À la queue leu leu
À la queue leu leu
In a Single File
Danse en cercle
Circle Dance
(French)
(English)
À la queue leu leu,
À la queue, à la queue.
À la queue leu leu,
À la queue. Ouin ! Ouin !
In single file,
Get in line, get in line,
In single file,
Get in line. Waaah! Waaah!
Notes
"Ouin" is a sound babies make like "waaah".
The expression "à la queue leu leu" means to make a line "in a single file". It goes back to the Middle Ages when the word for "wolf" was "leu" (not "loup" as nowadays) and referred to the way the wolves walk in a single file.
Here's a variation that seems to be sung more nowadays…
À la queue leu leu (In a single file)
Mon p'tit chat est bleu, (My kitten is blue)
S'il est bleu, tant mieux, (If it's blue, all the better)
S'il est gris, tant pis. (If it's gray, too bad!)
You can hear it in the videos below.
Comments
There's a modern song that's also called A la queue leu leu. That one is played at parties. Everyone makes a chain and goes around the room.
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Thanks and Acknowledgements
The score can be found in "Children's French" (1923) by Henriette Sòltoft and Anna Woods Ballard.
Illustration at top of page is from "Vieilles chansons pour les petits enfants" by Charles Marie Widor and illustrated by Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel.
