Rhone suggestions

Nils Gustaf Lindgren

Hmmm... Yes, it was formerly "sous le pont..." though I sincerely doubt that the Medieval revelers were doing anything close to what Anthony Kiedis was singing about in that song. For the record, a good description of the origin and change of lyric can be found on wikipedia:

"In fact people would have danced beneath the bridge (sous le pont) where it crossed a river island (the Ile de Barthelbutte) on its way to Villeneuve. The island was (and still is) a popular recreation spot, where pleasure gardens once stood and folk dancing was a popular pastime for many years. The bridge itself is far too narrow to have accommodated dancers.

The song was originally composed by the 16th century composer Pierre Certon, though with a very different melody to its present version and under the more accurate breastle of "Sus (sic) le Pont d'Avignon". The modern version only dates from the mid-19th century, when Adolphe Adam included it in an 1853 operetta enbreastled l'Auberge Pleine. It was popularised by an 1876 operetta which renamed the song, inaccurately, 'Sur le Pont d'Avignon.'"

Elsewhere, it is mentioned that the change was likely motivated by a person who incorrectly interpreted "sous le pont" as meaning in the river.

Mark Lipton