PRETEND ~ PRESENT ~ PERFORM a SONG

PRETEND ~ PRESENT ~ PERFORM

RECORD YOURSELF SINGING A FRENCH SONG

WHO WROTE IT? 

HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SING THE SONG? 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?

Sur le Pont d'Avignon


L'on y danse, l'on y danse


Sur le Pont d'Avignon


L'on y danse tous en rond

On the bridge of Avignon


We all dance there, we all dance there


On the bridge of Avignon


We all dance there in a ring

WHO WROTE IT?

It was written in the 15^th century about dancing on a bridge, which isn’t called Pont d’Avignon but Pont St Benezet. It’s known as the bridge people dance on. In medieval times there were cafes under the bridge where people danced.

The song was composed by Pierre Certon but the melody has been changed. The song was used in 1876 for an operatta.  The bridge is actually too run down to dance on anymore.

HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SING THE SONG?

I love the idea of dancing freely in a group, people spontaneously dancing and singing together around cafes. I can imagine medieval times in Paris, when lower socio economic people spent the nights in cafes dancing.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?

It was the second French song I ever learned (also Frère Jacques). One of my preschool teachers, Mde Sophie, was French. I remember walking over the bridges in Paris and I know I didn’t walk over Pont d’Avignon  and I walked over the bridges to Ile de la Cité including the Pont Neuf which is the oldest bridge in Paris, built in the 1570s. I also had icecreams sitting on the banks of the Seine River looking at Pont Neuf eating une glace du chocolate.