Mommy, shall I tell you why

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Translation © by Thomas Heck

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:

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, "Le faux pas", written c1765 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

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

Mommy, shall I tell you why

Language: English after the French (Français)

Mommy, shall I tell you why
Laughter’s given way to sigh?
I’ve been told by Dad to act
Rea-son-ab-ly, when in fact
I prefer sweet bonbons more
Than “8” being “2” times “4”!

Mommy, shall I tell you why
Laughter’s given way to sigh?
Dad insists that I must eat
Only soup and only meat;
As for me, I’d rather chew
Chocolate éclairs than ragu!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Singable translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 by Thomas Heck, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , "Le faux pas", written c1765
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-09-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 65