Title: “Frere Jacques”
General Information about Item:
Verbal Folklore
Language: French and English
Country of Origin: France
Informant: T.R.
Date Collected: 11-7-21
Informant Data:
T.R., born March 15, 2001 is from Chicago, Illinois. She was born and raised in Chicago but her family originates from Scotland, England and France. She has two older siblings as well as two incredibly supportive parents. She currently plays on the Volleyball team at Dartmouth. She told us that she grew up listening to lullabies, as her Mother came from a family that always listened to lullabies.
Contextual Data:
Social Context:
T.R. shared with us that lullabies were a huge part of calming her anxiety growing up. She was actually the first child that her mother sang lullabies to. The anxious nerves surrounding going to bed always made her more energetic and lullabies such as “Frere Jacques”, which she names was her favorite, helped her focus on one thing and rest her eyes. Whenever her mom was gone at night she would make sure to call her before going to bed so she could still fall asleep peacefully. Her mom and grandmother also listened to “Frere Jacques” growing up, so it only made sense that T.R. too would enjoy it. T.R. mentioned that if it were not for lullabies she is not sure how late she would have been up at night!
Cultural Context:
Frere Jacques is a French lullaby with the first half of the lyrics in french. Although there are multiple versions of the lullaby, T.R. listed the version that has both the French lyrics and the English lyrics. Her mother’s family is originally from France, and although she does not hold many ties to France, T.R. mentioned that growing up with this lullaby and her house made her feel more connected to those roots.
Item:
Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques, Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines, Sonnez les matines,
Ding, Ding, Dong! Ding, Ding, Dong!
Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping? Brother John, Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing,
Ding, Ding, Dong! Ding, Ding, Dong!
Audio:
Informant Comments:
I never really thought about how important this lullaby is to me. I appreciated your questions as I was able to reflect on the importance of my family roots as well as my relationship with my mom when I was younger. Frere Jaques was a huge part of my childhood, but I was never able to see why that was the case.
Collector Comments:
This conversation was great, as I also grew up with Frere Jaques and had many similar background experiences as T.R.. I did have some flashbacks to my childhood when she spoke about her mom singing to her!
Collector’s Name: Lucy Murray