Gloutons translates to "gluttonous" or "greedy". It's a descriptive and somewhat playful word that isn't heard in everyday conversation, making it memorable.
In the song, it's used to describe the planet where Pépette, the incredibly hungry cat, was born: "Des matous gloutons" (Of gluttonous cats). This word perfectly captures the central theme of the song – Pépette's insatiable appetite – and sets the stage for the humorous and exaggerated tale of his eating habits.
"Pépette" is a playful French children's song by Aldebert, featuring Claudio Capéo, from the anniversary album "10 ans d'Enfantillages !"
The song tells the tall tale of Pépette, a big, endlessly hungry cat who will eat absolutely anything: nougat, chicken, a corkscrew, a dictionary, a pack of beer, even barbed wire and a legionnaire. Each verse piles on a longer and sillier list of everything Pépette has swallowed.
One evening, Pépette overdoes it, and everything he ate comes spilling back out through a hole in his belly - schoolbags, a president, dust, kittens, cabbages and more. The cat patches himself up with a bicycle-tire rustine (repair patch) and keeps right on eating.
The song ends with a tongue-in-cheek moral: it's better to have a Pépette in a photo than one actually living in your house, since he'll eat everything from your cardboard boxes to your onions. It's a fun way for learners to build vocabulary around food, everyday objects, and playful exaggeration in French.