que ma houlette et mon chien.
L'amour, voulant ma défaite,
Écarta chien et houlette ;
Ah ! qu'on goûte de douceur,
Quand l'amour prend soin d'un cœur !

Ah! Shall I tell you, Mama,
What causes my torment?
Ever since I saw Silvandre,
Look at me so tenderly;
My heart says every time:
"Can we live without loving?"

The other day, in a grove,
With flowers, he made a bouquet,
He adorned my crook with it
Telling me: "Beautiful brunette,
Flora is less beautiful than you;
Love less enamoured than me.

Being made to charm,
You must please, you must love;
It's in spring that at his age,
That it is said one should commit.
If you tarry any longer,
One will regrets these moments."

I blushed and unfortunately,
A sigh betrayed my heart.
The cruel one skillfully
Profited of my weakness:
Alas, Mama! a misstep
Made me fall into his arms.

I did not have any support
Than my crook and my dog.
Love, wanting my defeat,
Put aside my dog and crook;
Ah! That we taste sweetness,
When love takes care of a heart!

Around the same time, people used different names for the male character in the poem, like Sylvandre, Lysandre, and Clitandre.

Where You Can Hear the Melody

The tune of "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman" is so catchy that it's been used in many songs in different languages!

In English, you probably know it from "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", the "Alphabet Song", and "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep".
In Germany, the Christmas carol "Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann [de]" uses the tune.
Other countries also have songs with this melody, like the Hungarian Christmas carol "Hull a pelyhes fehér hó [hu]", the Dutch "Altijd is Kortjakje ziek [nl]", the Spanish "Campanita del lugar [es]", the Greek "Φεγγαράκι μου λαμπρό", and the Turkish "Daha Dün Annemizin".

Many famous classical composers have also used this tune in their music:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" (K. 265 / K. 300e) in 1781 or 1782. This is one of the most famous uses of the melody.
Joseph Haydn used it in the second movement of his Symphony No. 94 (the "Surprise Symphony") in 1792.
Camille Saint-Saëns included a quote of the tune in his famous piece The Carnival of the Animals (1886), in the movement called Fossiles.
Ernst von Dohnányi wrote a whole piece called Variations on a Nursery Tune, Op. 25 in 1914, which is based on this melody.

Other composers who used the tune include:

Michel Corrette (1783)
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (first published around 1880)
Jean-Baptiste Cardon (1760–1803)
Theodor von Schacht (1748–1823)
Franz Liszt (1833)
Christian Heinrich Rinck (published 1828)
Adolphe Adam (1849)
Erwin Schulhoff (1914)
Harl McDonald (1948)
Xavier Montsalvatge (1962)
John Corigliano (2000)

Images for kids

"Ah! vous dirai-je, maman"
"La Confidence naïve"

All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:

Ah! vous dirai-je, maman Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.

Ah! vous dirai-je, maman facts for kids

Contents

The Nursery Rhyme Version

The Original Poem: "La Confidence naïve"

Where You Can Hear the Melody

Images for kids