When I was with the Hackberry Ramblers, if we played this around Eunice, Lake Charles, Jennings, etc., people would line-dance to it, although nobody ever line-danced to any other song that we played.1
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| Daily World Jun 21, 1945 |
Je Suis Pas Si Canaille! In June 1929, the New Drug Store in Opelousas, Louisiana booked a full-page ad in the Clarion News to advertise the recordings of "Acadian Records" by Okeh. The manager of the store, who took the group of six musicians to Atlanta, used the rhetoric explicitly based on the Evangeline myth. Although Okeh was interested in Cajun music, Dr. A.J. Boudreaux sent along an Opelousas-born jazz crooner to fill in the session. The few Cajuns that tried to incorporate pop tunes of the day into their repertoire did so with the results achieving cultural success or marketing failure.Though it's a fickle age,With flirting all the rage,Here is one bird with self-control,Happy inside my cage,I know who I love best,Thumbs down on all the rest,My love was given heart and soul,So it can stand the test.Personne peut parler avec,Je suis tout seul,Personne avec qui marcher avec,Mais je suis content sûr l'étagère,Je fais pas cannaille,Je garde mon amour pour toi.Je connais pour sûr,Que quand moi j'aime,J'ai jamais courtiser dessus toi qu(i) a les cheveux foncés,Je garde mon amour,Je garde mon amour pour toi.On raconte que,Dans le p'tit coin,Va pas nulle part,Pas faire différence avec,Tes baisers qu'on attend de toi, crois donc moi,Ne reste pas en retard,Ne pas aller,Chez moi à huit heures, juste moi et mon radio,Je fais pas cannaille,Je garde mon amour pour toi.On raconte que,Dans le p'tit coin,Va pas nulle part,Pas faire différence avec,Tes baisers qu'on attend de toi, crois donc moi,Ne reste pas en retard,Ne pas aller,Chez moi à huit heures, juste moi et mon radio,Je fais pas cannaille,Je garde mon amour pour toi.
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| "Acadian Musicians Sing for Records" Dr. A.J. Boudreaux, Oscar "Slim" Doucet, Christine Mufzar, Jeanne LeBlanc, S. Hawkins and Patrick Pellerin Traveled to Atlanta to record for Okeh, 1929. Center for Louisiana Studies, UL Lafayette |
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| Ruth Etting |
No one to talk with,I'm all by myself,No one to walk with,But I'm happy on the shelf,I'm not being mischievous,I'm keeping my love for you.I know for sureThat when I love,I'll never woo on the one that has dark hair,I'm keeping my love,I'm keeping my love for you.It is said that,In the little corner,Don't go anywhere,Doesn't make a difference,Your kisses, which I look forward to, believe me,I don't stay late,I don't care to go,At home at eight o'clock, just me and my radio,I'm not being mischievous,I'm keeping my love for you.It is said that,In the little corner,Don't go anywhere,Doesn't make a difference,Your kisses, which I look forward to, believe me,I don't stay late,I don't care to go,At home at eight o'clock, just me and my radio,I'm not being mischievous,I'm keeping my love for you.
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| Ville Platte Gazette Dec 14, 1929 |
Eh, chère, rapelle-toi j’ai promete,
Et j'étais d’accord, quoi tu m’as fait?
Chère, moi, je peux plus,
T’endurer, jolie cœur.Toi, tu m’as promis, chère,De plus faire ça et regarde-donc,Quoi t'après faire aujourd’hui, chère,Ça c’est dur, oui, pour moi t’endurer.Quand même tu veux pas, chère,T’as pas promis il y a pas longtemps, jolie fille,Tu rappelle-toi quoi t’as fair, jolie cœur?Oui, c’est de me voir, chère,Si loin de toi après jongler sans savoir, jolie fille,Chère, si jamais tu vas d’etre à la traîne.Petite, tu devrais, chère,Viens observer il y a si longtemps quoi t’as fais avec moi,Chère, si tu jongle à moi,Tu vas voir pour toi-même.Petite, si tu voudrais, chère,Donc, me prendre, tu saurais quoi moi je ferais pour toi-même,Chère, tu te regretterais-donc jamais toute ta vie.
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| Cleoma and Joe Falcon Courtesy of Alain Chenneviere |
Hey, dear, remember, I promised,
And I agreed, what did you do to me?
Dear, I can not,
Endure you, pretty sweetheart,You promised me, dear,Never to do that, and so look,What you are doing today, dear,That's hard, yeah, for me to endure you.Even if you do not want to, dear,You didn't promise all that long ago, pretty girl,Do you remember what you did, pretty sweetheart?Yeah, it's to see me, dear,So far from you after reminiscing yet not knowing, pretty girl,Dear, if you're ever going to lag behind.Little one, you should, dear,Come and see how long ago, what you've done with me,Dear, if you reminisce with me,You'll see for yourself,Little one, if you like, dear,So, take me, you would know what I would do, for yourself,Dear, you'll never regret this for the rest of your life.
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| Lake Charles American Press Dec 14, 1951 |
Oh, promets-moi, joli cœur,
Tu vas jamais m’oublier comme t'as pris, oui, ton cœur,
Tu m'as pris de la maison, jolie fille,En promettant de me soigner, garde-donc ça tu fais, chèreOh, observe-moi bien, joli cœur,Tu vas avoir, ouais, pitié, moi tout seul dans la misère,Tu m'as pris de la maison, jolie fille,Tes bons parents qui m'a fait donc quitter de la maison.Oh, j'ai p'us d'espoir, chère,J'ai d'espoir t'en aller en virant le dos pour la vie,Tu m'as dit, chère, tu voulais la promesse,De bien te soigner tous les deux, bonne ‘tite fille, jusqu'à la mort.
Oh, promise me, pretty sweetheart,
You will never forget me when you took, yes, your heart (away),You took me away from home, pretty girl,Promising to take care of me, so look what you've done, dear.Oh, pay attention well, pretty sweetheart,You'll have, yeah, pity, I'm all alone in misery,You took me away from home, pretty girl,Your good parents who made me leave home.Oh, I'm hoping, dear,I have hoped you'll go turn back forever,You told me, dear, you wanted the promise,Of taking good care of both of us, good girl, until you die.
The Segura Brothers and their band at White Oak near New Iberia, Louisiana, played this beautiful music.2,3
Les maringouins, a tout mange ma belle,
Ils ont quitté de ses gros orteils,
Pour me faire des bouchons de liège,
Pour toucher les demi-bouteilles,
Et ton papa ressemble à un éléphant,
Et ta maman ressemble à une automobile,
Ton petit frère ressemble à un ouaouaron,
Ta petite soeur ressemble à un coin de banquette.
I asked him, "Why did you make that?" He said, "Just for fun." Everyone would laugh their heads off when he'd play it.4
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| Dewey and Eddie Segura |
The mosquitoes ate my beauty,
They have left her big toes,
Seem as if they are plugging corks,
To use on half-bottles,
And your dad looks like an elephant,
And your mom looks like a car,
Your little brother looks like a bullfrog,
Your little sister looks like a bench seat.
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| Eunice News Dec 13, 1929 |
He never sang a song the same way twice. He’d change the lyrics. He made up the songs. It’s all in the oral tradition.1
He, chère catin, malheureuse,Tu connais moi j't'aime avec tout mon coeur, malheureuse,Tu devrais, mais, pas fair ce ça, mais, t'après faire, mais, malheureuse,C'est pour ça, chèr 'tit monde, tu fais du mal à mon coeur.Malheureuse, tu connais, chère 'tit fille, tu vas pleurer,Pour ça tou t'es après faire, tu m'as dit, chère 'tit fille, mais criminelle,Malheureuse, tu connais tu vas pleurer, mais, malheureuse.
A 'valse à deux temps' originally referred to a dance step rather than a song type. Although the notion of a "two-step waltz" seems counterintuitive, as waltzes and two-steps are generally considered two discrete, even opposite, steps, particularly in Louisiana and Texas, the 'valse à deux temps' is simply another style of dancing to a triple meter.5
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| Amede Ardoin |
From their Anglo-American neighbors, [Cajuns] learned jigs, hoedowns, and Virginia reels to enrich their growing repertoire which already included polkas and contredanses, varsoviennes and valses à deux temps.4
Soon Ardoin was in great demand to play and sing—in a voice that has been described as haunting and unearthly—at house parties and little country honky-tonks. Ardoin reworked his "La Valse A Austin Ardoin" into this more well known song, "Taunt Aline". It would later become Iry Lejeune's 1954 recording "Viens me Chercher" and the Balfa's 1974 recording "J'Sus Orphelin".
Hey, dear little doll, oh my,
You know I love you with all my heart oh my,
You shouldn't, well, do what you're doing, well, on my,
That's why, dear little one, you hurt my heart.
Oh my, you know, dear little girl, you'll cry,
For what you're doing, you told me dear little girl, well, it's criminal,
Oh my, you know you'll cry, well, oh my.
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| Eunice News Dec 13, 1929 |
Pardonne-moi, donc chère, ma Joline,J’vas m’en aller, ouais, à la maison,Mais, comment ça se fait, oh ouais ils vont me retourner,Mais, ça m’fait trop d’la peine, mais ouais, te r’voir,Oh ouais, revoir quand toi tu m’as mal fait,J’connais ça me fait du mal pour moi pleurer.Ma Joline, bonsoir jolie Joline,Bonsoir catin, bonsoir, mais ouais, je m’en vas,Tu connais (y a) personne jamais qui va me rejoindre,Jamais encore après ça que tu m’as fait,Ça me fait si dur de quitter de ta maman,Je veux pas de voir des autrements que toi.Comment je vas faire, bye bye, oh ouais, catin,Donc c’est mignonne, c’est toi, ouais ‘tite tête noire,**Mais garde-donc toi**? je te voulais, jolie mignonne,Mais ouais pas de te r’voir, ta chère maman m’a fait,La cause à toi, catin, je pourrais pleurer,Ouais, donc ouais, pleurer, je crois pas ça me fait du bien.
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| Amede Ardoin |
So, forgive me, dear, my Joline,
I'm going to leave, yeh, to the house,
Well, that's how it feels, oh yeh, to return,
Well, it hurts me too much, well yeh, to see you again.
Oh yeh, seeing you again when you've done me wrong,I know it hurts for me to cry.My Joline, good night sweet Joline,Goodnight pretty doll, goodnight, well yeh, I'm going,You know there's nobody who will join me ever,Never again after what you've done,It's so hard to leave your mom's place,I do not want to see anything other than you.How will I handle this? Bye, bye, oh yeh, little doll,So, it's my cutie, it's you, yeh, little dark headed girl,Well, look at you, I wanted you, pretty cutie,Well yeh, I'm not able to see you again, your dear mother did this to me,All because of you, little doll, I could cry,Yeh, so yeh, this crying, I do not think this is doing any good.
Without him we would not have the dozen or so songs Iry Lejeune interpreted and recorded in the 1950s that helped to bring about a resurgence of Cajun French pride. We would not have Austin Pitre’s soulful interpretation of “Opelousas 2-Step” nor his version of Amédé’s emotional “Le blues de la prison.” How can we dismiss Dewey Balfa’s version of “Je suis orphelin” or his brother Will’s haunting “Les blues du cadien”?2And with Ardoin's "Mama", Iry Lejeune took this song and made it into his "Lacassine Special" in the late 1940s.
