Frère Jacques in popular culture

The song "Frère Jacques" often appears in popular culture. "Frère Jacques" is one of the most widely-known songs on earth, and it can be found many places in modern world culture. For example:

* A version of the "Frère Jacques" tune appears in the third movement of the Symphony No. 1 by Gustav Mahler. Mahler presents the melody in a minor key instead of a major key, thus giving the piece the character of a funeral march or dirge; however, the mode change to minor might not have been an invention by Mahler, as is often believed, but rather the way this round was sung in the 19th century and early 20th century in Austria. [Reinhold Schmid: "50 Kanons". Vienna, n.d. [ca. 1950] (Philharmonia pocket scores No. 86)] [Ute Jung-Kaiser: "Die wahren Bilder und Chiffren „tragischer Ironie“ in Mahlers „Erster“." In: Günther Weiß (ed.): "Neue Mahleriana: essays in honour of Henry-Louis de LaGrange on his seventieth birthday." Lang, Berne etc. 1997, ISBN 3-906756-95-5. pp. 101–152]
* Francesca Draughon and Raymond Knapp argue [http://www.echo.ucla.edu/volume3-issue2/knapp_draughon/knapp_draughon1.html "Mahler and the Crisis of Jewish Identity"] by Francesca Draughon and Raymond Knapp, ECHO volume III, issue 2 (Fall 2001)] that Mahler had changed the key to make "Frère Jacques" sound more "Jewish" (Mahler converted to Catholicism from Judaism). When it was first performed, many thought it was a parody or grotesque. Draughon and Knapp claim that the tune was originally sung to mock non-Catholics, such as Protestants or Jews. To support this, they point out that the subject of one version of the lyrics in Austria was "Bruder Martin", a possible reference to Bruder Martin Luther, and another Austrian version was about a "Bruder Jakob". Mahler himself called the tune "Bruder Martin", and made some allusions to the piece being related to a parody in the programs he wrote for the performances. Many also detect Gypsy influences in this Mahler work. [ [http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=composition&composition_id=2839 Symphony No. 1 in D major] , Composer: Gustav Mahler, Program note originally written for the following performance: National Symphony Orchestra: Leonard Slatkin, conductor/Dotian Levalier, harp/Mahler's First Symphony Jun 7 - 9, 2007 © Richard Freed] Interpretations similar to this are quite prevalent in academia and in musical circles. [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1025107 "MAHLER'S MUSIC"] , Dean Olsher, of NPR's Morning Edition, July 31, 1998, discusses jazz musician and composer Uri Caine's reinterpretations of Mahler.]
* The French performer known as Le Pétomane entertained live audiences in the late 1800s and early 1900s with his own unique rendition of "Frère Jacques", according to the BBC. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/justthejob/followyourdream/punch/j_trivia.shtml "You don’t see many of those these days"] , Joker - Trivia, Follow your Dream, BBC]
* "Frère Jacques" has led to many parodies. For example, Allan Sherman is noted for writing new lyrics to "Frère Jacques" based on typical Jewish-American family gossip and small talk. The resulting song, "Sarah Jackman", became quite famous at the time, and led to Sherman's career in musical parody.
* Versions of "Frère Jacques" can be reproduced using a DTMF ("touch-tone ") telephone keypad (the push-button telephone dialing system prevalent in the USA, Canada and some other countries). [ [http://www.touchtonetunes.com/frere_jacques.html "Frère Jacques"] , Touch Tone Tunes website] The aricle on numbered musical notation uses "Frère Jacques" as an example, and demonstrates that numbered musical notation systems like jianpu and the Ziffersystem have some similarity to DTMF representations of tunes.
* Henry Bernstein, a French playwright, wrote a comedic play entitled "Frère Jacques" (translated as "Brother Jacques") with Pierre Véber in 1904. ["Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature", edited by Jean Albert Bede, William Benbow Edgerton, Columbia University Press, 1980.] ["Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature", Merriam-Webster, Encyclopedia Britannica, ISBN 0877790426, 1995]
* "Mon Frère Jacques" was a French comedic film directed by Marcel Manchez, and released in 1925. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192325/ "Mon Frère Jacques"] , a film directed by Marcel Manchez, 1925]
* "Frère Jacques" is a type of semi-soft cow's milk cheese with a mild hazelnut taste, produced by Benedictine monks from the Saint-Benoit-du-lac Abbey in Quebec, Canada. [ [http://www.st-benoit-du-lac.com/ SAINT BENEDICT-DU-LAC ABBEY, Quebec, Canada] website.]
* "Touché, Pussy Cat!", an Oscar-nominated Tom and Jerry cartoon released in 1954, featured "Frère Jacques" prominently.
* Four French singers, brothers André and Georges Bellec, François Soubeyran and Paul Tourenne formed a comedic singing group in 1944 known as the "Frères Jacques", even though none of them were named "Jacques". The group name was a bit of a play on words since a common French expression, "faire le jacques", means to act like a clown. They had successful careers over the next few decades. [ [http://www.rfimusique.com/siteen/biographie/biographie_6224.asp "Les Frères Jacques"] , Biography, RFI Musique, March 2004]
* Leonard Bernstein made use of "Frère Jacques" to illustrate counterpoint in his television program "What Makes Music Symphonic?" [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348469/ "What Makes Music Symphonic?"] , Leonard Bernstein, 13 December 1958.] [ [http://www.leonardbernstein.com/studio/element2.asp?FeatID=5&AssetID=6 "Young People's Concerts"] , Leonard Bernstein, 1958] (one of a series of 53 programs, the "Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic", combining music and lectures that were televised between 1959 and 1972).
* The demonstrators in Tiananmen Square chanted political slogans to the tune of "Frère Jacques". ["Comrade Jiang Zemin does indeed seem a proper choice", Jasper Becker, London Review of Books, Vol. 23 No. 10, 24 May 2001]
* There is a strong oral tradition among children in China, Vietnam and other places in Asia of passing on songs with their own lyrics, sung to the tune of "Frère Jacques". ["Eating the mosquito: Transmission of a Chinese children's folksong", David Seubert, Chinoperl papers/Chung-kuo yen chang wen i yen chiu hui lun chi, vol. 16 1992. p. 133-43. ISSN: 0193-7774] For example, one of the most popular version of the lyric among Chinese children is about "two tigers."
* In one Loopy de Loop cartoon, Loopy sings a song to the tune of "Frère Jacques".
* In the background of the Beatles' song Paperback Writer one can hear George Harrison and John Lennon singing "Frère Jacques".
* Brian Wilson's song "Surf's Up" uses a reference to "Frère Jacques".
* Not to be outdone by his heroes above, Jeff Lynne added a recording of Dutch children singing "Frère Jacques" to Hello My Old Friend, an unreleased track from the Electric Light Orchestra's Secret Messages album.
* The 1973 Spanish horror film with the US title "House of Psychotic Women" directed by Carlos Aured made use of the song "Frère Jacques" to set the mood.
* "Frère Jacques" is also the name of a chain of franchised French restaurants in the UK [ [http://www.frerejacques.co.uk/ "About Frères Jacques"] , Frères Jacques Restaurant-Bar-Cafe, a UK franchised restaurant chain (depuis 1994) ] and the name of a French restaurant in the Murray Hill section of New York City. [ [http://www.frerejacquesnyc.com/ Hello and Welcome to the Frère Jacques Website] , Frère Jacques Restaurant, Murray Hill section of New York City] "Les Frères Jacques" is the name of a French restaurant in Dublin. [ [http://www.10best.com/Dublin/Restaurants/Fine_Dining/index.html?businessID=15427 "Les Frères Jacques", Dublin, Ireland] restaurant review]
* The post-punk group Television Personalities used "Frère Jacques" as the chorus to their song "Hello Edward", found on their album 'Paisley Shirts & Mini Skirts' (1996).
* Ron Haselden, a British artist living in the French town of Brizard, in Brittany, has produced a well-known interactive multimedia piece featuring "Frère Jacques" in collaboration with Peter Cusack. ["Frère Jacques et autres pièces à Francis: Expositions. 1997. Saint-Fons"
Ron Haselden, Saint-Fons, Centre d'Arts Plastiques, 1997, ISBN: 2-9509357-2-9]
* The Swedish punk rock band Millencolin closed the song "That's Up To Me" on their 1994 Skauch album with a rendition of "Frère Jacques" on a kazoo.
* The "Frère" version of the Jerusalem computer virus plays "Frère Jacques" if the day is Friday or on the 13th of any month.
* Sam Shaber, a New York City folksinger, released a song based on "Frère Jacques" on her 1999 album, "perfecT".
* The Matthew Shipp Quartet jazz group's album "Pastoral Composure" in the year 2000 includes a piece called "Frère Jacques" that draws on the "Frère Jacques" melody.
* The Chinese song "Dadao lie qiang" ("Cut down the great powers", or rather: "Let's beat together the great powers", also known as 'The "Revolution of the Citizens" Song') celebrates the cooperation in China in the 1920s of Mao's Communist Party and the Kuomintang against warlords and imperialist powers, and is sung to the tune of "Frère Jacques". ["Une utilisation insolite de la musique de l'Autre", Pom pom pom pom: Musiques et caetera Neuchatel: Musee d'Ethnographie 1997 p. 227-241.]
* On an episode of "Sports Night", Dan Rydell, after finding out that the song "Happy Birthday" is copyrighted (and the station is being sued for copyright infringement, since Dan sung it to his partner Casey on air), decides to sing songs that are in the public domain, and settles on "Frère Jacques" for his boss Isaac.
* Argentinian composer Juan Maria Solare's piece "Frère Jacques the Ripper (deconstructing the Canon) for Flute, Clarinet, Violin and Cello" transforms the familiar "Frère Jacques" melody by altering the speed, the tonality, the key, inverting the tune and applying fractal transformations to the tune. This piece was performed in Cologne in 2003.
* In 1971, the Allman Brothers Band slipped in the "Frère Jacques" melody during the extended jam portion of "Whipping Post" on their "At Fillmore East" album. [cite book | last=Poe | first=Randy | title=Skydog: The Duane Allman Story | publisher=Backbeat Books | location=San Francisco | year=2006 | isbn=0-879-30891-5 p. 184.] It can be heard starting at about 17 minutes and 40 seconds into the song. The melody is transposed into the key of C.
* The song "Underdog" by Sly and the Family Stone starts and ends with a version of the "Frère Jacques" tune.
* In the beginning of , a child is shown singing "Frère Jacques".
* The Band Blues Traveler sings a song "Brother John" off of their album "Four" which references the song
* In an episode of Justice League called "Only a Dream", Batman humms "Frère Jacques" in order to prevent a villain from entering his mind.
* In the 1984 film The Razor's Edge, Brian Doyle-Murray sings "Frère Jacques" to injured French servicemen while he and Bill Murray transport them during a World War I battle.
* Frere Jacques is remixed by Jean Jacques Perrey and Luke Vibert on their 2007 album, Moog Acid.
* The song is referenced several times in the television series ""; Jean-Luc Picard and the winners of a school science fair sing it in "Disaster", it was one of the first tunes that Captain Picard, as Kamin, learned to play on his Ressikan flute in "The Inner Light", and Picard and Nella Daren performed a canon of it in "Lessons".
*British military cadets have traditionally sung the tune with different words as a taunt to visiting French military cadets during visits to British military academies. The words are the names of British military victories over the French:::"Agincourt, Agincourt"
::"Crecy too; Crecy too"
::"Nile and Trafalgar, Nile and Trafalgar"
::"Waterloo. Waterloo."

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