it's because French soldiers were attacking French people during the French Revolution. And some of them join the Austrian Army to put royals back on the Throne
This verse is the first, by far the most common one, and really the only one that (most) people know by heart, but there are 6 "official" ones, some of which are sung on occasion, and a bonus one for children (which you almost never hear because it's terrifying). The second verse is basically shouting in indignation that foreign powers want to enslave us. The third verse is adamant that it is unthinkable for our righteous warriors to loose against foreign troops and mercenaries in the fight for freedom, and how bad it would be if they won. The fourth one is threatening tyrans and traitors, emphasising how everyone will take arms against them, and that no matter how many soldiers die, new ones will rise from the earth to replace them. The fifth one encourages to make a distinction between opposing soldiers, who are forced to fight against their will and should be spared, and the despots and traitors. I think it would be more popular if it didn't reference Bouillé, a guy that no one really remembers, so it aged poorly. The sixth one I think is the most popular after the first glorifies patriotism and liberty, sacred values that will bring victory, and under which our dying ennemies will bow. The children one, which was written with teenage boys in mind, is about joining the military to replace their elders as they die, how they will find there not only their ashes, but the traces of their virtue, how they won't fight for survival, but to avenge the dead, or to join them in their graves. It is unclear who wrote that one.
"French, what do you want people to think when people hear our song sang?" French: "Sang?" UL: "Sang?" French: "Okay sure, sang sang sang!" (sang means blood in French)
The legend says that "God save the King" comes from a song "Dieu sauve le roy", written by Lully for the french king Louis XIV, after an ass surgery... English Anthem would come from a french ass...
I love how the French are both the symbol of esthetics, romance and art, but at the same time have a backstory completely covered in blood and decapitated heads
@@someonejs le pire c'est que les autres pensent que le français est hyper romantique alors que les techniques de drague les plus courantes sont genre 'wesh bb la zone sv le s'
Great job aligning the translation to the music ! As someone said in the comments, "compagnes" doesn't translate to comrades, but to a woman who shares your life. And as the song was written when the young republic had to defend itself against the monarchies of Europe (the "blue" or "noble " blood), the "impure blood" is often understood as the blood of the soldiers, meaning their sacrifice is meant to water the fields so the country would flourish
@@Reshisnivy Actually the white in the french flag is for the Royalty. The Royalty being litterally SQUISHED between the blue and red of the people, a testament of the French Revolution, when the flag was adopted. Of course, there are many, many, MANY interpretations of the colours, the most likely one to be true being blue for nobility, white for the clergy, red for the people, but that one about royalty being surrounded by the people is one of my favorites. I works, contextually, when you think about why they came up with the Tricolore. But of course, you're making a joke about the french "constantly surrendering". I know it's a meme, but my god, at least open a history book. And talk to the french. We all hate Pétain for what he did.
It was invented 5 days after war was declared against Austria, it was to encourage the soldiers going to war. There is a hypothesis that it was made this violent to accommodate the minds of the young french soldiers who were about to murder and kill. Singing this song over and over was a cooping mechanism with the violence they were about to do and witness.
The only people that they could murder/death/kill are other French people. That’s why they were able to win the French Revolution, by abiding by the #1 rule of warfare: “You can always beat the French.”
In Spanish, in Argentina we sing "Mambrú se fue a la guerre" (Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre) ("malbrough go to the war") is a French song that makes fun of the widow and the orphans of that soldier bc the French believed that they had killed him... I loved it when I was a child, we sang it in kindergarten. says something like... "mabrú went to war, what a pain what a pain what a shame, Mambrú went to war I don't know when he'll come back hahahaha🤣...I don't know when he'll come back hahhaha.... Mambrú doesn't come back anymore hahahhaa😏"
the translation here is not right, the "impure blood" is the one of the people, dying for the liberty against the nobility (who are "pure blood") the meaning is that the sacrifice of thoses who died for the Liberty is what fuel the nation
@@evanred_ That is completely false and a quick search is enough to disprove it. The expression "sang impur" is frequently used at the time to name the enemy of the revolution. It's not xenophobic, it's "kill those of imorality"
Haha we love our anthem. Just a little correction: it’s “cut the throat of your sons, your wives” not “sons, your comrades”. In French “compagne” (the word used in French) means sort of female life partner (so in this context wife), but “compagnon” means male life partner and in some context comrade. I love your content as a French btw
and the "impure" blood is the blood of the soldiers and peasants of the new born republic who defend it against the royalist "pure" blood So it's just meaning that the people are ready to sacrifice their live to defend their land against the royalists, not that they want to kill every body to water their fields
@@benco1967 not exactly : the words are kinda 'and may an impure blood water our furrows' , so they are speaking in fact about the Austria soldiers blood serving monarchy , that song was in fact written and used in 1792 while Austria and France were at war
@@madworld. exactly, la marseillaise doesn’t come from the royalists but was created by a republican general during the war against austria (France was in war with austria during the revolution because Louis XVI tried to escape in Austria, an ally of the royalists)
I hope that was an ironical remark about how every one only knows the first and bloodiest part (I'm not being defensive about people saying the Marseillaise is bloody, it is, but sometimes people judge too quickly)
@@fd6344 As a French, i confirm that's Marseillaise is very bloody ! That's a revolutionary song from 1789, so yep, but personally I think Marseillaise need to be replace by the "Chant des Partisans"
@@knar43v3r5 As many people have pointed out in the comments, it was written in 1792 (also many a political choice was made about the date of birth of this song between the two political standpoints "la Révolution" and "la Contre-Révolution" during the XIXth century). And I disagree : the good point of the Marseillaise is that it is part of our History, but also of a Republican and national identity that wishes to defend itself against foreign invasions, thus whishing to maintain a whole identity as a nation while not antagonising the neighbouring people ; on the contrary, although "Le Chant des Partisans" is a great song, it was written in a context of division and promotes civil war (don't get me wrong, I love this song, but on a governemental, civic and historical point of view, La Marseillaise wins). Plus, it is not, in any shape or form, less bloody.
America: Never surrender, never give up Russia: Glory to our nation Australia: To the progress of our people Great Britain: To our glorious Queen Germany: We are strong, we are great, we are powerful France: *BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD*
Germany: Unity and Justice and Freedom The whole but about power has a bitter aftertaste considering the history and therefore isn't really allowed anymore. A UK Musician once wanted to sign the German hymne at a concert, but sang the wrong verse and got booed of stage, and afaik never did another gig in Germany.
@@D.C_notacomic I'm sorry I don't mean to dismiss the pain of this event ❤️. I have a dark sense of humor. I laugh to help dispell the darkness. Not everyone's cup of tea.
my sister had french literature for her major in college. first time she put on french national anthem i instantly like it more than my own country national anthem, simply because the melody is so upbeat and feels really encouraging. it's not trying to sound glorious or victorious, but it's the sound that gives you power to become the victor. several days later i asked her to translate it for me then i realized why. the lyric is just 🔥😠😤🥶💪💪🤜🤛
La France révolutionnaire devait lutter contre des monarchies européennes voulant l'étouffer par la contre-révolution. D'où les paroles galvanisant les troupes populaires. C'était une époque violente, la traite des Noirs n'était toujours pas abolie, l'Albanie et la Grèce faisaient encore partie de l'Empire militariste ottoman. Et le pire allait venir avec 2 guerres mondiales et une guerre contre les Chinois (10+60+20 millions de morts) Une époque violente. La démocratie n'a pas été obtenue gratuitement. La fin de l'absolutisme royal n'a pas été obtenue gratuitement.
But That’s true the anthem is beautiful. When you’re a kid you don’t really understand it. But if you’re in a very hard physical task it can give you a little push. I remember singing it in my head during marathon last 10km 😂😂
La Marseillaise originale ne fait pas 15 couplets. Beaucoup n'étaient pas officiels et viennent d'auteurs inconnus. Le couplet qui fut supprimé par le ministre de la guerre en 1792 le fut non pas du fait de sa violence mais parce qu'il était "trop religieux" : Dieu de bonté et de justice (...) Tu règnes au ciel et sur la terre Et devant Toi tout doit fléchir etc.
@@laqueenouaja4023 On l'est tous, seul les fermés d'esprit ne veulent pas se rendre compte de la bonne situation dans laquelle ils se trouvent, on est en paix mtn, on a pas beaucoup d'inégalités de revenus par rapport à d'autres pays, des lois qui tiennent debout, pas mal de libertés, et des gros manifestants mdr
@@jeanneymar2390 Et tout ça comment on l'a obtenu ? en râlant et en s'insurgeant, donc c'est toujours une bonne chose. Cela dit, je pense que les deux extrêmes sont mauvais, il ne faut ni voir que le mal, ni que le bien mais il y a énormément de problèmes qui méritent d'être traités en France.
@@korozif4140 On avait une bonne raison de s'insurger et jamais rien n'est parfait donc y'aura toujours des râleurs mais ceux-là seront de moins en moins justifiés
@@dinamosflams Yeah, luckily they did, USSR and Yugoslavia (although full of great people) were bothe ruled with fists of iron and we shall never forget how many crimes the Commies commited. Sad to see such beautiful countries get destroyed because of dictatorship
Don't forgot Italy (Romans) Belgium (central Africa) Netherlands (east Indies) Russians (Asia) USA (The World) Oh and China, Japan, and Mongolia, Brazil
@@lara.lockser-barnes3566 ben en fait c'était pendant la première révolution, contre les troupes armées des monarchies limitrophes qui voulaient aider Louis XVI à rester au pouvoir. A la base c'est un chant de guerre, donc logique
he deliberately made a clunky translation. translating a song to keep both the meaning and the musicality is extremely hard, sometimes plain impossible. sometime it's better to not even try, uncanny valley effect.
"911 What's your Emergency?" Luc"s Neighbor: "Yeah, umm my neighbor is singing about cutting throats, blood and tyranny!! Did you say tyranny? Yeah and blood lots of blood! 911: Oh okay that's just the French anthem!
The anthem was written in 1792 after the declaration of war by France against Austria. It was adopted as the First Republic's anthem in 1795. Napoleon, however, didn’t care for it, and after Napoleon the restored kings outright banned it. In 1879 it was restored as France's national anthem, and has remained so ever since. A 1992 campaign to change the words of the song involving more than 100 prominent French citizens, including Danielle Mitterrand, wife of then-President François Mitterrand, was unsuccessful.
I went to a bilingual French school, singing the anthem every week during assembly, but it wasn’t until 6th grade that our teachers explained the full meaning of the lyrics. Obviously we already knew most of the words but the ‘their blood should water our crops’ revelation was a doozy.
@@odalanoix yes, our school had an inane amount of assemblies and at every one we had to sing both the French and the Australian anthems. It was my least favourite part of the week for sure.
To be fair the anthem is referring to the newly French citizens sacrificing their impure blood (nobility is pure blood) to defend France. Not as bad as saying we will water the fields with the blood of our enemies
It is a weird stereotype I studied European history at College and it turns out when it comes to wars the French are one of the most successful nations in history they've lost very few battles and even fewer wars
@@vaxtouwenkanzimntixyijt8120 yeah the stereotype seams to come from world war 2 but the sad truth is no country on mainland Europe could have successfully defended against the overwhelming force of Germany the only reason the UK didn't fall too was because of the channel geography saved us in the UK
Certains peuvent penser que c'est un hymne aux paroles violentes... En tant que française je pense que c'est un désir passionnel de liberté, une rage de vivre viscérale ! Merci pour cette magnifique interprétation.
Exactly. What the poor endured for hundreds of years under the boot of the utterly inhuman aristocracy...I hope you NEVER forget and never allow such a disparity of wealth to occur again. In America, we are experiencing such a horrid disparity between our desperately poor and ultra-wealthy, I truly wonder how long it will be until they reach their breaking point.
Je ne suis pas sûre d'être vraiment fière de la révolution française après avoir plongé un peu plus dans les détails que ce qu'on nous apprends á l'école.... :/
@@valyg.creepy5844 On ne nous a pas toujours donné le même niveau de détail suivant les écoles. Il y a eu une légende noire et une légende dorée qui doivent l'une et l'autre être critiquées. Je recommande la série sur la Révolution disponible sur la chaîne YT Histony, c'est un enseignant chercheur en fac.
For the translation, *Compagnes* doesnt mean *Comrads* , it means *Wives* , *Fiancees* and *Girlfriends* . The mistake comes from the similar french word *Compagnons* which means *Comrads* .
Oui, mais il faudra penser à changer le terme "compagne" et d'autre truc, car il peut être perçu comme sexiste. La traduction est plus neutre et moins machiste. a l’époque les femme avais pas le droit de vote et avait des droit limité.
@@intercepteohla, si t en es à ce stade là, il y a bien d autres choses a changer. C est un chant violent c est pas bien, le sang dans les sillons, est ce que ca plairait aux vegans? Et puis ils viennent dans nos bras, c est manchophobe...
As a french people, I saw an imprecision. He said “their impure blood” but the good translation might be “an impure blood”. Also, the “impure blood” is how the royal family called the poor people, all the farmers, etc..
I am French, at the end when we talk about impure blood in the field, we are talking about OUR blood, because impure blood is blood of the citizens, pure blood is for the nobles. So it’s about citizens giving blood to defend the fatherland 🇫🇷🇫🇷
Hmmm definitly not. But in an other couplet, it’s more noce : « Frenchmen! as magnanimous warriors Carry or hold your blows. Spare these sad victims Reluctantly arming themselves against us »
Except its not theirs but ours, the impure literally means ordinary French citizens, contrary to the "pure" aristocrats, so to say that would be a big comeback for you.
"War Song for the Rhine Army" is the original name, as it was ordered by the mayor of Strasbourg for his regional troops... Then Marseille did what Marseille does and claimed credit for it.
I keep seeing it translated as "cut the throat of your sons and comrades" and while "compagnes" has multiple meanings, I always interpreted it as "wives" here. "Your sons and wives". Makes more sense to me in context.
@@benp3485 Not if you speak French fluently, which I do not know if you do. In that sentence, "comrades" makes less sense than "wives" in FRENCH even if it might sound better in English.
@Gabriel Adonai his performance is good, it‘s in tune (not just „semi“) and rhythmically accurate. The video is not about his singing but the lyrics, considering this its pretty good isn‘t it? Why be a dick?
I just learned about the origin of this anthem in my history class this past week. It was a marching song that got immensely popular during the French Revolution, they decided to keep it
@@rova3308 Louis XVI stayed king for 3 years after the beginning of the Revolution. This song was written while he was still on the throne, after basically all europeans monarchs declared war to France. The impure blood is the blood of tyrans. It became the French anthem almost 10O years later with the 3rd Republic.
@@Sylvainpastel You are wrong! The impure blood is the blood of the people by opposition to the noble who was called pure blood. A lot of people misunderstood the blood part as call for the blood of the enemies but the song is about to sacrifice ourself for the country.
@Melody Baird In The Netherlands, our anthem sounds and reads more like a church song. Also, it is rather confusing where love of the fatherland is concerned. William of Orange (Princedom in France) am I, of German blood (yep). The King of Spain I have always honoured (!?!?!?) Only recently did I find out that this solemn sounding song used to played and sung much faster and upbeat during bloody battles. So, while Dutch (and German) mercenaries were beating the stuffing out of Spanish (and German) mercenaries, they would still joyfully sing that they honoured the king of Spain.
Aussie national anthem is just about being grateful for how amazing our country is and advancing forward into the future. Ironic since none of the last few prime ministers have done anything about either the future nor the past 😂
@@anoNEMOs Pompeous and thrilling. Especially inspiring Anthem. The Russian inspired it for their own Revolution (1917-1918), called "Worker's Marseillaise"
The French celebrate the beginning of their nation's greatest catastrophe as a national holiday, and they even sing about it in their anthem. Yes, that makes sense.
But but but... you Germans should be used to horrific stories! Those fairytales you guys tell. Holy crap. There are more deaths in there than a regular action movie.
@@stormy7565 At the time Deutschland above everything meant not that Germany is better than it's neighbors. But instead that the German identity should be more important than whether you are Bavarian or Saxon. The mentioned Landmarks roughly defined the German speaking area so thats why they were Chosen as a first draft of the borders of the new Nation.
Actually, this is a common misunderstanding of the lyrics. It is certainly not "their" blood that should water our fields... When the song was written, France was at war against most of the monarchies in Europe to defend the French Revolution. The so-called "pure-blood" were aristocrats who fled abroad to raise armys against their own country. So French soldiers sang that they will gladly sacrifice themselves to the land. They are proud to be "unpure blood".
@@Natanaeljoma ok so the issue is in the nuance of translation then but who does this impure blood belong to? who is this "one" refering to? & if it is a social class then surely "their" although less nuanced kinda approximates it?
I’m really impressed by the way you translated it, honestly. It’s not easy to make a song sound legit in a language different from the original while retaining the meaning. Chapeau
@@JoeMartinez18 I tried to use an english expression to say "be careful what you say about french people because you're never safe from the baguette" but I guess I misused it.
Je pense que "Motherland" est bien meilleur. Dans ma tête la nation Française a toujours été une femme. Sainte Geneviève, Sainte Jeanne d'arc, la semeuse, la liberté guidant le peuple, Marianne, etc, etc ...
I'm just imagining someone walking in on him while he's screaming the anthem and not knowing what he's talking about, and so they just stand there going unnoticed by the guy until he turns around and sees them and he's like "Oh uh..."
@@klenkes74 well yes but the austrian empire didn't only vonsist of germany. And the song is mainly about pushing back the invadors, wich could also be british at that time. At some point the revolutionaries even went to war with spain (before Napoléon)
If your wife is a comrade then sure... fyi i am french, i also know what i am talking about. Indeed his french is even better than the average for french people
This is quite close to Vietnamese national anthem. It's all armies, and guns, and take up arms, and marching, and killing everybody, and then bathing in their bloods. I'm like gosh, why do I have to sing about wanting to bathe in my enemy's blood every week at school from from grade 1 to 12. But then I remembered VN used to be a French colony.
It's a song that was written when all European countries decided to rage war against France together. The part about impure blood watering fields is always misunderstood abroad. It refers to non-noble French people running the country instead of the aristocracy, NOT to killing people and spreading their blood in sorrows.
Well.. It was only Austria, Prussia and some smaller German countries (there was no "Germany" at that time) that formed a coalition against the revolutionary french citizens to" defend the monarchy", when the song was written. Spain, United Netherlands and great Britain joined the war only after the execution of King Louis XVI. Later, the holy Roman Empire joined as well. In the end, France won (mostly) :D
@@Leopold_van_Aubel 'Non-noble Frenchmen', like the farmers who worked the field? Because they also call citizens to rise up? Or did you mean to say that in the anthem the French are the noble and the foreign enemies the non-nobles? In the Dutch anthem there is something in the lines of 'free from foreign taints' and racist groups relate this to non-native (non-white) Dutch people even though it was aimed at the French conquerors. So 'non-foreign' included all Dutch people, the common folk as well as the elites.
@@Leopold_van_Aubel Nope, the impure blood is from ennemy soldiers, not from non-noble French people. What you said is a recent urban myth denied by historians.
idk abt the French's anthem history, but from the moment you sang the translated lyrics, I'm starting to ponder abt my own country's anthem just to make sure it would feel (subjective, me myself and I) passable after being shoved into eng translation
Ouais... je ne sais pas pourquoi... après, j’avoue je ne connais que la version francophone de la brabançonne haha (c’est peut-être parce qu’elle est dans 3 langues que on l’entend jamais?) et aussi la Belgique est assez petite donc pas ultra connue 😕
@@Skyethestudent oui ça doit être pour ça... y en a qui disent que vous connaissez mieux celle de France que la votre mais j'imagine que c'est faux hein ?💀
@@karimzb4642 hehe 😅 je ne vais pas mentir... la plupart d’entre nous la connaissent que dans leur langue maternelle, donc pas entièrement 😅 (et j’en fait partie aussi... oups)
Pretty fair since this anthem was created while french soldiers were commanded to help germans invade france by the "bourgeois" (rich pepole of france) and were asked to let themselves be killed and kill frenchies. Our past is violent and we are violent ( until our nuclear power plant plans were sold to the us for almost nothing and the brought back for expensive price)( man we rzally could use some revolution)
@@dragonlordgon6806 I think the French Revolution had enough dead. But it’s not like I’ll get involved considering where I live so it most likely wouldn’t have any effect on me. (Very long way of saying idc if there’s another revaluation)
@@dragonlordgon6806 the bourgeois are the ones that started the revolution, it wasn't against them. It was against royalty and especially against the nobility.
@@unapologeticallylizzy i don't remember why they called it La Marseillaise (even though my history teacher told me) but it might be because the writer was from Marseille but we should check :) and don't worry, not many people know this, even i didn't know this until a couple of years ago when i was in quatrième (8th grade)
Bah en vrai moi j'ai jamais entendu les lyrics d'une autre hymne donc ça me semble normal que ça parle de la guerre puisque c'était pour se motiver en temps de guerres
@@kestersmils9479 tellement 😂😅 « Vous avez fait quoi à l’école aujourd’hui ma poupette ? » « Bah aujourd’hui on a appris la marseillaiiiise 🥰😀 » « C’est bien ca ! 😊 allez, mange ton kinder pingui ma puce »
As a french people, I noticed an imprecision, while He said “their impure blood”. The good translation might be “an impure blood”. Also, the “impure blood” is how the royal family called the poor people, all the farmers, etc..
@@omegaSomeone mais qu'est ce que tu racontes le sang impur c'est juste les ennemis de la nation, faut pas croire naïvement tout ce qu'on raconte sur Wikipedia bro
That's an american endoctrinement methode we don't apply. Most peoples only learn that first verse out of the 7, but some refuse to sing due to the violence of the lyrics which does not represent France actual political status in the world.
The only thing I would've changed in this amazing translation is "companion" to "wife", because the French word is "compagne" and not "compagnon" (makes it even more horrifying :) hehe)
Meanwhile Denmark: Theres a lovely country with broad beechtrees, near the salty beaches. It meanders through hills and valleys, it is called old Denmark, and its the hall of Freya.”
You have a great voice ! One remark though : "vos compagnes" actually mean "your wives", not "your comrades" (comrades would be compagnons ou camarades)
