Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre

Part of the French Medley. See also the note on Call-and-Answer Songs.

Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre	Marlborough goes off to war
Mironton, mironton, mirontaine,	La da da, da da da, da da da da,
Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre
Ne sait quand reviendra. (ter)	Doesn't know when will return.
Il reviendra à Pâques,	He'll come back at Easter,
Mironton, mironton, mirontaine,
Il reviendra à Pâques,
Ou à la Trinité. (ter)	Or at Trinity.
La Trinité se passe,	Trinity passes,
Malbrough ne revient pas.	Marlborough doesn't come back.
Madame à sa tour monte,	Madame goes up her tower,
Si haut qu'ell' peut monter.	As high as she can go.
Ell' voit venir son page,	She sees her page coming,
Tout de noir habillé.	All clothed in black.
« Beau page, mon beau page,	"Handsome (good?) page, my handsome page,
Quelles nouvell's apportez ? »	What news do you bring?"
« Aux nouvell's que j'apporte,	"At the news that I bring,
Vos beaux yeux vont pleurer.	Your beautiful eyes will weep.
Quittez vos habits roses,	Leave off your pink (?) clothes,
Et vos satins brochés.	And your brocaded (?) satins.
Monsieur Malbrough est mort,	Monsieur Marlborough is dead,
Est mort et enterré.	Is dead and buried.
J' l'ai vu porter en terre,	I saw him carried underground,
Par quatre officiers.	By four officers.
L'un portait sa cuirasse,	The one carried his cuirass,
L'autre son bouclier.	The other his buckler.
L'un portait son grand sabre,	The one carried his great saber,
L'autre ne portait rien.	The other didn't carry anything.
A l'entour de sa tombe,	Around his tomb,
Romarin fut planté.	Was planted rosemary
Sur la plus haute branche,	On the highest branch,
Un rossignol chantait.	A nightingale sang.
On vit voler son âme,	One saw his soul fly,
Au travers des lauriers.	Through some laurels.
Chacun mit ventre à terre,	Each lay prone [put chest to earth],
Et puis se releva.	And then got up.
Pour chanter les victoires,	To sing the victories,
Que Malbrough remporta.	That Marlborough brought.
La cérémonie faite,	The ceremony done,
Chacun s'en fut coucher.	Everyone went to bed.
Les uns avec leurs femmes,	Some with their wives,
Et les autres tout seule !	And the others all alone!
Ce n'est pas qu'il en manque	It isn't that there was a lack of them
Car j'en connais beaucoup.	Because I knew many of them.
Des blondes et des brunes,	Blondes and brunettes,
Et des châtain's aussi.	And redheads (?), too.
J' n'en dis pas davantage,	I won't say any more,
Car en voilà assez. »	Because that's enough."

On the last verse, you sing the last line just once and stop.

There are undoubtedly endless versions of this song with more or fewer verses.

[Up]

[Home]

[Next]