‘Alouette’ is a Mean Song

Have you seen that new Target commercial celebrating the joys of color as young people jump out of a balloon and magic-touch everyday items as The Delta Rhythm Boys sing a lilting French song?

That song is ”Alouette,” a song I learned when I was in grade school. Which in itself is a little unusual because who’d-a thought a little boy in Hawaii would be singing a song about plucking a bird in the French language?

Not just any bird. A lark. A beautiful bird with a beautiful song. And the singer wants to pluck it. I’d thought it was a dove when I was a kid. And that the dove was gentle and beautiful. Why? Because the lyrics begin with Alouette, gentile Alouette (“Lark, nice lark”).

But … the next line is Alouette, je te plumerai (Lark, I shall pluck you). Good Lord. And THEN, you have to sing, Je te plumerai la tête (“I shall pluck your head”). The verses that follow advise the lark that you’re going to continue plucking – la bec (beak), le dos (back), les ailes (wings), les pattes (feet) and la queue (tail).

Oh, how gross. I’ll never be able to look at the Target ad again without thinking of a naked bird posing in the middle of the bull’s eye logo.