There's a solid chance that this post will be yet another demonstration of English Canada's obliviousness to Québécois cultural products, but all I can do is shamefully admit my short-comings here and try to improve for the future.

With that disclaimer in place, I'll start by saying that I made this discovery by way of browsing the RPM charts in preparation for the 100% Cancon episode I aired a few weeks ago. Looking at charts somewhere in the 1970s, a tune titled 'Patof Blou' by Patof Blou caught my eye and, intrigued by the eponymous song title, I went searching for a recording. I got something I really wasn`t expecting:

My first reaction is that this is for a children's program and it's terrifying. And why the psychedelic acid party simulation? We probably can't blame Patof (Jacques Desrosiers) himself too much for the go-go dancers and trippy colour show, though, because, while he had his own show (Patofville), the above video was a segment for the programme, Jeunesse d'aujourd'hui.   

But even if I continue to puzzle over Jeunesse d'aujourd'hui's choices in the appropriation of adult culture for their show, the 'Patof Blou' song remains unsettling in itself. This could be due to a few elements. The first and perhaps biggest culprits are what we hear in the opening bars of the song: a slow, almost lumbering tempo and well-defined minor key. It's a subversion of expectation: aren't children's songs typically either soothing (a lullaby) or pleasantly upbeat (say, 'Wheels on the Bus'), rather than melancholic? Did Patof put this together at 4am after a night of drinking? Add in the indistinct children's chorus and the emphatic, repeated verse endings, and the song is nearly mournful.

Now for the lyrics:

Oh patof oh patof patof blue oh patof blue {x4}

Je suis un clown de russie [Oh patof]

Qui rit qui pleure et qui sourit [Oh patof]

Ya des souris dedans mon lit [Oh patof]

Mon lit, mon lit

Je souris quand j'vois les souris [Oh patof]

Car ce sont mes petites z'amis [Oh patof]

Qui a mit son riz dans mon lit [Oh patof]

Mon lit, mon lit

Oh patof oh patof patof blue oh patof blue {x4} 

Des papillons dans mes oreilles [Oh patof]

Qui me chatouille quand je sommeil [Oh patof]

Et pour mon nez rouge c'est parreil [Oh patof]

C'est parreill, c'est parreill

Dans mes souliers il y'a des puces [Oh patof]

Ce sont des petites puces russes [Oh patof]

Et les puces russes pique plus [Oh patof]

Pique plus

Oh patof oh patof patof blue oh patof blue {x4}

Well, sure, we can laugh about these crazy lyrics but content for children's programming that resembles the effects of a drug binge isn't all that unusual (my Australian friend had a serious WTF?! moment when I showed him a Polka Dot Door clip; there's also Sesame Street's Mr. Snuffleupagus, etc., etc.). Covers of “regular” pop songs made into children's song aren't unknown either (Mini Pops, anyone?) – which is where 'Patof Blou' originates from.

Titled 'Mammy Blue,' this French tune has been a hit with many different artists, but perhaps the most known versions are by Roger Whittaker and Los Top Pops. Although there are English versions of the song, 'Mammy Blue' never really made it in the English-speaking world (notice the parallel with what I wrote at the start of this post...) despite repeated chart success elsewhere.

Musically, Patof made few changes to the original, or, more properly, originals. Perhaps that's why the song retains such a melancholic feel – it was initially used to support lyrics of a similar nature (with an extra fun layer of dejected nostalgia in the original):

Oh Mamy! Oh Mamy, Mamy blue 
Oh Mamy blue! {2x} 
Où es-tu, où es-tu Mamy blue? 
Oh Mamy blue! 

Je suis partie un soir d’été 
Sans dire un mot, sans t’embrasser 
Sans un regard sur le passé 

Dès que j’ai franchi la frontière 
Le vent soufflait plus fort qu’hier 
Quand j’étais près de toi ma mère 

{au Refrain}

Et aujourd’hui je te reviens 
Oui, j’ai refait tout le chemin 
Qui m’avait entraînée si loin 

Tu n’es plus là pour me sourire 
Me réchauffer, me recueillir 
Et je n’ai plus qu’à repartir 

{au Refrain}

Et le temps a passé 
Et Mamy blue s’est en allée 

La maison a fermé ses yeux 
Le chat et les chiens sont très vieux 
Et ils viennent me dire adieu 

Je ne reviendrai plus jamais 
Dans ce village que j’aimais 
Où tu reposes désormais 

Oh Mamy! Oh Mamy blue! 
Oh Mamy blue!

(French lyrics with English translation here;  adapted English lyrics here)

While we can`t say why Patof chose this well-known song that seemed in such contrast to its re-purposed aim, who knows – maybe Patof the Russian Clown is the forgotten son of Mammy Blue?

(Footnote:  There's at least one other adaptation of a pop song: Patof's 'Gros Minou' is a cover of the Hollywood Argyles' song 'Alley Oop'; if you know any more re-writes by Patof, post it in the comments!)