Frère Jacques has apparently overslept; it is time to ring the morning bells, and someone wakes him up with this song.

[3] The traditional English translation preserves the scansion, but alters the meaning such that Brother John is being awakened by the bells.

The name Jacques, instead, corresponds to the English names James or Jacob, which derive from the Latin Iacobus and the Greek Ἰακώβος (Septuagintal Greek Ἰακώβ), referring to the Biblical Patriarch Jacob and the apostles known in English as James.

Martine David and A. Marie Delrieu suggest that "Frère Jacques" might have been created to mock the Dominican friars, known in France as the Jacobin order, for their sloth and comfortable lifestyles.

[9] In a review of a book about Kozma Prutkov, Richard Gregg, professor of Russian at Vassar College, notes that the satirical collective pseudonym Prutkov claimed "Frère Jacques" was derived from a Russian seminary song about a "Father Theofil".

French musicologist Sylvie Bouissou has found some evidence that composer Jean-Philippe Rameau had written the music.

A manuscript at the French National Library contains "Frère Jacques" among 86 canons, with Rameau listed as author.

[15] In 1926, the tune was used in a patriotic anthem written by officers of the Chinese Whampoa Military Academy, "Revolution of the Citizens" (國民革命歌).

[19] Edward Kilenyi pointed out that "Fra Jacopino" shares the same "Frère Jacques"-like melody as "Chanson de Lambert", a French song dating from 1650, and a Hungarian folk tune.