Words To Twinkle Twinkle Little Star In French + original French version (audio)

What do Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, The Alphabet Song, and Baa-Baa Black Sheep have in common? They all use the same catchy tune borrowed from an old French melody over 280 years old. Here are the lyrics to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in French and English with audio and the original French song children used to sing that has the same melody, long before Twinkle, Twinkle Little star was even written. 

A brief history of the lullaby Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is a famous lullaby with straightforward lyrics and a catchy melody.

But have you ever wondered who wrote it or pondered over its meaning? What about the catchy tune? Why does it sound exactly like the A-B-C alphabet song? 

Who wrote Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?

The words to the nursery rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” are based on an English poem called “The Star,” written by a 23-year-old English poet and novelist named Jane Taylor in collaboration with her sister Ann Taylor. “The Star” was first published in 1806 in a volume of children’s poems by the two sisters called  “Rhymes for the Nursery.”

Below, on pages 10 and 11, is the original children’s poem from that volume. 

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’s melody is borrowed from a 280-year-old French melody.

The catchy tune associated with Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is set to an old French Folk song called “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman” (Oh! Shall I tell you, mommy). 

Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman” (Oh! Shall I tell you, mommy)

The French melody “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman” was first published without words in 1761 in a book of music called “Les Amusements d’une Heure et Demy by Mr. Bouin.

But Mr. Bouin didn’t write the French song. According to French historian Henri-Irénée Marrou, the origins of the French melody that Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star uses is an anonymous pastoral song dating back to 1740 making it over 280 years old. 

The year that Jane Taylor’s poem “The Star” was set to music.

No one knows for sure when the “The Star” was set to music using the French melody “Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman” however, they were first published together (lyrics and music) as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” in 1838 in “The Singing Master: First Class Tune-Book.” 

French children sang a different song to the same tune nearly 50 years earlier.

Nearly 50 years before the sisters Jane and Ann Taylor wrote their famous poem “The star,” which later became “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star,” French children sang different words with a different story to the same catchy tune. 

The earliest known children’s lyrics and poems attached to the French melody”Ah! Vous dirai-je” was around 1765 with a poem called “Le Faux Pas.” 

Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

Folk music has a rich history of taking a single melody and attaching new lyrics with different stories or meanings.

Below is the original poem set to music. I also included the lyrics and a translation of the original poem “le Faux pas.” 

The French poem “Le faux pas” is about a boy telling his mother how his father’s varied demands torment him, but the boy thinks candy is worth more. 

Popular Songs That have borrowed from the original French melody “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman.”

Many more songs share the same tune as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, all borrowing from the original French melody “Ah ! vous dirai-je, maman”. 

The ones you probably know the best are the ABC song and Baa Baa, Black Sheep. Here is a timeline of some of the most well-known songs and when they became associated with the French melody Ah! vous dirai-je, maman.

• 1765: “Le Faux Pas” (lyrics are listed above)
• 1774: “La Confidence-Naive” (a parody of the lyrics “Le Faux Pas.”)
• 1780: “Les Amours de Silvandre”
• 1781 or 1782: when Mozart was about 25 years old, he popularized the now-famous French folk song when he composed Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman.”
• 1824: A B C D E F G (aka “The ABC Song”) first published in Germany
• 1834: A B C D E F G (aka “The ABC Song”) published in the USA as “The Schoolmaster.”
• 1838: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star aka “The Star” poem.
• 1878: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep is sung to a variation of the French tune. 

European Christmas songs that share the same melody as “Ah ! vous dirai-je, maman”.

• German Christmas carol “Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann”
• Hungarian Christmas carol “Hull a pelyhes fehér hó”
• Dutch “Altijd is Kortjakje ziek”
• Spanish “Campanita del lugar”
• Greek “Φεγγαράκι μου λαμπρό”
• Turkish “Daha Dün Annemizin”

TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR IN FRENCH AND ENGLISH

The title of The French version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is called “Brille, brille, petite étoile” (Shine, shine, little star.) 

Below is a video with music of Brille, brille, petite étoile. 

This French version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star borrows some of the words from the first verse of Jane Taylor’s poem, but it’s not an exact translation. 

Most versions of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in French stop here, but there are four more verses in the English version of this children’s nursery rhyme.

I’ve translated the remaining verses from English to French for you. 

Which version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star do you like better?

Do you prefer the original French nursery rhyme set to the French poem “Le Faux Pas” or the English nursery rhyme set to the English poem “The Star”?