Le bon roi Dagobert (song)

"Le bon roi Dagobert" (French for "The good king Dagobert") is a French satirical anti-monarchical and anti-clerical song written around 1787. It references two historical figures: the Merovingian king Dagobert I (c. 600–639) and his chief advisor, Saint Eligius (Éloi) (c. 588–660), the bishop of Noyon. The song is directed against Louis XVI and the ties maintained by the Catholic Church with the ancien régime, but it was used more broadly against monarchies in French history.

In current times, it is a popular children's song.

Creation

Written around 1787, the song is believed to be inspired by a much older hunting tune, "La Fanfare du grand cerf". The verses were written over time. The first lyrics date from the revolutionary period and were intended to ridicule the monarchy, particularly Louis XVI, who was seen as nonchalant and indecisive at the time. In one of the passages directly targeting Louis XVI, one can find the following line: "Le bon roi Dagobert, mangeait en glouton du dessert" (in English: The good King Dagobert used to eat dessert like a glutton), a text aimed at the gluttony that Louis XVI was supposed to exhibit.

Dagobert was then seen as a representation of a lazy and incapable king; although this is not the historical reality, it provided good artistic material for criticizing the monarchy while avoiding royal censorship. The Catholic Church was also targeted through Saint Eligius, who in the song represents a bishop figure giving approval to the political power. This point is described as follows:

The song highlights the role played by the French church, which excused, even sanctified, the abuses and incompetencies of the kings. In the march of events toward the French Revolution, the song became both anti-monarchical and anti-ecclesiastical; both the first and second orders are condemned as corrupt, incompetent, and ruled by concerns not shared by the third order. Dagobert thus made his final transformation from client king of the royal patron saint to buffoon and, finally, to obscurity.

The fact that the criticism was both religious and political was reflected in the choice of characters, with Dagobert being selected because he was the founding king of the Basilica of Saint-Denis. The basilica was one of the central symbols of the religious ideology that underpinned the divine right monarchy characteristic of the ancien régime.

However, after Napoleon's defeat in Russia and exile to the island of Elba, the royalists revived the fifteenth stanza. Consequently, the song was banned during the Hundred Days. The lyrics were later applied to Louis XVIII during the Restoration and even to Napoleon III.

Legacy

For its hourly chime, the clock of the town hall in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis alternates between two different tunes, "Le bon roi Dagobert" and "Le temps des cerises". In the early 2000s, a study was conducted in about ten French primary schools. Children aged 8 to 11 were asked to draw figures representing concepts, such as kindness. Dagobert was one of the most stereotyped figures drawn overall. He was specifically represented to characterize stupidity. Today, it is considered one of the basic children's songs in France alongside "Au clair de la lune".

The tune was mentioned by Émile Zola in Nana and Au Bonheur des Dames. The poet Charles Péguy added numerous verses to it, just like other poets who shaped the version they preferred. André Rivoire wrote a play inspired by the song where Dagobert gets married. The translation of this cultural reference could have posed a problem, especially in English. For instance, an English translator of Georges Perec, mentioned the issue in the context of their translation notes.

The song stands out as a significant inspiration for some works of Erik Satie. Charles Trenet derived "Le roi Dagobert", his personal version, which was sung by Les Compagnons de la chanson in 1949. On the other hand, singer Colette Renard performed a more ribald version of this song in 1963.

The song appears in the illustrated works of Gustave Doré, notably in his Histoire pittoresque, dramatique et caricaturale de la sainte Russie.

Many films have been adapted from it, including a French-Italian movie by Italian director Dino Risi (1984) titled Good King Dagobert. There is also a silent film by Georges Monca from 1911 and a film by Pierre Chevalier from 1963. The song was part of Geneviève Félix's repertoire.

Text

Music

References

External links

• "Le bon roi Dagobert" (Armand Bell): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
•  French Wikisource has original text related to this article: "Le bon roi Dagobert", from Chansons et rondes enfantines (1870)
• Le bon roi Dagobert by Adrienne Gallon (1898-1986) on the website of the French patrimonial libraries
• "Le bon roi Dagobert" on YouTube

1. Le bon roi Dagobert
2. Dagobert
3. King Dagobert
4. Dagobert I
5. Throne of Dagobert
6. Darío Moreno
7. Les Compagnons de la chanson
8. Charles Friant
9. André Balbon
10. Marcel Samuel-Rousseau
11. Denise Benoît
12. Michael Lonsdale
13. Vieux sequins et vieilles cuirasses
14. Fernandel
15. Irène Joachim
16. Jehan Alain
17. Frankish paganism