Origins: Gironfla

Subject: Origins: Gironfla
From: CET
Date: 17 May 15 - 11:42 AM

I have actually found found out something about the origins of the song. It apparently dates from the War of the Spanish Succession, and it mocks the Duke of Savoy for declaring war on France with "an army of eighty peasants". I have no difficulty with French lyrics but I would like to know more about the title itself. Is "Gironfla" just a set of syllables set to music, like "too-ra-li-ay", or does it actually refer to something?

Any information about the date of this song or where it originated would of interest.

Check out Marc Robine or Luc Arbogast singing Gironfla on YouTube.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gironfla
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 15 - 12:04 PM

There is a great French song about war and how horrible it is for the men, women, farms and homes involved in the various verses, with Girofle, girofla as a chorus - related?

Subject: RE: Origins: Gironfla
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 May 15 - 12:06 PM

Sorry, that was me, no idea why the mouse ate my cookie. Anyway, here is that one.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gironfla
From: CET
Date: 17 May 15 - 02:43 PM

That's a stunning song, but no relation to the early 18th century song apart from using a similar refrain.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gironfla
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 15 - 10:36 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qn7dclYAGc

Subject: RE: Origins: Gironfla
From: CET
Date: 20 May 15 - 06:24 AM

Thanks for the link to Luc Arbogast. I like this guy. He dresses like one of those spindly young "persons in black" I see in downtown Ottawa, but he's built like a rugby player and you could imagine him as a bouncer in one of the rougher bars in Marseilles. He also sings with a passion for traditional songs that reminds me of Peter Bellamy (a completely different kind of singer, needless to say).

I'm still hoping for some insight into the title. "Gironfla" sounds like it could refer to something musical, like a bugle call.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gironfla
From: Jack Campin
Date: 20 May 15 - 06:30 AM

I wonder if it's a battle cry in Occitan/Lombard, or whatever you call the most common language of the Duke of Savoy's army?

Subject: RE: Origins: Gironfla
From: GUEST,franc 91
Date: 20 May 15 - 10:51 AM

My favourite recording of this song is by the group 'La Chiffonie' from Lyon. I had the impression that the Savoyards won that time round and were mocking the French - the language they spoke is now known as Arpitan.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gironfla
From: Monique
Date: 20 May 15 - 11:16 AM

It doesn't seem to mean anything in Arpitan (aka Franco-Provençal though it's neither French nor Provençal nor a mix of both). You can also find it in this Occitan song, in this French song from the Anjou region, and in a variant of the 2nd line of the children's song Giroflé, girofla.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gironfla
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 20 May 15 - 01:44 PM

Giroflé means wallflower or stock (the flower), and girofle means clove, but I don't suppose that helps much.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gironfla
From: CET
Date: 21 May 15 - 05:53 AM

it sounds like Gironfla is one of those words with a pleasing sound but no meaning that show up in traditional songs. In this song it does sound like a battle cry. Works for me.