by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Le faux pas
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG
Ah, vous dirai-je Maman,
Ce qui cause mon tourment?
Papa veut que je raisonne 
Com-me u-ne grande personne;
Moi, je dis que les bonbons,
Valent mieux que la raison! 

Ah, vous dirai-je Maman,
Ce qui cause mon tourment?
Papa veut que je demande 
De la soupe et de la viande;
Moi, je dis que les bonbons, 
Valent mieux que les mignons!

Submitter's note: According to James Fuld, the original French text goes back to a manuscript copy of about 1765, with the title "Le faux pas." The earliest printed version of the melody (Twinkle twinkle / Baa, baa black sheep) appeared with these words in Recueil de Romances, by M. D. L. (Brussels, 1774), p. 75.

Mozart wrote some piano variations on this melody.


Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English [singable] (Thomas Heck) , title unknown, copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Thomas Heck

This text was added to the website: 2015-09-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 61