À la pêche aux moules Lyrics
A French children's song in which the singer tells mother, "I do not want to go fishing for mussels any more." The reason is in the second verse: the boys of Marennes would take the basket. The French has an English translation beside it.
À la pêche aux moules
A la pêche des moules,
Je ne veux plus aller, maman,
A la pêche des moules
Je ne veux plus aller.
Les garçons de Marennes
Me prendraient mon panier, maman,
Les garçons de Marennes
Me prendraient mon panier.
In English
To go fishing for mussels
I do not want to go any more, mother,
To go fishing for mussels
I do not want to go any more.
The boys of Marennes
Would take my basket, mother,
The boys of Marennes
Would take my basket.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/a-la-peche-aux-moules/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- A swaying folk tune, sung lightly with the same words twice in each verse
- Best for ages
- 4 to 10 years
What Does À la pêche aux moules Mean?
The words are printed under the title La pêche des moules, and the first line is A la pêche des moules, so the song is also known as À la pêche aux moules. Both mean "fishing for mussels", and les moules are mussels, shellfish gathered at the shore. Said roughly, moules sounds like "mool". Each long line is followed by maman, "mother", so the singer is talking to mother.
The first verse says the singer does not want to go to the shore any more. The second gives the reason: les garçons de Marennes, the boys of Marennes, a town on the western coast of France, would take the basket (le panier). That is the worry at the heart of the song, and it is simple enough for a small child to follow.
Each verse says its two lines twice, the second time without "maman", so there are only four different lines to learn. That makes it easy for a group to sing back.
History and Origin
The words come from Chansons de France pour les petits Français, a songbook whose tunes were arranged by the composer Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin. Catalogues give 1884 or 1886 for that edition, and the publisher, Plon of Paris, also issued a companion songbook arranged by Charles-Marie Widor.
The songbook titles it La pêche des moules. The title here is À la pêche aux moules, from the first line, because that is the name people search for. This page gives the first two verses of the song.
Learning Activities
- Question and answer: one child sings the first verse, as the one who will not go, and the group sings the second verse as the reason.
- Find Marennes: look at a map of France and find the western coast, then talk about what you would find in a basket at the shore.
- Fill the basket: cut mussel shapes from dark paper and put them in a paper basket while singing.
- Say it twice: clap the pattern of each verse, where the first two lines are sung and then sung again.