May 5, 2007

Saturday Song - Sur le Pont d'Avignon

Sur le Pont d'Avignon - On the Bridge of AvignonHearkening back to my days studying abroad in France, I present to you one of our classroom favorites:

Refrain
Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse, l'on y danse.
Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse tout en rond.

verses
Les messieurs (mesdames) vont comme ci,
et puis, vont comme ca.

Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse, l'on y danse.
Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse tout en rond.

I didn't include the translation in the audio file (which you can access by clicking on the title in the "Songs to Sing with Children" box in the side bar,) but here it is in case you're interested:

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.

The gentlemen (ladies) go this way,
and then, go that way.

We accompany this song with motions. The children stand in a circle and we all hold hands, swaying slightly during the refrain. During the verses, when it says messieurs, the boys bow when we sing "comme ci" and "comme ca." The girls curtsy when we sing "comme ci," "comme ca."

Curious about this famous bridge? Check out this Wikipedia article.

Have a great weekend!

Meg

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great page! Sur le Pont is one I sing with my grandchildren.
I was looking for a song our 2-year-old granddaughter (who attends a Montessori school) sang to unite her parents when they were having a serious discussion-- she took each of their hands and sang something like "hold hands, make friends, make peace . . ."
Do you have lyrics and melody for that song?
srustvo@pdx.edu