This is a canon for 3 voices. This song can be a canon for 4 voices if the two last lines are repeated.
(1) Dans la forêt lointaine
On entend le coucou
(2) Du haut de son grand chêne
Il répond au hibou :
(3) "Coucou, coucou"
On entend le coucou.
1. In the faraway forest
You can hear the cuckoo
2. From the top of the big oak
It answers the owl:
3. "Cuckoo, cuckoo"*
You can hear the cuckoo.
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Thanks!
Notes
*In French "coucou" is the name of the bird and it's also the "song" that he sings. It can also mean "peek-a-boo" or "hi".
Comments
There's another version with the last 2 lines sung differently:
(1) Dans la forêt lointaine
On entend le coucou
(2) Du haut de son grand chêne
Il répond au hibou :
(3) "Coucou hibou, coucou hibou,
Coucou hibou, coucou."
English Translation:
1. In the faraway forest
You can hear the cuckoo
2. From the top of the big oak
It answers the owl:
3. "Cuckoo owl, cuckoo owl,
Cuckoo owl, cuckoo."
The last two lines can either be understood as a call-and-answer, with the owl calling "cuckoo" and the cuckoo calling back "owl", or it can be understood as only the cuckoo calling, "Cuckoo owl, cuckoo owl". In the latter case, "cuckoo" can also mean "peek-a-boo" or "hi!".
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Monique Palomares for contributing and translating this song and for creating the midi music. Thanks to Lila Pomerantz for the illustration!
Many thanks to Tiphaine Woerth for recording this song for Mama Lisa's World.
Merci beaucoup!
