France is dishing out thousands of compact discs featuring traditional and wacky versions of the Marseillaise to schoolchildren, amid fears the nation's young are forgetting the national anthem's catchy tune. All French schools will receive a copy of the CD and a book aimed at helping children understand the history of their national song. The distribution of the CD and book comes after right-wing politicians moaned children no longer knew the song's words or melody, but Education Minister Jack Lang insisted the initiative was not related to such criticisms. "But the aim of the project is to make children better understand their history and heritage," Lang said. The anthem, which was composed in the southern port town of Marseille during the 1789-1792 French revolution and played as troops marched into Paris to oust the king, was banned by Napoleon for its radical tone and reinstated in 1879. Writer and historian Michel Vovelle, who wrote part of the book that accompanies the CD, said the collection, which includes a Brazilian samba version and a rendition in Arabic, showed the Marseillaise was not dead, as some had feared. "But the fact there are versions from all over the world, show it is an international song of liberation, not just a patriotic song for France." The Marseillaise calls the people to revolution and freedom but does not specifically cite the glory of France.

由于担心国内的年轻人忘记国歌琅琅上口的曲调，法国向小学生们发放了数千张包括《马赛曲》的传统版本及其他各种怪诞版本的音乐光盘。法国所有的学校都将得到一张光盘和一本帮助孩子们了解国歌历史的书。虽然在此之前右翼政客们曾抱怨法国的孩子们不再记得国歌的歌词和曲调，但教育部长杰克·朗坚持说分发光盘和书籍的行动与这些批评无关。“此次行动的目的是让孩子们更了解祖国的历史和文化遗产，”朗说道。这首歌在1789-1792年法国革命期间创作于南部的港口城市马赛，革命军伴着这首歌曲进军巴黎去赶走国王。它曾因调子激进而被拿破仑禁止，1879年又得恢复。光盘附带的书籍中部分文稿的作者、作家及历史学家迈克·沃维尔说，这张专辑——其中包括《马赛曲》的巴西桑巴版和阿拉伯语翻译版——显示《马赛曲》并不像有些人担心的那样已经死亡。“世界各地都有《马赛曲》的不同版本，这一事实表明它不仅是属于法国的爱国歌曲，而是一支国际性的解放之歌。”《马赛曲》号召人们起来革命争取自由，但并没有特别赞颂法国的光荣。

Remarks：孩子们往往对新奇的事物印象更深，因此这样的措施说不定会让法国的孩子们以为《马赛曲》原本是桑巴舞曲或者阿拉伯民谣，这就让人有点尴尬了。