Allons à Lafayette

"Allons à Lafayette (Lafayette)"
Single by Joe Falcon
A-side "La Valse Qui Ma Porter A Ma Fosse" [1]
Format Single (music)
Recorded April 27, 1928
Genre Cajun
Length 2:55
Label Columbia Records 15275-D, Okeh Records 90018

"Allons à Lafayette" is the B-side of the 78-RPM album "Allons à Lafayette" recorded by Joe Falcon and Cléoma Breaux in 1928.[2][3] The song is based on an older traditional tune called "Jeunes Gens de la Campagne". It is officially known as the first Cajun song to be recorded.[4][5]

Content

The song deals with a man asking his partner to go to Lafayette, Louisiana and change her name to something more scandalous, Mrs. Mischievous Comeaux. The singer is upset they are both far apart and thinks her beauty is far better than her character. [6]

Lyrics

Cajun French English

Allons à Lafayette, mais pour changer ton nom.
On va t’appeller Madame, Madame Canaille Comeaux comme moi.
Petite, t’est trop mignonne pour faire ta criminelle.
Comment tu crois, mais moi, je peux faire, mais moi tout seul.
Mais toi, mais joli Coeur, regarde donc mais quoi t’as fait.
Si loin que moi, je suis de toi, mais ça
Petite, t’est trop mignonne pour faire ta criminelle.
Comment tu crois, mais moi, je peux faire, mais moi tout seul.
Mais toi, mais joli Coeur, regarde donc mais quoi t’as fait.
Si loin que moi, je suis de toi, mais ça, ça me fait pitié

Let's go to Lafayette to change your name.
We will call you Mrs. Mischievous Comeaux.
Honey, you're too pretty to act like a tramp.
How do you think I am going to manage without you?
Look at what you done, pretty heart.
We are so far apart and that is pitiful.
Honey, you're too pretty to act like a tramp.
How do you think I am going to manage without you?
Look at what you done, pretty heart.
We are so far apart and that is pitiful.

References

  1. ^ Neal Pomea. "Joe Falcon & Cleoma Breaux". http://www.npmusic.org/artists.html#joefalcon. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  2. ^ Joseph F. Falcon-Allons a Lafayette (Let's Go to Lafayette). Vocal. Cajun-French Song 15275-D (146217) 16588 Columbia Phono- graph Company, Inc., N.Y.
  3. ^ "The National Recording Registry 2007". http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2007reg.html. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  4. ^ Jim Bradshaw (1998-12-29). "Joe and Cléoma Falcon were first to record Cajun music". http://www.carencrohighschool.org/LA_Studies/ParishSeries/FrenchMusic/JoeCleomaFalcon.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  5. ^ Kevin Fontenot (2010-04-05). "Cleoma Breaux Falcon". http://www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=702. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  6. ^ Brasseaux 2000, a thesis on Cajun culture by Ryan Brasseaux.