{title: C'est l'aviron}
{artist: Traditional French-Canadian (voyageur)}
{album: 17th-century French folk song adapted by voyageurs of New France}
{key: D}
{tempo: 110}
{difficulty: intermediate}
{phase: 1}
{strand: M}
{feel: drive}
{lead_voice: any}
{lead_mode: call_response}
{lead_demand: easy}
{harmony: M,H}
{a_cappella: no}
{kit: bod,gtr,whs}
{set_role: driver}
{lang: fr}
{country_tags: CA}
{copyright: pd}
{flags: repondre}
{tags: call-response,canadiana,chorus,french-canadian,maritime,paddle,public-domain,repondre,shanty,traditional,voyageur}
{video: youtube:tQO7Lh1pKXg}
{credit: Traditional voyageur paddling song. Public domain — 17th-century French origin, adapted by canoeists of New France. Marius Barbeau documented the song in the foundational 'Romancero du Canada' (1937). Reference recording: Le Vent du Nord, various traditional anthologies.}

{c: The French halyard shanty — a paddling work-song, *chanson à répondre* by design. Lead canoeist sings the verse line, everyone echoes the refrain on the paddle stroke. Two chords (D and A), instant participation, no French required to join the chorus.}

{c: ===== STRUCTURE =====}
{c: Call-and-response. The lead sings a long verse line; the group answers with the refrain 'C'est l'aviron qui nous mène, qui nous mène / C'est l'aviron qui nous mène en haut.'}
{c: The verses cumulate the same way 'En roulant ma boule' does — each new verse repeats the second half of the prior verse and adds one new line. A roomful of singers carries it forward by the second verse.}

{start_of_chorus}
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène, qui nous [D]mène
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène en [D]haut
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
[D]M'en revenant de la jolie Ro[A]chelle
[A]J'ai rencontré trois jolies demoi[D]selles
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène, qui nous [D]mène
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène en [D]haut
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
[D]J'ai rencontré trois jolies demoi[A]selles
[A]J'ai point choisi, mais j'ai pris la plus [D]belle
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène, qui nous [D]mène
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène en [D]haut
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
[D]J'ai point choisi, mais j'ai pris la plus [A]belle
[A]J'l'y fis monter derrière moi sur ma [D]selle
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène, qui nous [D]mène
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène en [D]haut
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
[D]J'l'y fis monter derrière moi sur ma [A]selle
[A]J'lui ai demandé son père et sa [D]mère
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène, qui nous [D]mène
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène en [D]haut
{end_of_chorus}

{start_of_verse}
[D]J'lui ai demandé son père et sa [A]mère
[A]Son frère aussi, et sa petite [D]sœur
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène, qui nous [D]mène
[D]C'est l'aviron qui nous [A]mène en [D]haut
{end_of_chorus}

{c: ===== ENGLISH GLOSS =====}
{c: 'It's the paddle that moves us along, that moves us / It's the paddle that moves us upstream'}
{c: 'Coming home from pretty La Rochelle / I met three pretty maidens'}
{c: 'I made no choice, but I took the prettiest / I had her ride behind me on my saddle'}
{c: 'I asked her about her father and her mother / Her brother too, and her little sister'}
{c: The story is gentle and continues — boy and girl, families, the long ride home. Like most paddling songs, the *story* is filler for the rhythm. The paddle stroke is the point.}

{c: ===== HOW IT'S PERFORMED =====}
{c: Two chords — D for the verse opening, A for the second half, back to D on the refrain.}
{c: Lead sings the long phrase; group answers immediately on 'C'est l'aviron qui nous mène' — the gap should be NONE, the response lands on top of the lead's last beat.}
{c: Tempo: 100-120 BPM for singing; historic voyageur paddle stroke was 60-80/min — a different number. We sing it faster than they paddled.}
{c: Hand percussion (paddles on gunwales, bodhrán, hands on thighs) on every beat — this is the paddle stroke.}

{c: ===== WHY THIS SONG =====}
{c: Alongside 'En roulant ma boule' and 'À la claire fontaine', this is the foundational voyageur song. It's what Roots Singers' M-strand francophone vein is built on: the French halyard shanty. Sits next to 'Drunken Sailor' in any set built around call-and-response work-songs.}
{c: Pronunciation is a low barrier — even non-Francophone singers can echo 'C'est l'aviron' by the second pass.}