À la claire fontaine
Je voudrais que la rose fût encore au rosier
A stroll to a favorite bathing spot turns into a lament for lost love and a meditation on what-might-have-been. With a haunting melody.
Ah! si mon moine voulait danser
Danse, mon moine, danse!
A “spinning” song of a different kind (i.e., it has nothing to do with spinning thread). A good song for increasing your monastic vocabulary.
Au clair de la lune
Ouvrez votre porte, Pour le dieu d'amour
The arch-typical traditional French song, recounting the nocturnal adventures of Pierrot, Lubin, and an unnamed third person.
Auprès de ma blonde
Il est dans la Hollande, Les Hollandais l'ont pris
A delightful song celebrating marital fidelity, whilst obliquely commemorating Louis XIV’s bloody campaign to extend France’s northern boundary.
D’où viens-tu, bergère?
Je viens de l'étable, de m'y promener
A Christmas carol that allows antiphonal singing, of a sort. It tells you everything you need to know about what happened at the Nativity.
Il était un petit navire
Empêche-les de me manger!
The best of all children’s songs, full of drama, pathos, piety, humor, and with a rousing rhythm. On top of all which, it is neverending.
Il était une bergère
Ma fille, pour pénitence, / Nous nous embrasserons
This song is now relegated to children, but its matter is far from exemplary: misbehavior on the part of cats, shepherdesses, and clergy.
La Marche des Rois
Ils viennent tous présenter leurs doux vœux
Why waste time on the usual boring French Christmas carols, when there are weird ones like la Marche des rois waiting to be learned?
Là-haut sur la montagne
Aimer n'est pas un crime; Dieu ne le défend pas.
A mountain song that may put you in mind of Rousseau’s star-crossed Alpine lovers. My version of the melody is especially good if you like to yodel.
Partons, la mer est belle
Il ne s'attendait pas À y trouver la mort
A sad sea song with a soothing melody. Began as French but now is widely known in French-speaking Canada as well.