Braves,

Lately, it seems that I spend more time memorizing lyrics than I do learning the accordion lines.
Here’s what I do to get those lyrics memorized:

I start by getting of text copy of the lyrics if available either from the CD jacket or one of the great online resources.

Then I convert the text into a phonetic version that indicates pauses and smooshed phrases for the sake of study.

I’ll bold/italicize the words that fall on the “one” so that I can see the rhythm phrasing while reading the text.

To get the pronunciation correct, I’ll try to emulate the vocalist on the recording as closely as possible.
I’ll also use the free-online-translators that are online that can speak French as well. Of course this isn’t perfect, but it gets one off the ground.

Then, I’ll keep a copy in my shirt pocket so that I can work on it at any time (while driving, at lunch ... whenever.) I'll try to recite the lyrics and see how far I can get without having to refer to my cheat-sheet.

I’ll work on one line at a time. Sometimes it takes me a good week or so to get the lyrics to flow without concentration for just one phrase.

Although it’s really good to understand what the words mean, I find that there is no time to do an impromptu translation from English to French in one’s head while performing. It must be committed to muscle memory,

I try to look out for American Accent... roll the R’s, N’s in the back of the throat, “tohn a leh” instead on “ton a lay” etc.

I find that as I get the lyrics memorized, I start hearing additional detail in melody as well. Although it probably isn’t good to cop someone else’s style to a “T”, one can pick up new techniques that they wouldn’t have otherwise thought of by doing so.

What sayest thou? How do you do it?

--BN

What you have described is pretty near the same way I do it.

I also keep a recording of the song with me everywhere I go and listen and sing along in the car, at work, etc.

There is another thing that I occasionally do, especially if the words are few: I write them down over and over on a piece of scrap paper. This is a memorization trick that my middle school science teacher taught as a way of learning chemistry and math facts.

One other tool I find helpfull...after sorting out the phonetic version, I type them on Avery 8168 3/12 x 5 shipping labels, then stick these on 3 x 5 cards. Perfect size for a shirt pocket, so they are always with you, in the car or (gasp!) at work.

Yes, practicing in the car is a great way to upload a
tune into the memory banks. I figure I have sung a song
300 times at least before it is ready for performance.

I have a theory that doesn't work very well in practice, but it's a great theory:

Why should learning Cajun lyrics be any different from learning Cajun music?

If you really know Cajun music, you know it backwards and forwards and upside-down and every other way. You improvise a solo when it's your turn. You fake it when you're sitting in with a band and they play a song you've never heard before. You have a head full of half-learned and half-forgotten tunes. Which is a good thing.

How do you do that? By understanding the building blocks of music, the way it's put together. You speak the "language" of music. You know about chords and scales and rhythms (even if you don't read music). You also remember melodies and "licks." There's a lot of knowledge involved, but also a lot of intuition and just plain luck.

Now, what about the building blocks of lyrics? Plain and simple -- you have to learn to speak the Cajun language. That's the only way you can know the lyrics backwards and forwards and upside-down, just like the music. You need to know about verbs and pronouns and grammar and idioms.

I say my theory doesn't work very well, because most of the songs I know how to sing I memorized off lyric sheets the same way you did. But I'm getting closer to the point where I can listen to a song performed live or on the radio and start to understand the lyrics. Sooner or later, those lyrics start to sink in, and I have learned a few songs that way, more or less. The other advantage is that if you're a little fuzzy on some of the words to a song, you can make up your own. And your accent starts to improve.

I know all of this is easy for me to say, having studied French in high school and college, and having relocated to Louisiana five years ago. But it's an approach worth thinking about, for everyone. I believe the true essence of Cajun culture, or at least of Cajun music, is the Cajun language.

I recommend the following learning aids:

"You Can Speak Cajun French," 2-CD set by Fred Charlie

"Dictionary of Lousiana French," edited by Barry Ancelet et al.

"Cajun French Dictionary & Phrasebook," by Clint Bruce & Jennifer Gipson (includes a section on basic Cajun grammar, maybe a little too generalized but still the best one I've seen)

"Tout Bec Doux: The Complete Cajun Comics of Ken Meaux and Earl Comeaux" (reprints of a Cajun French comic strip that ran in the Kaplan Herald for 23 years, with English translations -- chockful of idioms and cultural lore)

What an interesting subject. I haven't tried to learn a Cajun song for a long time, but the Big Nick approach is close to mine. I hand wrote phonetically and underlined the words/syllables needing emphasis. I'm a trucker, so I have plenty of time to sing without annoying or alarming those around me.

I too think it's important to know what the song is about, but have to learn parrot-fashion, rather than translate as I sing.

But there's a snag. It's often said that Cajun music should come from the heart, and I guess that goes for words as well as music. So those of us who don't know French that well have a problem. If we're singing parrot-fashion how can it be from the heart? Maybe we should be singing in English or Dutch or German. But it's hard to make it sound authentic in your own language ( if that isn't Cajun French ). Funny enough, though, it can sound OK in another language that you don't know. I heard a Welsh band called 'Cajuns Denbo' who sing in Welsh. It sounded OK to me.

Complicated, ain't it?

BJ

For me i can only remember lyrics if there is some sort of a "story" and can imagine pictures sort of, like a drunkard coming home in Blues du Soulard, or some lovesick idiot hiding in thorny bushes. But i speak a little French, learned from my parents & school, and later by having to deal with bakers, camping owners, gendarmerie, even vets and checkout girls traveling in France.

BJ, great remark; my aunt's now deceased parrot could speak Dutch, and one also understood what the bird said. Though I always wondered if it knew itself what it just said. Probably had humor too and showed some intelligence: When it said "koppie krauw", meaning scratch my neck, and bended it's head before you actually attempted to scratch it, you risked your fingers: sometimes it suddenly & sneakily aimed for them ... - Nout