French Songs > Charles Trenet

Douce France
Douce France, cher pays de mon enfance

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1943. Words: Charles Trenet. Music: Charles Trenet et Léo Chaullac. One of several signature tunes of the great Trenet. It associates patriotic feeling with childhood and country life (c. 1920).

The phrase “Douce France” has a pedigree going back to c. 1100 (that is, to the Chanson de Roland, in which dulce France is a frequently used formula).

You can hear and see Charles Trenet performing this song at various ages on YouTube. Here is a performance dating back to 1963.

French Lyrics (English Translation Follows)

1 Il revient¹ à ma mémoire
Des souvenirs familiers
Je revois ma blouse noire
Lorsque j’étais écolier
Sur le chemin de l’école
Je chantais à pleine voix
Des romances sans paroles²
Vieilles chansons d’autrefois

Douce France
Cher pays de mon enfance
Bercée de tendre insouciance
Je t’ai gardée dans mon cœur!
Mon village au clocher aux maisons sages
Où les enfants de mon âge
Ont partagé mon bonheur
Oui je t’aime
Et je te donne ce poème
Oui je t’aime
Dans la joie ou la douleur
Douce France
Cher pays de mon enfance
Bercée de tendre insouciance
Je t’ai gardée dans mon cœur

2 J’ai connu³ des paysages
Et des soleils merveilleux
Au cours de lointains voyages
Tout là-bas sous d’autres cieux
Mais combien je leur préfère
Mon ciel bleu mon horizon
Ma grande route et ma rivière⁴
Ma prairie et ma maison.

Douce France, etc.

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French Lyrics With English Translation

1 Il revient à ma mémoire Des souvenirs familiers Je revois ma blouse noire Lorsque j’étais écolier Sur le chemin de l’école Je chantais à pleine voix Des romances sans paroles Vieilles chansons d’autrefois	1 There come back to my recollection Familiar memories. I see once again my black jacket (That I wore) When I was a schoolboy On the path to the school I sang aloud Wordless ballads, Old songs of yesteryear.
Douce France Cher pays de mon enfance Bercée de tendre insouciance Je t’ai gardée dans mon cœur! Mon village au clocher aux maisons sages Où les enfants de mon âge Ont partagé mon bonheur Oui je t’aime Et je te donne ce poème Oui je t’aime Dans la joie ou la douleur Douce France Cher pays de mon enfance Bercée de tendre insouciance Je t’ai gardée dans mon cœur	Sweet France, Dear land of my childhood, I have kept you, cradled With tender carelessness, in my heart. My village with its bell-tower, its well-kept houses, Where the children of my age Shared my happiness. Yes, I love you, And I give you this poem; Yes, I love you, In joy and in sorrow. Sweet France, Dear land of my childhood, I have kept you, cradled With tender thoughtlessness, in my heart.
2 J’ai connu des paysages Et des soleils merveilleux Au cours de lointains voyages Tout là-bas sous d’autres cieux Mais combien je leur préfère Mon ciel bleu mon horizon Ma grande route et ma rivière Ma prairie et ma maison.	2 I have seen marvelous Landscapes and suns In the course of distant journeys Everything far away, beneath other skies. But how much do I prefer to them My blue sky, my horizon, My country road and my stream, My meadow and my home.
Douce France, etc.	Sweet France, etc.

1. Il revient – impersonal. The “Il” is a fake (i.e., “grammatical”) subject; the real subject is “des souvenirs familiers.”[↩]
2. A rather complicated allusion. 1) In French the word “romance” is a borrowing from Spanish, with the original meaning of a narrative song; then, a sentimental song (what English-speakers now in popular-music parlance might call a “ballad”). 2) In 1874 there appeared a collection of poems by Paul Verlaine with the doubly paradoxical title Romances sans paroles (perhaps inspired by a similarly titled musical piece by Mendelsohn); paradoxical, because a. you can’t have a song without words; and, b. obviously these “romances” did have words, since they were poems. What’s the upshot? A “romance sans paroles” would be an utterance in which the musicality by itself is expressive, more expressive than words (if there are any).[↩]
3. “Connaître” in the passé composé has the sense of: “I have had experience of, I have gotten to know.”[↩]
4. A “rivière” is a river that feeds into another river; a “fleuve” is a river that feeds into the sea.[↩]

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