Les comptines

Alouette: what the song means, and the words in English

Alouette means lark, a small songbird. The singer promises to pluck the lark's feathers, je te plumerai, one part at a time: head, beak, eyes, neck. It sounds grim in English. Sung, it's a cheerful game that names body parts.

Alouette

Chorus

  • Alouette, gentille alouette, Lark, lovely lark,
  • Alouette, je te plumerai. lark, I will pluck you.

Verse 1

  • Je te plumerai la tête, I will pluck your head,
  • Je te plumerai la tête, I will pluck your head,
  • Et la tête ! Et la tête ! and the head! And the head!
  • Alouette ! Alouette ! Lark! Lark!
  • Ah, ah, ah, ah… Ah, ah, ah, ah…

Verse 2

  • Je te plumerai le bec, I will pluck your beak,
  • Je te plumerai le bec, I will pluck your beak,
  • Et le bec ! Et le bec ! and the beak! And the beak!
  • Et la tête ! Et la tête ! And the head! And the head!
  • Alouette ! Alouette ! Lark! Lark!
  • Ah, ah, ah, ah… Ah, ah, ah, ah…

The parts, verse by verse

Each verse adds one and sings back through the list, the way The Twelve Days of Christmas grows.

  • la tête the head Say it la TET
  • le bec the beak Say it luh BEK
  • les yeux the eyes Say it lay ZYUH
  • le cou the neck Say it luh KOO
  • les ailes the wings Say it lay ZEL
  • les pattes the legs Say it lay PAT
  • la queue the tail Say it la KUH
  • le dos the back Say it luh DOH

Je te plumerai: what it means

Plumer means to pluck, as you’d pluck a bird for the pot. Each verse plucks another part, and the list grows. Nobody singing it is thinking about dinner; they’re waiting to shout the next part.

Where it comes from

Alouette was first printed in Montreal in 1879 and is a French-Canadian favourite, though some folklorists think it came from France. One story says the voyageurs, the French-Canadian canoemen of the fur trade, sang it to keep time as they paddled.

Turn it into a body-parts game

Swap the bird’s parts for your child’s and touch each one as you sing: la tête, the head, le nez, the nose, les yeux, the eyes, la bouche, the mouth. Leave the plucking out. A tickle works better.

One thing to do tonight

Sing the chorus and the first verse in the bath, and touch heads on la tête.

Where it lives in your day Le Bain · Bathtime in French Ten minutes of warm water, and the French that floats in it

Free bedtime script

Sing it in the bath, then bed

The Le Dodo script takes it from the towel to lights out, ten phrases long.

Ten bedtime phrases, each with a say-it guide, on one page for the bedroom door.

Three emails over your first week to get bedtime started, and you can leave whenever you like.

Questions parents ask

What does alouette mean?

Lark, a small songbird.

What does je te plumerai mean?

I will pluck you, as in plucking a bird's feathers. Plumerai is the future of plumer, to pluck.

Is Alouette French or Canadian?

Probably French-Canadian. It was first printed in Montreal in 1879, though some folklorists think it came from France.

What is the meaning behind Alouette?

On the surface, plucking a lark, one part at a time. For children, it's a song that builds a list of body parts.

Keep going

All the songs and rhymes →

Updated 16 October 2026