Background:
My informant is a twenty-one year old student at USC; she’s studying neuroscience with an eye towards medical school. Her father is Laotian and French and her mother is French.
Performance:
“Dodo, l’enfant do
L’enfant dormira bien vite
Dodo, l’enfant do
L’enfant dormira bientôt
Une poule blanche
Est là dans la grange
Qui va faire un petit coco
Pour l’enfant qui va fair dodo
Dodo, l’enfant do
L’enfant dormira bien vite
Dodo, l’enfant do
L’enfant dormira bientôt
Tout le monde est sage
Dans le voisinage
Il est l’heure d’aller dormir
Le sommeil va bientôt venir.
My mom used to sing it to me. I think hers did too.”
ENGLISH: Sleep, baby, sleep/the baby falls asleep/sleep, baby, sleep/the baby will sleep soon; a white chicken/is in the barn/making a little egg/for the baby who goes to sleep; Sleep, baby, sleep/the baby falls asleep/sleep, baby, sleep/the baby will sleep soon; everyone is calm/all around/it’s time to sleep/sleep is coming soon.
Thoughts:
This is an adorable piece of folklore, and one that has understandably withstood the tests of time. The lyrics and tune are quite simple; simple enough that, years and years later, people can still remember the song as it was sung to them and pass it on to their children.