La guillotine permanente ("The permanent Guillotine") is a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

revolutionary song Revolutionary songs are political songs that advocate or praise revolutions. They are used to boost morale, as well as for political propaganda or Political demonstration, agitation. Amongst the most well-known revolutionary songs are "La Marseilla ...

from the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

.Object ''YE-35763'' in the national library of France (

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

). The lyrics regard the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

and its usage as a weapon of the revolution.

Background

Historic circumstances

Around the year 1789, the National Constituent Assembly was debating about a new

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Among the representatives of the bourgeoisie was the doctor

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (; 28 May 1738 – 26 March 1814) was a French physician, politician, and freemason who proposed on 10 October 1789 the use of a device to carry out death penalties in France, as a less painful method of execution than ...

, who argued for an equalization of the capital punishment. He suggested that all executions may be carried out as a beheading through a "simple mechanism". Guillotin's efforts lead to beheading machines being referred to as "Guillotine" when they were first regularly used in the year 1792. (Misleadingly, Guillotin is often called the "inventor of the guillotine". The lyrics of ''La guillotine permanente'' say that Guillotin "made" the machine. In reality, Guillotin was not involved in the design and construction of the guillotine.)

The melody

The

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

of ''La guillotine permanente'' was known long before the French Revolution; its roots date back to the 16th century. The old

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

''Si le roi m'avait donné'' is sung to this melody,

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

quoted it in his comical work ''

The Misanthrope ''The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover'' (french: Le Misanthrope ou l'Atrabilaire amoureux; ) is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris b ...

'', which premiered in the year 1666.
The lyrics of ''La guillotine permanente'' are not the only ones written to this melody during the French Revolution.

Lyrics

Original lyrics: Le député Guillotin Dans la médecine Très expert et très malin Fit une machine Pour purger le corps français De tous les gens à projets C'est la guillotine, ô gué C'est la guillotine Pour punir la trahison La haute rapine Ces amateurs de blasons Ces gens qu'on devine Voilà pour qui l'on a fait Ce dont on connaît l'effet C'est la guillotine, ô gué C'est la guillotine A force de comploter La horde mutine A gagné sans y penser Migraine maline Pour guérir ces messieurs-là Un jour on les mènera A la guillotine, ô gué A la guillotine De la France on a chassé La noble vermine On a tout rasé, cassé Et mis en ruine Mais de noble on a gardé De mourir le cou tranché Par la guillotine, ô gué Par la guillotine Messieurs les nobles mutins Dont chacun s'échine Soufflant par des efforts vains La guerre intestine Si nous vous prenons vraiment Vous mourrez très noblement A la guillotine, ô gué A la guillotine Le dix nous a procuré Besogne de reste Les traîtres ont abondé C'est pis qu'une peste Comme on n'en veut pas manquer On punit sans déplanter La machine reste, ô gué La machine reste English translation: The deputy Guillotin In the medicine Very educated and very smart Made a machine To purge the body of France From all people with projects That's the guillotine, hurray That's the guillotine To punish the treason The huge theft Those enthusiasts for coat of arms These people, one knows which For those we made it It, whose effect we know That's the guillotine, hurray That's the guillotine By stirring up The mutinous horde One got without having it in mind Terrible headaches To cure those gentlemen We will lead them one day To the guillotine, hurray To the guillotine From France we hunted them The noble bundle We shaved everything off, terminated everything And ruined all But what we kept from the nobles Is to die with cut necks By the guillotine, hurray By the guillotine Those gentlemen, the noble traitors Those who have withdrawn themselves Suffer from useless causes The internal war When we take them seriously They will die very nobly On the guillotine, hurray On the guillotine The 10th has brought us A lot of work There are many traitors It is worse than a plague We don't want to miss it To punish without exceptions The machine stays, hurray The machine stays

Annotations

Melody

Trivia

''La guillotine permanente'' can be heard in the video game ''

Assassin's Creed Unity ''Assassin's Creed Unity'' is an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released in November 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and in December 2020 ...

'', which is set in the French Revolution. During the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

of 1871, the communards sang many songs from the French Revolution with updated lyrics about the new commune including a version of ''La guillotine permanente'' now changed to ''Vive la Commune.''

Recordings

Catherine Ribeiro Catherine Ribeiro (born 22 September 1941) is a French singer. Ribeiro is an experimental folk and avant-garde performer whose work has attained a cult following. With her band Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes, she released several albums in the late ...

: ''1989… Déjà !'' (1988) * Jean-Louis Caillat: ''Chansons de la Révolution'' (1989) *

Marc Ogeret Marc Ogeret (; 25 February 1932 – 4 June 2018) was a French singer. Biography Ogeret was born in Paris in 1932. His mother was a dressmaker and his father worked in the health service of the ministry of war. At 17, he dropped school and work ...

: ''Chante La Révolution'' (1989)

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:guillotine French-language songs 1790s songs Folk songs Songs of the French Revolution Death in art Capital punishment