Re: Ah si mon moine voilait danser

I believe that in some popular songs, the refrain has
little to do with the rest of the text. One should not
look for perfect logic in there. Nevertheless, on:

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=Q1ARTQ0000028

you can find interesting hypotheses about it (I got
this address by searching "Ah si mon moine voulait
danser" on Google). The song seems to have been known
in France before the XVIIth century. It might me a
wordgame on "moine", which might habe been both a monk
and a spinning top (toupie). Well, stupid me, there is
an English version of the article on the site, so why
should I try to translate ?


--- Christophe Grandsire
<christophe.grandsire@...> wrote:
> En réponse à Peter Bleackley :
>
>
> >There are a couple of lines in the chorus that
> puzzle me
> >
> >Tu n'entends pas le moulin lon la
> >Tu n'entends pas mon moulin marcher
> >
> >Don't you hear the mill, don't you hear my mill
> working?
> >
> >Can any francophones tell me the meaning of the
> mill in the context of the
> >song?
>
> Well, not having the full context is a bit
> difficult, as I think "moulin"
> is used metaphorically here (or it refers to some
> instrument. "moulin" can
> be used for approximately anything which has a
> circular (and/or perpetual,
> as in "moulin à paroles" to refer to someone who
> never can seem to stop
> talking) movement as main characteristic). In such
> songs, metaphors can go
> pretty far. It could refer to some musical
> instrument, the person's heart,
> the dancing itself, etc...
>
> Christophe Grandsire.
>
> http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr
>
> You need a straight mind to invent a twisted
> conlang.
>

=====
Philippe Caquant

"High thoughts must have high language." (Aristophanes, Frogs)


		
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