À la queue leu leu Lyrics
A short French children's song built on one expression, "à la queue leu leu", which means in single file, one behind the other. The same four lines are sung twice. Children can walk in a line while they sing, and the English translation sits beside the French.
À la queue leu leu
A la queue leu! leu!
A la queue, à la queue,
A la queue leu leu,
A la queue Ouin Ouin!
A la queue leu! leu!
A la queue, à la queue,
A la queue leu leu,
A la queue Ouin Ouin!
In English
At the tail, leu! leu!
At the tail, at the tail,
At the tail, leu leu,
At the tail, ouin ouin!
At the tail, leu! leu!
At the tail, at the tail,
At the tail, leu leu,
At the tail, ouin ouin!
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/a-la-queue-leu-leu/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Bouncy and marching, the same four lines twice
- Best for ages
- 2 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| A la queue leu! leu! | Line up one behind the other and put your hands on the shoulders of the person in front. |
| A la queue, à la queue | Walk forward in a line, one small step for each word. |
| A la queue Ouin Ouin! | Stop and wiggle your hands in the air on the last words. |
What Does À la queue leu leu Mean?
Roughly, the title sounds like ah lah kuh luh luh. La queue is the tail, and in French the tail can also be the end of a line. The whole expression à la queue leu leu means "in single file", with each person following the one in front. The Larousse dictionary gives it as "à la file, à la suite les uns des autres", which means in a line, one after another.
The song has only four different lines, and the last two words are sounds: leu leu sits at the end of the expression, and ouin ouin closes the verse as a sound. The book does not explain either one, and they are best sung as sounds. In the translation they are left as they are.
The words are the same in both verses, so a child who has sung it once knows it. It works best as a walking song, with everyone in a row.
History and Origin
The song comes from Vieilles chansons pour les petits enfants, a Paris songbook of old songs for small children, with tunes arranged by Charles-Marie Widor. The book's own pages show no printing year. A notice in a companion songbook, by Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin, offers Widor's collection as a second edition, so it had already been reprinted by the time that other book was printed.
The songbook prints the title as La Queue leu leu and its words are only the eight lines on this page. It gives no game directions and no explanation of the last sounds.
Learning Activities
- Single-file walk: line up and walk round the room, hands on the shoulders in front, singing the song twice.
- Change the leader: after each time through, the child at the front goes to the back.
- Spot the repeat: clap on every 'queue' and count how many times you clap in one verse.
- Animal line: line up toy animals in single file and say which is at the head of the line and which is at the tail.