Valeureux Liégeois (, literally "Valiant people of Liège") is a patriotic song written in 1790 by Abbot Gilles-Joseph-Evrard Ramoux in the town of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

at a time when the

Liège Revolution The Liège Revolution, sometimes known as the Happy Revolution (; ), against the reigning prince-bishop of Liège, started on 18 August 1789 and lasted until the destruction of the Republic of Liège and re-establishment of the Prince-Bishopri ...

was threatened by Austrian forces seeking the restoration of the Prince-bishop César-Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck.

Lyrics

Abbot Ramoux wrote Valeureux Liégeois in 1790 at the request of Lambert-Joseph de Donceel, a revolutionary and commander of the Liège militia who wanted a national song "to expel from the homes of our citizens the enemies of the fatherland who dared to enter". The lyrics of the song had a patriotic air, though they were subsequently added to or modified several times. The original song only had two verses. Chorus: ''Valeureux Liégeois,'' ''Fidèles à ma voix,'' ''Volez à la victoire!'' ''Et la liberté de notre Cité'' ''Vous couvrira de gloire.'' Verses: ''Célébrons par nos accords'' ''Les droits sacrés d'une si belle cause,'' ''Et rions des vains efforts'' ''Que l'ennemi nous oppose.'' ''Que peut craindre notre ardeur?'' ''Sous Chestret nous portons les armes:'' ''À côté de ce vainqueur'' ''Le péril a des charmes.'' ''César vainqueur de l’univers'' ''Te décerna le titre de brave,'' ''Des Romains tu brisas les fers,'' ''Jamais tu ne vécus esclave.'' ''Tendres époux, jeunes amants'' ''Pour quelques jours, quittez vos belles;'' ''Reparaissez triomphants,'' ''Vous en serez plus dignes d'elles.''

Translation

Chorus: ''Brave people of Liège,'' ''Loyal to my voice,''In some versions, the phrase "''Fidèles à ma voix''" ("Loyal to my voice") in the chorus is replaced with "''Marchez à ma voix''", or "March to my command". ''Fly to victory!'' ''And the liberty of our state'' ''Will cover you in glory.'' Verses: ''Let us celebrate with our agreement'' ''The sacred rites of such a beautiful cause,'' ''And laugh at the vain efforts'' ''Of the enemy who opposes us.'' ''Why fear our zeal?'' ''Under ean-Remy deChestret we bear our arms:'' ''At the side of the victor'' ''danger has charm.'' ''

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

conqueror of the universe'' ''You bestowed the title of the brave,'' ''Your smashed the Roman's chains,'' ''Never did you live as slave.'' ''Tender husbands, young lovers'' ''For several days, you must leave your sweethearts;'' ''When you return triumphant,'' ''You will be more deserving of them.''

Student fokelore

Students from the

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

(ULg) have a tradition of modifying the song to a version with the refrain: ''Valeureux Liégeois,'' ''Fidèle à ma voix,'' ''Vole à la victoire.'' ''Et la liberté '' ''De notre cite'' ''Te couvrira de gloire.'' (''Brave people of Liège,'' ''True to my voice,'' ''Steal to victory.'' ''And freedom'' ''Of our city'' ''Will cover you with glory.'') Along with verses 3 and 1.

Lyrics

Translation

Student fokelore

Notes

Further reading