Neha Patil (Editor)

Frère Jacques (Anne Marie Besse song)

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Country
  
Luxembourg

As
  
Anne-Marie B.

Composer(s)
  
Pierre Cour, Guy Béart

Artist(s)
  
Anne-Marie Besse

Language
  
French

Lyricist(s)
  
Pierre Cour, Guy Béart

"Frère Jacques" ("Brother John") was the Luxembourgish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977, performed in French by French singer Anne-Marie Besse.

As the title suggests, the disco-influenced song contains several references to the nursery rhyme of the same name; "Frère Jacques, dormez-vous?" ("Brother John, are you sleeping?") "J'entends les cloches qui sonnent" ("I can hear the bells ringing") and "Tu aurais bien mieux à faire que de jouer au grand frère..." ("There are so much better things for you to do than pretending to be my big brother...."). The singer compares the childish rhyme to her current adulthood, singing about how she longs to have a relationship with some of Jacques/John's friends; "I'm not a child anymore, you know". The song ends with the line "Frère Jacques, réveille-toi et viens dormir avec moi..." ("Brother John, wake up and come sleep with me...").

The song was performed seventh on the night, following Germany's Silver Convention with "Telegram" and preceding Portugal's Os Amigos with "Portugal no coração". At the close of voting, it had received 17 points, placing 16th in a field of 18.

It was succeeded as Luxembourgish representative at the 1978 Contest by Baccara with "Parlez-vous français?".

References

Frère Jacques (Anne-Marie Besse song) Wikipedia