VILLE PLATTE CAJUN MUSIC
JOLIE BLONDE
 © By Grace Soileau |
Welcome to our little Cajun town of Ville Platte, Louisiana.
I have been a Cajun all my life and am Cajun through and through. I was Cajun even when Cajun was not in style. There was a time when they would not let me speak Cajun French in school but I did learn this strange new language of English. I am old now and have a hard time remembering how to speak Cajun. They did try to change that in 1960 but, TOO LATE. Cajun Music was born in this part of Cajun country, "Southwest Louisiana". It was brought to this area by French Settlers and influenced by immigrants who came at a later date. One of those group of immigrants were the Germans, who came in the late 1800's. They introduced the diatonic accordion which became an essential instrument of the Cajun Band. The Germans adapted the life styles, language and culture of the French. To see how the French played a great part in Cajun music all you have to do is read the names of all these old Cajun songs.
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CAJUN BOOKS YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ
"JOLIE BLONDE"
- "Jolie Blonde" made famous in the late 1940's by
HARRY CHOATES.
"Two step de la Ville Platte"; 1st recorded in 1930,
"Allons a Lafayette"; First Cajun song recorded in the year 1928
Doug Kershaw's maternal grandfather, Albert Boussard, probably played this song on his violin.
"Valse de 'Cadien" (Cajun Waltz), "Valse de Chataignier" (south of Ville Platte), T'es Petite et T'es Mignonne, "J'ai Passe' Devant Ta Porte", this one is a great song. "Danse de Mardi Gras" is one of my favorite, even my girls knew that song. This is one of the songs that the Cajuns brought when they came to Louisiana, it dates back to medieval France.
This song is about a man who used to ramble every night in his buggy. Seems like his wife followed his buggy tracks one night and found him. They ended in a divorced and he sold his horse and buggy. I think he blamed the buggy tracks for his family breaking up, not himself.
One thing you need to know about Cajun Music is that a lot of the tunes are the same, only the name has been change. One song is "Jolie Catin" (Pretty Doll), the same tune is used for "Choupique Two-step", "Eunice Two-step" and "Jolie Fille". The lyrics are not the same just the tunes. Also the artist might make a song with the same name but not the same tune, gets confusing.
Cajun music is not easy to play and make it sound Cajun, it has been tried and called cajun, BUT IT IS NOT CAJUN. The real Cajun music is like the old sound. Not that the new sound is not good, just "NOT CAJUN". I wish they would just give it another name, like Cajun American, Cajun Country Music or even Cajun Rock & Roll but "NOT CAJUN MUSIC"!! There is a new music that they did give a name to, it is called Zydeco music which is good music, but not Cajun music. A lot of people are confuses about what Cajun Music really is. In the small towns around here is where you find traditional Cajun music. The largest number of traditional Cajun musicians live in small towns around here. With more and more of them getting older this traditional Cajun music may die off. The younger Cajuns play music that is more mainstream American and NOT traditional Cajun. This is sad because it will die off just like the Cajun French did. I don't even like the Cajun songs to be translated into english, it loses it's meaning and does not sound right.
Cajun Midis
| VALSE DE VILLE PLATTE NEW!! |
| ALONS DANSER COLINDA |
| "J'ai Passe' Devent Ta Porte" |
| DANSE DE MARDI GRAS |
| CAJUN TWIST |
| MY TOOT-TOOT |
| MAMOU TWO STEP |
| CAJUN BABY WALK |
YOU MIGHT ENJOY READING
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Cajuns: Essays on Their History & Culture
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Cadiens D'asteur-Today's Cajuns: A Bilingual Edition
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Cajun Self-Taught: Learning to Speak the Cajun Language
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