On July 14, 1789, the French Revolution began with the historic overthrow of the Bastille prison by the people. Though it only housed seven prisoners at the time, its capture was a symbol of the fight against the oppressive regime of King Louis the Sixteenth. The fall of the Bastille marked the end of absolute monarchy in France, the birth of the sovereign nation we know today and led the way to the establishment of the First Republic a few years later in 1792. The years between 1789 and 1792 were filled with violence and the song that became the French National Anthem, La Marseillaise, speaks of ferocious soldiers who are coming to slit the throats of our sons and friends and of watering fields with blood. Today the French people are a bit embarrassed by the violence in the lyrics, but it is what it is and the tune is catchy. Perhaps it is allowed to remain unchanged as a reminder of what can happen or, rather, what will happen when absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I thought I had learned the Marseillaise many years ago, but I discovered today, Bastille Day 2007, that I only learned the first of two verses. So, I am attempting to sing the second verse here. The key word is 'attempting'. After hearing it in post processing, I realized I made a few pronunciation errors. For instance, in verse two, I pronounce 'que' as it would be in Spanish, not French. Eh, bien...c'est la vie!
The Marseillaise was composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792 and was declared the French National Anthem in 1795. My thanks to Celine Buisson and her husband Jean-Marc of the Alliance Française de Napa for providing the historical information and for the French lyrics and their English translation.
La Marseillaise
Allons enfants de la patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étandard sanglant est levé!
Entendez-vous dans le campagnes,
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Égorger nos fils, nos compagnes!
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons!
Marchons! Marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!
Amour sacré de la patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs!
Liberté, Liberté chérie,
Combats avec tes défenseurs!
Sous nos drapeaux, que la victoire
Accoure à tes mâles accents!
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons!
Marchons! Marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!
The Marseillaise
Let's go children of the fatherland,
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us, tyranny's
Bloody flag is raised!
In the countryside, do you hear
The roaring of these fierce soldiers?
They come right to our arms
To slit the throats of our sons, our friends!
Grab your weapons, citizens!
Form your batallions!
Let us march! Let us march!
May impure blood
water our fields!
Sacred love of France
Lead, support our avenging arms!
Liberty, beloved Liberty,
Fight with your defenders!
Under our flags, let victory
Hasten to your manly tones!
May your dying enemies
See your triumph and our glory!
Grab your weapons, citizens!
Form your batallions!
Let us march! Let us march!
May impure blood
water our fields!
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9:05Marseillaise full version with pictures along t...by Suppersin199420,161 views
It is pleasant to ear people from other countries singing the french anthem...and with a good accent ,Congrats !
KevinSaxoTV 9 months ago
@KevinSaxoTV Merci beaucoups! Thank you very much! I"m happy that you enjoyed my rendering of this famous anthem.
kenbank 9 months ago
Actually there are not two verses, but seven ;)
Ratatatak 1 year ago
@Ratatatak I am aware of that now, but when I produced this video I was only aware of two verses. When I queried my francophonic friends they reluctantly admitted the other verses exist, but they said that they never sing them. This puts me to mind of the US national anthem which has more than one verse yet we never sing, but the first verse and I know I don't know the remaining verses and probably most of my fellow countrymen and women are similarly ignorant. We're ignoramuses all! LOL
kenbank 1 year ago
Good
TheAntiWesh 1 year ago
@TheAntiWesh Thank you.
kenbank 1 year ago