[2][3] In 1948, Henri Betti met Jacques Plante at the SACEM who told him that he had the idea of writing a song referring to the 1947 strikes by coal miners in France.
Plante told Betti that the song would speak about a young employee who works in the countryside in a mill which is directed by a man whose name is Maître Pierre.
In 1966, Les Trois Ménestrels sang the song with Raymond Lefèvre and his Orchestra on the TV show Le Palmarès des chansons.
In 1980, Jacqueline François and Jacques Martin sang the song with Robert Quibel and his Orchestra on the TV show Thé Dansant.
In 1995, Sophie Darel recorded the song in duet with Pierre Perret for the album C'était les Années Bleues.
In 2013, Jean-Jacques Debout recorded the song with musical arrangements by Jacques Ferchit for the album Sous le Soleil des Guinguettes.
In 1951, Mitchell Parish wrote the English lyrics for the recording of the song by The Andrews Sisters with Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra.