La Chanson de Craonne (French pronunciation: [la ʃɑ̃sɔ̃ də kʁa(ɔ)n]; English: The Song of Craonne) is an anti-military song of World War I written in 1917. The song was written to the tune of Bonsoir M'Amour (Charles Sablon), sung by Emma Liebel. It is sometimes known by the first line of the chorus, Adieu la vie (Goodbye to life). The Craonne in the title refers to the regional commune Craonne.
History
This song was sung by the French soldiers who mutinied (in sixty eight of the one hundred and ten divisions of the French Army) after the costly and militarily disastrous offensive of General Robert Nivelle at the Chemin des Dames, spring 1917.
The song was prohibited in France until 1974. Even though an award of 1 million francs and the immediate honorable release from the army were offered for revealing the maker, the original author of the song remained unknown.
These revolts brought about severe reprimands, notably by General Philippe Pétain, who was named on 17 May as the replacement for General Nivelle. He was directly tasked with the mission of rebuilding the sagging morale of the war-weary French Army. He went about this with the punishment of the leaders of the mutiny, condemning 554 to death, though only 26 were actually executed.[1] He also improved conditions of the soldiers with better food, better cantonments, better organization for military leaves, and suspended the deadly offensives to limit the casualties.
Origin of the Song
This song was anonymously created, though surely by many authors. The song constantly evolved during the course of the war due to the changing role of those engaged in combat. The song first appeared under the name La Chanson de Lorette evoking the Battle of Lorette à Ablain-St. Nazaire that occurred between the twelve months of October 1914 and October 1915. The song was modified in order to sing about the Second Battle of Champagne. In 1916, the song was sung during the ghastly Battle of Verdun, with the refrain:
Adieu la vie, adieu l'amour,
Adieu toutes les femmes
C'est pas fini, c'est pour toujours
De cette guerre infâme
C'est à Verdun, au fort de Vaux
Qu'on a risqué sa peau
- La Chanson de Craonne
The final version, "The Song of Craonne" was written in 1917 during the French Army's Mutinies. The village of Craonne on the plateau of Californie was the site of bloody fighting on 16 April 1917 during Nivelle's failed Offensives. It was these bloody offensives that pushed the French Army over the edge.
Verses
| French
Quand au bout d'huit jours le r'pos terminé
On va reprendre les tranchées,
Notre place est si utile
Que sans nous on prend la pile
Mais c'est bien fini, on en a assez
Personne ne veut plus marcher
Et le cœur bien gros, comm' dans un sanglot
On dit adieu aux civ'lots
Même sans tambours, même sans trompettes
On s'en va là-haut en baissant la tête
- Refrain :
Adieu la vie, adieu l'amour,
Adieu toutes les femmes
C'est bien fini, c'est pour toujours
De cette guerre infâme
C'est à Craonne sur le plateau
Qu'on doit laisser sa peau
Car nous sommes tous condamnés
C'est nous les sacrifiés
Huit jours de tranchée, huit jours de souffrance
Pourtant on a l'espérance
Que ce soir viendra la r'lève
Que nous attendons sans trêve
Soudain dans la nuit et le silence
On voit quelqu'un qui s'avance
C'est un officier de chasseurs à pied
Qui vient pour nous remplacer
Doucement dans l'ombre sous la pluie qui tombe
Les petits chasseurs vont chercher leurs tombes
- Refrain -
C'est malheureux d'voir sur les grands boulevards
Tous ces gros qui font la foire
Si pour eux la vie est rose
Pour nous c'est pas la même chose
Au lieu d'se cacher tous ces embusqués
Feraient mieux d'monter aux tranchées
Pour défendre leur bien, car nous n'avons rien
Nous autres les pauv' purotins
Tous les camarades sont enterrés là
Pour défendr' les biens de ces messieurs là
- Refrain :
Ceux qu'ont le pognon, ceux-là reviendront
Car c'est pour eux qu'on crève
Mais c'est fini, car les trouffions
Vont tous se mettre en grève
Ce s'ra votre tour messieurs les gros
De monter sur l'plateau
Car si vous voulez faire la guerre
Payez-la de votre peau
|
English
| When at the end of a week's leave
We're going to go back to the trenches,
Our place there is so useful
That without us we'd take a thrashing.
But it's all over now, we've had it up to here,
Nobody wants to march anymore.
And with hearts downcast, like when you're sobbing
We're saying good-bye to the civilians,
Even if we don't get drums, even if we don't get trumpets
We're leaving for up there with lowered head.
Good-bye to life, good-bye to love,
Good-bye to all the women,
It's all over now, we've had it for good
With this awful war.
It's in Craonne up on the plateau
That we're leaving our skins,
'Cause we've all been sentenced to die.
We're the ones that they're sacrificing
Eight days in the trenches, eight days of suffering,
And yet we still have hope
That tonight the relief will come
That we keep waiting for.
Suddenly in the silent night
We hear someone approach
It's an infantry officer
Who's coming to take over from us.
Quietly in the shadows under a falling rain
The poor soldiers are going to look for their graves
Good-bye to life, good-bye to love,
Good-bye to all the women,
It's all over now, we've had it for good
With this awful war.
It's in Craonne up on the plateau
That we're leaving our hides
'Cause we've all been sentenced to die.
We're the ones that they're sacrificing
On the grands boulevards it's hard to look
At all the rich and powerful whooping it up
For them life is good
But for us it's not the same
Instead of hiding, all these shirkers
Would do better to go up to the trenches
To defend what they have, because we have nothing
All of us poor wretches
All our comrades are being buried there
To defend the wealth of these gentlemen here
Those who have the dough, they'll be coming back,
'Cause it's for them that we're dying.
But it's all over now, 'cause all of the grunts
Are going to go on strike.
It'll be your turn, all you rich and powerful gentlemen,
To go up onto the plateau.
And if you want to make war,
Then pay for it with your own skins.
|
After the war this song was not allowed at all on French airwaves. The writer Paul Vaillant-Couturier, who was also a World War I veteran, preserved the song, and later had it published.
In film
The song's chorus is sung in Oh! What a Lovely War (1969).
The song is sung by a soldier in A Very Long Engagement (2004).
References
