- Patapan
"Patapan" (or "Pat-a-pan") is the title of a traditional French (specifically, Burgundian) Christmas carol. The carol revolves around the birth of
Jesus Christ , and is told from the perspective of shepherds playing simple instruments--flutes and drums--the onomatopoetic sound of which gives the song its name; "patapan" is meant to mimic the sound of the drum, and an accompanying lyric, "tu-re-lu-re-lu," the flute. This is similar conceptually to the carol "The Little Drummer Boy ", with its chorus of "pa-rum-pa-pum-pum."English Lyrics:
Willie, bring your little drum;
Robin, bring your flute and come;
And be merry while you play,Tu-re-lu-re-lu,
Pat-a-pan-a-pan,
Come be merry while you play,
Let us make our Christmas gay!When the men of olden days
To the King of Kings gave praise,
On the fife and drum did play,Tu-re-lu-re-lu,
Pat-a-pan-a-pan,
On the fife and drum did play,
So their hearts were glad and gay!God and man today become
More in tune than fife and drum,
So be merry while you play,Tu-re-lu-re-lu,
Pat-a-pan-a-pan,
So be merry while you play,
Sing and dance this Christmas day!
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