☝️ Key Points
- The song lyrics ironically and critically describe the experiences of a child in a summer camp.
- The child is grateful to his parents, but also describes the difficult conditions in the camp.
- It reports on factories and landfills in the surroundings, bad food and harsh punishments.
- It also mentions illnesses and injustices, such as older children being able to travel to better summer camps.
- The song lyrics criticize the problems and injustices in some summer camps with ironic wit.
Interpretation
The lyrics of the song "Les jolies colonies de vacances" by
Pierre Perret ironically and critically describe the experiences of a child in a summer camp.
The chorus "Les jolies colonies de vacances, Merci maman, merci papa. Tous les ans, je voudrais que ça recommence, You kaïdi aïdi aïda." shows the child's gratitude towards their parents for the opportunity to participate in this summer camp.
Throughout the rest of the song, the child describes the difficult conditions in the camp. They talk about having to play in an area with factories and garbage dumps, and even having to inhale the factory fumes. They complain about the food and mention that sometimes they even have to eat from trash cans. The punishments in the camp are harsh, and the child is even chained naked in the sun and smeared with jam.
It is also mentioned that there are diseases like typhoid and that the children have pimples on their buttocks. At the end of the song, the child tells that older children are allowed to travel to other camps abroad, while the younger children always have to stay in the same dreary summer camp.
The lyrics of the song "Les jolies colonies de vacances" criticize the shortcomings and injustice in some summer camps by describing the sad reality with ironic humor.