File:Vielles_Chansons_et_Rondes_pour_les_Petits_Enfants_22.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Key facts
- Language
- French
- English title
- Brother John
- Songwriter
- Traditional
via Wikipedia infobox
~9 min read
Encyclopedic overview
"Frère Jacques" (/ˌfrɛərə ˈʒɑːkə/ FRAIR-ə ZHAH-kə, French: [fʁɛʁ(ə) ʒak(ə)]), also known in English as "Brother John", is a nursery rhyme of French origin. The rhyme is traditionally sung in a round.
The song is about a friar who has overslept and is urged to wake up and sound the bell for the matins, the midnight or very early morning prayers for which a friar would be expected to be awake.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Frère Jacques” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.